Nuclear Regulatory Commission January 20, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting comments on whether the NRC staff should formally document a position on contaminated material and contaminated trash. The NRC issued Revision 1 of the Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation (CA BTP) in February of 2015. The CA BTP provides acceptable methods that can be used to perform concentration averaging of Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) for the purpose of determining its waste class for disposal. When the NRC issued the revised CA BTP, it noted that one issue, distinguishing contaminated materials from contaminated trash, may need further clarification. The NRC also stated that it would consider whether additional guidance, such as a Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS), would be warranted for distinguishing contaminated materials from contaminated trash.