Washington Administrative Code › Title 246 - Health, Department of › RADIATION › Chapter 246-250 - Radioactive waste-Licensing land disposal › TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR LAND DISPOSAL FACILITIES › Section 246-250-300 - Disposal site suitability requirements for land disposal

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) Disposal site
				  suitability for near-surface disposal. The primary emphasis in disposal site
				  suitability is given to isolation of wastes, and to disposal site features that
				  ensure that the long-term performance objectives are met.
(a) The disposal site shall be capable of
				  being characterized, modeled, analyzed, and monitored.
(b) Within the region where the facility is
				  to be located, a disposal site should be selected so that projected population
				  growth and future developments are not likely to affect the ability of the
				  disposal facility to meet the performance objectives of this chapter.
(c) Areas shall be avoided having known
				  natural resources which, if exploited, would result in failure to meet the
				  performance objectives of this chapter.
(d) The disposal site shall be generally well
				  drained and free of areas of flooding or frequent ponding. Waste disposal shall
				  not take place in a one hundred-year flood plain, coastal high-hazard area or
				  wetland, as defined in Executive Order 11988, "Flood Plain Management
				  Guidelines."
(e) Upstream drainage
				  areas shall be minimized to decrease the amount of runoff which could erode or
				  inundate waste disposal units.
(f)
				  The disposal site shall provide sufficient depth to the water table that
				  groundwater intrusion, perennial or otherwise, into the waste will not occur.
				  The department will consider an exception to this requirement to allow disposal
				  below the water table if it can be conclusively shown that disposal site
				  characteristics will result in molecular diffusion being the predominant means
				  of radionuclide movement and the rate of movement will result in the
				  performance objectives being met. In no case will waste disposal be permitted
				  in the zone of fluctuation of the water table.
(g) The hydrogeologic unit used for disposal
				  shall not discharge groundwater to the surface, except for groundwater
				  monitoring operations.
(h) Areas
				  shall be avoided where tectonic processes such as faulting, folding, seismic
				  activity, or vulcanism may occur with such frequency and extent to
				  significantly affect the ability of the disposal site to meet the performance
				  objectives of this chapter or may preclude defensible modeling and prediction
				  of long-term impacts.
(i) Areas
				  shall be avoided where surface geologic processes such as mass wasting,
				  erosion, slumping, landsliding, or weathering occur with such frequency and
				  extent to significantly affect the ability of the disposal site to meet the
				  performance objectives of this chapter, or may preclude defensible modeling and
				  prediction of long-term impacts.
(j) An existing disposal site may be located
				  where nearby facilities or activities could adversely impact the ability of the
				  site to meet the performance objectives of this chapter or significantly mask
				  the environmental monitoring program, provided an extensive environmental
				  monitoring program exists which is designed to differentiate, to the maximum
				  extent practicable, between contributions from the disposal site and other
				  nearby facilities.