Subpart B - Environmental Standards for Disposal

§191.11 Applicability.

(a) This subpart applies to:

(1) Radioactive materials released into the accessible environment as a result of the disposal of spent nuclear fuel or high-level or transuranic radioactive wastes;

§191.12 Definitions.

Unless otherwise indicated in this subpart, all terms shall have the same meaning as in subpart A of this part.

Accessible environment means: (1) The atmosphere; (2) land surfaces; (3) surface waters; (4) oceans; and (5) all of the lithosphere that is beyond the controlled area.

Active institutional control means: (1) Controlling access to a disposal site by any means other than passive institutional controls; (2) performing maintenance operations or remedial actions at a site, (3) controlling or cleaning up releases from a site, or (4) monitoring parameters related to disposal system performance.

Annual committed effective dose means the committed effective dose resulting from one-year intake of radionuclides released plus the annual effective dose caused by direct radiation from facilities or activities subject to subparts B and C of this part.

Aquifer means an underground geological formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that is capable of yielding a significant amount of water to a well or spring.

Barrier means any material or structure that prevents or substantially delays movement of water or radionuclides toward the accessible environment. For example, a barrier may be a geologic structure, a canister, a waste form with physical and chemical characteristics that significantly decrease the mobility of radionuclides, or a material placed over and around waste, provided that the material or structure substantially delays movement of water or radionuclides.

Controlled area means: (1) A surface location, to be identified by passive institutional controls, that encompasses no more than 100 square kilometers and extends horizontally no more than five kilometers in any direction from the outer boundary of the original location of the radioactive wastes in a disposal system; and (2) the subsurface underlying such a surface location.

Disposal system means any combination of engineered and natural barriers that isolate spent nuclear fuel or radioactive waste after disposal.

Dose equivalent means the product of absorbed dose and appropriate factors to account for differences in biological effectiveness due to the quality of radiation and its spatial distribution in the body; the unit of dose equivalent is the “rem” (“sievert” in SI units).

Effective dose means the sum over specified tissues of the products of the dose equivalent received following an exposure of, or an intake of radionuclides into, specified tissues of the body, multiplied by appropriate weighting factors. This allows the various tissue-specific health risks to be summed into an overall health risk. The method used to calculate effective dose is described in appendix B of this part.

Ground water means water below the land surface in a zone of saturation.

Heavy metal means all uranium, plutonium, or thorium placed into a nuclear reactor.

Implementing agency means:

(1) The Commission for facilities licensed by the Commission;

(2) The Agency for those implementation responsibilities for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, under this part, given to the Agency by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act (Pub. L. 102-579, 106 Stat. 4777) which, for the purposes of this part, are:

(i) Determinations by the Agency that the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is in compliance with subpart A of this part;

(ii) Issuance of criteria for the certifications of compliance with subparts B and C of this part of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's compliance with subparts B and C of this part;

(iii) Certifications of compliance with subparts B and C of this part of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's compliance with subparts B and C of this part;

(iv) If the initial certification is made, periodic recertification of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's continued compliance with subparts B and C of this part;

(v) Review and comment on performance assessment reports of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant; and

(vi) Concurrence by the Agency with the Department's determination under §191.02(i) that certain wastes do not need the degree of isolation required by subparts B and C of this part; and

(3) The Department of Energy for any other disposal facility and all other implementation responsibilities for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, under this part, not given to the Agency.

International System of Units is the version of the metric system which has been established by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and is administered in the United States by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The abbreviation for this system is “SI.”

Lithosphere means the solid part of the Earth below the surface, including any ground water contained within it.

Passive institutional control means: (1) Permanent markers placed at a disposal site, (2) public records and archives, (3) government ownership and regulations regarding land or resource use, and (4) other methods of preserving knowledge about the location, design, and contents of a disposal system.

Performance assessment means an analysis that: (1) Identifies the processes and events that might affect the disposal system; (2) examines the effects of these processes and events on the performance of the disposal system; and (3) estimates the cumulative releases of radionuclides, considering the associated uncertainties, caused by all significant processes and events. These estimates shall be incorporated into an overall probability distribution of cumulative release to the extent practicable.

Radioactive material means matter composed of or containing radionuclides, with radiological half-lives greater than 20 years, subject to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

SI unit means a unit of measure in the International System of Units.

Sievert is the SI unit of effective dose and is equal to 100 rem or one joule per kilogram. The abbreviation is “Sv.”

Undisturbed performance means the predicted behavior of a disposal system, including consideration of the uncertainties in predicted behavior, if the disposal system is not disrupted by human intrusion or the occurrence of unlikely natural events.

Waste, as used in this subpart, means any spent nuclear fuel or radioactive waste isolated in a disposal system.

Waste form means the materials comprising the radioactive components of waste and any encapsulating or stabilizing matrix.

[50 FR 38084, Sept. 19, 1985, as amended at 58 FR 66414, Dec. 20, 1993]

§191.13 Containment requirements.

(a) Disposal systems for spent nuclear fuel or high-level or transuranic radioactive wastes shall be designed to provide a reasonable expectation, based upon performance assessments, that the cumulative releases of radionuclides to the accessible environment for 10,000 years after disposal from all significant processes and events that may affect the disposal system shall:

(1) Have a likelihood of less than one chance in 10 of exceeding the quantities calculated according to Table 1 (appendix A); and

(2) Have a likelihood of less than one chance in 1,000 of exceeding ten times the quantities calculated according to Table 1 (appendix A).

(b) Performance assessments need not provide complete assurance that the requirements of §191.13(a) will be met. Because of the long time period involved and the nature of the events and processes of interest, there will inevitably be substantial uncertainties in projecting disposal system performance. Proof of the future performance of a disposal system is not to be had in the ordinary sense of the word in situations that deal with much shorter time frames. Instead, what is required is a reasonable expectation, on the basis of the record before the implementing agency, that compliance with §191.13 (a) will be achieved.

§191.14 Assurance requirements.

To provide the confidence needed for long-term compliance with the requirements of §191.13, disposal of spent nuclear fuel or high-level or transuranic wastes shall be conducted in accordance with the following provisions, except that these provisions do not apply to facilities regulated by the Commission (see 10 CFR Part 60 for comparable provisions applicable to facilities regulated by the Commission):

(a) Active institutional controls over disposal sites should be maintained for as long a period of time as is practicable after disposal; however, performance assessments that assess isolation of the wastes from the accessible environment shall not consider any contributions from active institutional controls for more than 100 years after disposal.

(b) Disposal systems shall be monitored after disposal to detect substantial and detrimental deviations from expected performance. This monitoring shall be done with techniques that do not jeopardize the isolation of the wastes and shall be conducted until there are no significant concerns to be addressed by further monitoring.

(c) Disposal sites shall be designated by the most permanent markers, records, and other passive institutional controls practicable to indicate the dangers of the wastes and their location.

(d) Disposal systems shall use different types of barriers to isolate the wastes from the accessible environment. Both engineered and natural barriers shall be included.

(e) Places where there has been mining for resources, or where there is a reasonable expectation of exploration for scarce or easily accessible resources, or where there is a significant concentration of any material that is not widely available from other sources, should be avoided in selecting disposal sites. Resources to be considered shall include minerals, petroleum or natural gas, valuable geologic formations, and ground waters that are either irreplaceable because there is no reasonable alternative source of drinking water available for substantial populations or that are vital to the preservation of unique and sensitive ecosystems. Such places shall not be used for disposal of the wastes covered by this part unless the favorable characteristics of such places compensate for their greater likelihood of being disturbed in the future.

(f) Disposal systems shall be selected so that removal of most of the wastes is not precluded for a reasonable period of time after disposal.

§191.15 Individual protection requirements.

(a) Disposal systems for waste and any associated radioactive material shall be designed to provide a reasonable expectation that, for 10,000 years after disposal, undisturbed performance of the disposal system shall not cause the annual committed effective dose, received through all potential pathways from the disposal system, to any member of the public in the accessible environment, to exceed 15 millirems (150 microsieverts).

(b) Annual committed effective doses shall be calculated in accordance with appendix B of this part.

(c) Compliance assessments need not provide complete assurance that the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section will be met. Because of the long time period involved and the nature of the processes and events of interest, there will inevitably be substantial uncertainties in projecting disposal system performance. Proof of the future performance of a disposal system is not to be had in the ordinary sense of the word in situations that deal with much shorter time frames. Instead, what is required is a reasonable expectation, on the basis of the record before the implementing agency, that compliance with paragraph (a) of this section will be achieved.

(d) Compliance with the provisions in this section does not negate the necessity to comply with any other applicable Federal regulations or requirements.

(e) The standards in this section shall be effective on January 19, 1994.

[58 FR 66414, Dec. 20, 1993]

§191.16 Alternative provisions for disposal.

The Administrator may, by rule, substitute for any of the provisions of subpart B alternative provisions chosen after:

(a) The alternative provisions have been proposed for public comment in the Federal Register together with information describing the costs, risks, and benefits of disposal in accordance with the alternative provisions and the reasons why compliance with the existing provisions of Subpart B appears inappropriate;

(b) A public comment period of at least 90 days has been completed, during which an opportunity for public hearings in affected areas of the country has been provided; and

(c) The public comments received have been fully considered in developing the final version of such alternative provisions.

[50 FR 38084, Sept. 19, 1985. Redesignated at 58 FR 66414, Dec. 20, 1993]

§191.17 Effective date.

The standards in this subpart shall be effective on November 18, 1985.

[50 FR 38084, Sept. 19, 1985; 50 FR 40003, Oct. 1, 1985. Redesignated at 58 FR 66414, Dec. 20, 1993]