Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: 05969442-49ea-4f4a-a9e2-de3a14628b5e
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Minimization of Contamination and Radioactive Waste Generation:  Life-Cycle Planning - HISTORY 07/2013 – Periodic Review of Revision 0 – No issues identified
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 4
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0805/ML080500187.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-4.21
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s public health and safety, and the protection of the environment; and confirm compliance with applicable Federal, State and local regulations governing the management of radioactive waste, and wastes characterized by the presence of hazardous chemicals and radioactivity. While the measures identified in this guide focus on minimizing the generation of radioactive waste, NRC recognizes that constraints and competing factors may govern the selection of specific measures for waste minimization. In many instances, an applicant or licensee has no control over such constraints and may be forced to balance competing factors of operational flexibility and costs, while satisfying all applicable regulatory requirements at the same time. For example, access to or the availability of offsite low-level waste disposal capacity may be beyond the control of an applicant or licensee. The methods chosen to manage radioactive waste should be carefully considered for the purpose of meeting regulatory requirements for transportation and the waste acceptance criteria of specific disposal or treatment outlets. For some waste streams, a processing method that may be used to reduce the overall volume of waste might result in an increase of the specific activity of the waste, thereby increasing the difficulty in finding appropriate disposal outlets for higher activity wastes, such as Class B and C wastes under the requirements of 10 CFR Part 61, “Licensing Requirements for Land Disposal of Radioactive Waste.” In other instances, the amount or volume of waste is not the issue. Rather the waste’s radiological and chemical properties, such as for mixed waste, which may restrict options in finding treatment and disposal outlets unless one of the hazardous properties is delisted. NRC and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations control the storage of mixed wastes. Some States impose additional regulations addressing the characterization, treatment, transportation, and disposal of