UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Protecting People and the Eutvironmneint

ACNW MEETING WITH

THE U. S. NUCLEAR

REGULATORY

-COMMISSION

December 14, 2006
OVERVIEW

Michael T. Ryan
Accomplishments

* 15 Letter Reports

* 5 Working Group Meetings

• Low-Level Waste White Paper

(NUREG-1853)

3
Areas for Risk-Informing

Nuclear Materials and

Wastes Regulations

" In-situ leach mining

" Recycle

" Institutional controls

" Decommissioning lessons learned

" Low-level waste

4
ICRP Recommendations

* No added value to current U.S.

radiation protection programs

• ICRP "Recommendations for

Protection of the Environment" are

without foundation

* "Optimization" contains same

requirements as current ALARA

programs

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Revised Action Plan

e Updated Plan based on

Commission's Directions

" Working Groups

- Decommissioning Lessons

Learned

-Modeling and Monitoring

• White Paper on Igneous Activity

" Review and Compare French

Academy Study to BEIR VII Study

(radiation effects)

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Future ACNW Activities

* Yucca Mountain Pre-licensing

* Nuclear Fuel Recycle

" LLW Strategic Assessment

* Risk-Informing Institutional

Controls

" West Valley Demonstration

Project

" In-Situ Leach Mining

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LOW-LEVEL

RADIOACTIVE WASTE

MICHAEL T. RYAN
Recent ACNW Actions

" May 2006 LLW Working Group

Meeting

" August 16, 2006, Letter Report

" Final White Paper (NUREG-1853)

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August 16, 2006 Letter

* Risk inform low-level waste

management using

-§61.58

- §30.11

-§40.14

- §20.2002

* Assign performance credit for

waste form, packaging, and site

design

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Working Group Meeting

* Revisions to 10 CFR Part 61 not

needed at this time

* Guidance for management of

emerging waste streams

• Evaluate unintended consequences

of changes to existing regulations

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FUTURE IGNEOUS

ACTIVITY AT YUCCA

MOUNTAIN

William J. Hinze
Recent ACNW Activities

* White Paper on igneous activity

• Two letter reports on igneous

activity commenting on

- Igneous intrusion scenario

- NRC staff model for water driven

redistribution of volcanic ash

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Igneous Activity at Yucca

Mountain: Technical

Basis for Decision Making

* A review and analysis of views on

igneous activity at Yucca

Mountain pertaining to

-What could happen?

-How likely is it?

-What are the potential

consequences?

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Igneous Intrusion

Scenarios

* Current DOE and NRC scenarios

- low viscosity magma

* Alternate scenario - high

viscosity and rapid quenching

magma

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Alternative Scenario

Suggests:

" Magma unlikely to flow a

significant distance into tunnels

* Waste released from containers

may be protected by quenched

magma

• Magma unlikely to cause

secondary (flank)"vents from

tunnel

" Lack of consideration may lead to

conservative assessment

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Waterborne Redistribution

* Sediment mass balance method

is based on sound principles

* Work continues on incorporating

wind with surface water

redistribution

* Model neglects effects of large

floods that could carry sediments

beyond the compliance area

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Path Forward

* White Paper on the range of views

on igneous activity

• Working Group on igneous

activity, February 2007

* Review and comment on new

NMSS igneous activity reports

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Waste Disposal

Technology Status and

NRC Standard Review

Plan for Waste

Determinations

Allen G. Croff
Objectives

• Waste Determination Standard

Review Plan

-Review draft SRP

-Track relevant research and

development

e Fuel recycle

-Track technical and regulatory

developments

-Define important issues

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Standard Review Plan

* Staff briefings and document

reviews

* Letter issued in December 2006

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Standard Review Plan

* Recommendations

- Focus on materials left on-site

- Rely on robust performance

assessment

- Risk inform concentration

averaging

-Risk inform greater-than-Class C

disposal requirements

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Research & Development

Reviews

" Cement working group meeting

and subsequent letter

-Cement degrades and cracks

-Uncertainties in predicting longterm performance

-Analogs should be studied

" Hanford site visit

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Fuel Recycle Developments

* Consultant briefing on historical

approaches to fuel recycle

* Initial staff briefing on potentially

applicable regulations

" Department of Energy Global

Nuclear Energy Partnership

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Fuel Recycle White Paper

* Contents

--Historical recycle process and

design approaches

-Advanced recycle processes

- Licensing regulations

- Issue identification

* Stakeholder review

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Future Activities

* Waste determinations

- SRP comment resolution

-Track retrieval, processing, and

waste form technology

* Fuel recycle

-ACNW review of staff paper on

regulatory approach for recycle

- Track technical developments

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DECOMMISSIONING

ACNW WHITE PAPER

James H. Clarke
Future White Paper

Integrate observations and

recommendations from:

" Performance of cementitious

materials

" Prevention of legacy sites

* Monitoring to build model

confidence

" Lessons learned from liquid

radioactive releases

" Lessons learned from

decommissioning activities

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NRC WASTE SAFETY

AND TECHNICAL

ASSISTANCE

PROGRAMS

Ruth F. Weiner
Review Activities

• Office of Nuclear Regulatory

Research

-Accommodating uncertainty in

conceptual models

- Evaluating models of

groundwater recharge

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Review Activities

• Programs are responsive to NRC

regulatory responsibilities

* Collaborative arrangements

effectively leverage limited

resources

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In-Situ Leach Mining of

Uranium

* Information gathering

-Site visit to Crow Butte, Nebraska

- National Mining Association

Workshop

-Public meeting on rulemaking

* Uranium mining applications

- 7 in-situ leach

-2 milling

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Transportation

* Pilot study of probabilistic risk

assessment of dry cask storage

of spent nuclearfuel

* Report on tunnel fire analyses

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ABBREVIATIONS

ACNW

ALARA

BEIR

CFR

DOE

ICRP

LLW

NMSS

NRC

SRP

Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste

as low as reasonably achievable

Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Committee on the

Code of Federal Regulations

Department of Energy, U.S.

International Commission on Radiological Protection

low-level radioactive waste

Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards, Office of (NRC)

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S.

Standard Review Plan

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