Subpart A - Environmental Standards for Management and Storage

§191.01 Applicability.

This subpart applies to:

(a) Radiation doses received by members of the public as a result of the management (except for transportation) and storage of spent nuclear fuel or high-level or transuranic radioactive wastes at any facility regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or by Agreement States, to the extent that such management and storage operations are not subject to the provisions of part 190 of title 40; and

§191.02 Definitions.

Unless otherwise indicated in this subpart, all terms shall have the same meaning as in Subpart A of Part 190.

(a) Agency means the Environmental Protection Agency.

(b) Administrator means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

(c) Commission means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

(d) Department means the Department of Energy.

(e) NWPA means the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-425).

(f) Agreement State means any State with which the Commission or the Atomic Energy Commission has entered into an effective agreement under subsection 274b of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (68 Stat. 919).

(g) Spent nuclear fuel means fuel that has been withdrawn from a nuclear reactor following irradiation, the constituent elements of which have not been separated by reprocessing.

(h) High-level radioactive waste, as used in this part, means high-level radioactive waste as defined in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-425).

(i) Transuranic radioactive waste, as used in this part, means waste containing more than 100 nanocuries of alpha-emitting transuranic isotopes, with half-lives greater than twenty years, per gram of waste, except for: (1) High-level radioactive wastes; (2) wastes that the Department has determined, with the concurrence of the Administrator, do not need the degree of isolation required by this part; or (3) wastes that the Commission has approved for disposal on a case-by-case basis in accordance with 10 CFR Part 61.

(j) Radioactive waste, as used in this part, means the high-level and transuranic radioactive waste covered by this part.

(k) Storage means retention of spent nuclear fuel or radioactive wastes with the intent and capability to readily retrieve such fuel or waste for subsequent use, processing, or disposal.

(l) Disposal means permanent isolation of spent nuclear fuel or radioactive waste from the accessible environment with no intent of recovery, whether or not such isolation permits the recovery of such fuel or waste. For example, disposal of waste in a mined geologic repository occurs when all of the shafts to the repository are backfilled and sealed.

(m) Management means any activity, operation, or process (except for transportation) conducted to prepare spent nuclear fuel or radioactive waste for storage or disposal, or the activities associated with placing such fuel or waste in a disposal system.

(n) Site means an area contained within the boundary of a location under the effective control of persons possessing or using spent nuclear fuel or radioactive waste that are involved in any activity, operation, or process covered by this subpart.

(o) General environment means the total terrestrial, atmospheric, and aquatic environments outside sites within which any activity, operation, or process associated with the management and storage of spent nuclear fuel or radioactive waste is conducted.

(p) Member of the public means any individual except during the time when that individual is a worker engaged in any activity, operation, or process that is covered by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

(q) Critical organ means the most exposed human organ or tissue exclusive of the integumentary system (skin) and the cornea.

§191.03 Standards.

(a) Management and storage of spent nuclear fuel or high-level or transuranic radioactive wastes at all facilities regulated by the Commission or by Agreement States shall be conducted in such a manner as to provide reasonable assurance that the combined annual dose equivalent to any member of the public in the general environment resulting from: (1) Discharges of radioactive material and direct radiation from such management and storage and (2) all operations covered by Part 190; shall not exceed 25 millirems to the whole body, 75 millirems to the thyroid, and 25 millirems to any other critical organ.

(b) Management and storage of spent nuclear fuel or high-level or transuranic radioactive wastes at all facilities for the disposal of such fuel or waste that are operated by the Department and that are not regulated by the Commission or Agreement States shall be conducted in such a manner as to provide reasonable assurance that the combined annual dose equivalent to any member of the public in the general environment resulting from discharges of radioactive material and direct radiation from such management and storage shall not exceed 25 millirems to the whole body and 75 millirems to any critical organ.

§191.04 Alternative standards.

(a) The Administrator may issue alternative standards from those standards established in §191.03(b) for waste management and storage activities at facilities that are not regulated by the Commission or Agreement States if, upon review of an application for such alternative standards:

(1) The Administrator determines that such alternative standards will prevent any member of the public from receiving a continuous exposure of more than 100 millirems per year dose equivalent and an infrequent exposure of more than 500 millirems dose equivalent in a year from all sources, excluding natural background and medical procedures; and

(2) The Administrator promptly makes a matter of public record the degree to which continued operation of the facility is expected to result in levels in excess of the standards specified in §191.03(b).

(b) An application for alternative standards shall be submitted as soon as possible after the Department determines that continued operation of a facility will exceed the levels specified in §191.03(b) and shall include all information necessary for the Administrator to make the determinations called for in §191.04(a).

(c) Requests for alternative standards shall be submitted to the Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.

[50 FR 38084, Sept. 19, 1985, as amended at 65 FR 47325, Aug. 2, 2000]

§191.05 Effective date.

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