NRC ISSUES NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS TO 

AVOID FUTURE LEGACY SITES WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published a final rule designed to 

prevent future “legacy sites” with insufficient funds for decommissioning by requiring 

licensees to minimize the introduction of residual radioactivity at their sites during 

operations. A legacy site is a facility with an owner who cannot complete complex 

decommissioning work for technical or financial reasons.

The rule, published today in the Federal Register, requires owners licensed by the 

NRC to keep survey records of residual radioactivity, including in the subsurface soil and 

groundwater, with records important for decommissioning. It also requires certain 

licensees to report additional details in their decommissioning cost estimates and amend 

some financial assurance mechanisms for decommissioning planning.

Facilities that process large quantities of radioactive material, especially in liquid 

form, have the potential for significant environmental contamination due to the scale of 

their operations. Over time, leaks from these facilities can lead to significant radioactive 

contamination of the subsurface soil and groundwater, even though the radiation doses 

from these releases are well below annual regulatory limits for public and occupational 

exposure.

In addition, the high costs of disposing of radioactive material offsite may lead 

licensees to store more waste onsite, increasing the potential for subsurface radioactive 

contamination and significantly higher decommissioning costs.

Licensees are currently required to perform surveys to verify that radioactive 

effluent releases are below regulatory requirements and do not pose public health 

hazards. However, the NRC believes that existing regulations were not clear enough 

concerning subsurface contamination and required interpretation to apply to long-term 

environmental conditions. Surveys have rarely been performed to assess the radiological 

hazard of chronic releases and subsurface contamination, because these were not 

specifically defined as effluent releases, represent small fractions of the regulatory limits 

on effluent releases, and do not cause immediate exposure either to workers or the public.

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001

E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov Site: www.nrc.gov

Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov

No. 11-111 June 17, 2011
The final rule also requires more detailed reporting by licensees and tightens NRC 

control over certain financial instruments set aside to cover eventual decommissioning 

costs.

The new regulations will take effect Dec. 17, 2012.

A proposed rule detailing these new requirements was published in the Federal 

Register on Jan. 22, 2008. The agency received 35 comment letters on the proposed rule 

from states, licensees, industry organizations, environmental advocacy groups, and a 

member of the public. The public comments prompted several changes in the final rule, 

which are detailed in the current Federal Register notice.

The Commission approved the final rule Nov. 30, directing some edits. The rule 

underwent review by the Office of Management and Budget before publication. 

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