NRC COMPLETES VIRGINIA AGREEMENT 

TO REGULATE CERTAIN RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS 

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed an agreement with the commonwealth 

of Virginia, under which Virginia will assume NRC’s regulatory authority over certain nuclear 

materials in the state. 

Virginia becomes the 36th state to sign such an agreement with the NRC. The agreement is 

effective March 31. 

 Under the agreement, the NRC will transfer to Virginia the responsibility for licensing, 

rulemaking, inspection and enforcement activities for: (1) radioactive materials produced as a result 

of processes related to the production or utilization of special nuclear material (SNM); (2) naturally 

occurring or accelerator-produced radioactive material (NARM); (3) source material (uranium and 

thorium); and (4) SNM in quantities not sufficient to form a critical mass. 

The NRC will transfer 386 licenses to the commonwealth’s jurisdiction. In addition, the 

commonwealth retains regulatory authority for approximately 216 NARM licenses. Approximately 

180 of these NARM licenses currently are regulated by both Virginia and the NRC. 

 By law, NRC retains jurisdiction over commercial nuclear power plants and federal agencies 

using certain nuclear material in Virginia. In addition, NRC retains authority for the review, 

evaluation and approval of sealed radioactive materials and devices containing certain nuclear 

materials manufactured in Virginia and distributed throughout the country. 

 Before approving the agreement, NRC reviewed Virginia’s radiation control program to 

ensure it is adequate to protect public health and safety and is compatible with the agency’s own 

program for regulating the radioactive materials covered in the agreement. An announcement of the 

proposed agreement was published four times in the Federal Register in November and December, 

inviting comments from the public. The agency received one comment in favor of the proposed 

agreement. 

 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 09-056 March 24, 2009
The agreement will be announced soon in the Federal Register. Copies of the agreement, the 

governor’s request and supporting documents, as well as the NRC staff’s assessment are available 

through the NRC’s Agency-wide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). Help in 

using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRC Public Document Room staff at 301-415-4737 or 

1-800-397-4209, or by sending an e-mail message to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. These documents are 

also available for public inspection at the NRC Public Document Room at 11555 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, Md. 

 Thirty-five other states have previously signed such agreements with NRC. They are: 

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, 

New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, 

Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and 

Wisconsin. 

 More information about the Agreement State program is available on the NRC’s Web site 

at: http://nrc-stp.ornl.gov/. 

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