DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20314.1000 

APR 13 2001 REPLY TO 

ATTENTION OF: 

Programs Management Division 

Centralized Programs and Systems 

Management Branch 

Mr. David Geiser 

Acting Director, Office of Long-term 

Stewardship, EM-51 

United States Department of Energy, Headquarters 

1000 Independence Avenue, SW 

Washington, DC 20585 

Dear Mr. Geiser: 

In March 1999 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Department of Energy 

(DOE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with respect to the Formerly Utilized 

Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). This MOU provides for DOE to provide such 

assistance as may reasonably be necessary with respect to waste disposal matters to carry out the 

intent of the MOU. Recent Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) guidance described below 

requires me to request your assistance. Specifically, I seek your written agreement, as the long 

term property custodian at NRC licensed uranium tailings disposal cells or impoundments, with 

our disposal of ore processing residuals from FUSRAP sites at NRC licensed uranium mills or 

disposal facilities with tailings disposal cells. Department of Energy agreement in this matter 

allows the Corps to locate the most suitable disposal facilities for a substantial percentage of the 

FUSRAP materials requiring offsite disposal. Furthermore, DOE itself utilized NRC licensed 

I l e.(2) disposal facilities for disposal of ore processing residuals from FUSRAP sites. 

On November 30, 2000, the NRC Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) 

issued NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2000-23, "Recent Changes to Uranium Recovery 

Policy" (RIS 2000-23). It includes guidance on the disposal of non-Atomic Energy Act, Section 

I le.(2) byproduct material in tailings impoundments licensed by the NRC. The RIS 2000-23 

requires that before materials, which are not regulated 1 l e.(2) byproduct materials, can be 

disposed of at a NRC licensed I le.(2) disposal facility the agency which is the long term 

property custodian for the licensed cell(s) be consulted and requested to provide its concurrence 

with the planned disposal. Because the Department of Energy (DOE) is the long term property 

custodian for I l e.(2) disposal facilities at Envirocare of Utah, at International Uranium 

Corporation USA in Utah, and at other NRC licensed uranium mills with tailings disposal cells, 

DOE concurrence is required in order to satisfy this requirement of the new NRC guidance. 

moss°
2

A large percentage of the contaminated materials at FUSRAP sites are the residuals of 

processing ores for their source material content that have not been under license from the 

Atomic Energy Commission or the NRC on or after November 8, 1978. In the December 13, 

2000. denial of the petitions filed pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 by the Snake River Alliance and 

Envirocare of Utah, Inc., the Director of NMSS found that these types of materials are not 

regulated under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. These materials are chemically and physically 

very similar to regulated 1 le.(2) materials that are already allowed to be disposed of at the NRC 

licensed 1 le.(2) disposal facilities, except that some .of them have been mixed with clean soils 

and are generally of lower concentration than I Ie.(2) materials directly from the ore processing 

lines. Though not regulated by the Atomic Energy Act, it is most appropriate to dispose of some 

of these materials in NRC licensed facilities. I am happy to provide site history and materials 

characterization information for your review and/or to meet with you to discuss specific 

materials prior to disposal, at your request. 

Please provide the written concurrence of DOE that ore processing residuals from FUSRAP 

sites that were originally processed prior to 1978 and have not been licensed by the NRC or an 

Agreement State on or after November 8. 1978, may be disposed of at NRC licensed I l e.(2) 

disposal facilities for which DOE is the long term property custodian. Your cooperation in this 

matter would be consistent with Article IV of the MOU and would be of great assistance to 

USACE in continuing to complete the necessary environmental restoration at these sites. 

If there are any questions regarding these sites, please contact Hans Moennig at 

(202) 761-411 3. Thank you in advance for cooperating with us on this matter. 

Sincerely. 

Thomas F. Caver, Jr., P.E. 

Deputy Director of Civil Works 

Copies Furnished: 

U.S. NuclearRe.a tult. 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards 

Washington. D.C. 20555-0001 

Stuart Treby, Esq. 

Office of General Counsel 

t V.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Washington. D.C. 20555-0001
Don MacKenzie 

U.S. Department of Energy, 

Headquarters 

19901 Germantown Road 

Germantown, MD 20874-1290 

Steve Miller, Esq. 

U.S. Department of Energy, 

Headquarters 

GC-51 

1000 Independence Ave, SW 

Washington, DC 20585 

Mario E. lerardi 

U.S. Department of Energy, 

Headquarters 

1000 Independence Ave. SW 

Washington, DC 20585 

CECC-G (MacEvoy) 

CENWO-HX (Wright)