NRC CONSIDERING REQUEST BY VIRGINIA 

TO BECOME AN “AGREEMENT STATE” 

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a request from Virginia Gov. 

Timothy M. Kaine to assume part of the NRC’s regulatory authority over certain nuclear 

materials in the commonwealth. If the request is accepted, Virginia will become the 36th state to 

sign such an agreement with the NRC. 

 Under the proposed agreement, the NRC would transfer to Virginia the responsibility for 

licensing, rulemaking, inspection and enforcement activities for: (1) radioactive materials 

produced as byproducts from the production or utilization of special nuclear material (SNM--

enriched uranium or plutonium); (2) naturally occurring or accelerator-produced byproduct 

material (NARM); (3) source material (uranium and thorium); and (4) SNM in quantities not 

sufficient to support a nuclear chain reaction. 

If the proposed agreement is approved, it is estimated that there will be 420 total licenses 

in the Commonwealth of Virginia. NRC would transfer 386 licenses to the commonwealth’s 

jurisdiction. In addition, the commonwealth would retain regulatory authority for approximately 

216 NARM licenses. Approximately 180 of these NARM licenses are dually regulated by 

Virginia and the NRC. 

 By law, NRC would retain jurisdiction over commercial nuclear power plants and federal 

agencies using certain nuclear material in the state. In addition, NRC would retain authority for 

the review, evaluation and approval of sealed radioactive materials and devices containing 

certain nuclear materials within the state. 

 Before entering into the agreement, NRC must determine that Virginia’s radiation control 

program 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. 

 The proposed agreement and the NRC staff’s draft assessment of the Virginia program 

will be published for public comment soon in the Federal Register, and also will be published 

for comment thereafter, once a week for four consecutive weeks. Comments should be sent to 

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. 08-211 November 18, 2008
Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, Division of Freedom of 

Information and Publications Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. 

 Copies of the proposed 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 email 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, Maryland. 

 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/. 

### 

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE 

link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.