Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: d812c779-c17b-4eb3-9d66-b532cd68bd03
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Decommissioning Planning During Operations + HISTORY - HISTORY 12/2011 – DG-4014 , Proposed New Guide
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 4
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1115/ML111590642.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-4.22
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
ts response to the staff recommendations, the Commission authorized the staff to develop rules (Ref. 4) to minimize the likelihood of new “legacy sites” — those sites with insufficient resources to complete decommissioning and terminate the license at the end of operations. On June 17, 2011, the NRC promulgated the DPR (Ref. 5). The DPR requires all licensees to establish operational practices to minimize contamination and perform subsurface radiological surveys, and sets forth new financial assurance requirements. Relationship between RG 4.21 and RG 4.22 RG 4.21 provides guidance to applicants on implementing the requirements of 10 CFR 20.1406 to design facilities and develop operational procedures to minimize radioactive waste generation and facility contamination. That is, RG-4.21 is directed primarily at the design and construction phase of the facility life cycle. The guidance consists of specific design considerations drawn from nuclear industry experience and lessons learned from decommissioning. These are combined in a threefold contaminant management philosophy: (1) prevention of unintended releases; (2) early detection, if there is unintended release of radioactive contamination; and (3) prompt assessment to support a timely and appropriate response. This regulatory guide (RG 4.22) provides guidance for operating facilities on methods of meeting regulatory requirements for effective decommissioning planning. This guidance provides methods for determining if changes to operations or monitoring programs are needed to comply with 10 CFR 20.1406(c) or 20.1501. The guidance also describes survey methods suitable to identify impacted areas and to estimate the approximate volume of radiological contamination that may have to be remediated at the time of license termination, and will help to determine whether existing financial assurance provided for site-specific decommissioning is adequate. Requirements The DPR requires licensees to minimize the