Subpart A - Standards for the Control of Residual Radioactive Materials from Inactive Uranium Processing Sites

§192.00 Applicability.

This subpart applies to the control of residual radioactive material at designated processing or depository sites under section 108 of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (henceforth designated “the Act�), and to restoration of such sites following any use of subsurface minerals under section 104(h) of the Act.

(2) Other wastes (which the Secretary determines to be radioactive) at a processing site which relate to such processing, including any residual stock of unprocessed ores or low-grade materials.

§192.01 Definitions.

(a) Residual radioactive material means:

(1) Waste (which the Secretary determines to be radioactive) in the form of tailings resulting from the processing of ores for the extraction of uranium and other valuable constituents of the ores; and activities.

(e) Depository site means a site (other than a processing site) selected under Section 104(b) or 105(b) of the Act.

(f) Curie (Ci) means the amount of radioactive material that produces 37 billion nuclear transformation per second. One picocurie (pCi) = 10^−12 Ci.

(g) Act means the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978, as amended.

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

(i) Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.

(j) Commission means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

(k) Indian tribe means any tribe, band, clan, group, pueblo, or community of Indians recognized as eligible for services provided by the Secretary of the Interior to Indians.

(l) Processing site means:

(1) Any site, including the mill, designated by the Secretary under Section 102(a)(1) of the Act; and

(2) Any other real property or improvement thereon which is in the vicinity of such site, and is determined by the Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, to be contaminated with residual radioactive materials derived from such site.

(m) Tailings means the remaining portion of a metal-bearing ore after some or all of such metal, such as uranium, has been extracted.

(n) Disposal period means the period of time beginning March 7, 1983 and ending with the completion of all subpart A requirements specified under a plan for remedial action except those specified in §192.03 and §192.04.

(o) Plan for remedial action means a written plan (or plans) for disposal and cleanup of residual radioactive materials associated with a processing site that incorporates the results of site characterization studies, environmental assessments or impact statements, and engineering assessments so as to satisfy the requirements of subparts A and B of this part. The plan(s) shall be developed in accordance with the provisions of Section 108(a) of the Act with the concurrence of the Commission and in consultation, as appropriate, with the Indian Tribe and the Secretary of Interior.

(p) Post-disposal period means the period of time beginning immediately after the disposal period and ending at termination of the monitoring period established under §192.03.

(q) Groundwater means water below the ground surface in a zone of saturation.

(r) Underground source of drinking water means an aquifer or its portion:

(1)(i) Which supplies any public water system as defined in §141.2 of this chapter; or

(ii) Which contains a sufficient quantity of groundwater to supply a public water system; and

(A) Currently supplies drinking water for human consumption; or

(B) Contains fewer than 10,000 mg/l total dissolved solids; and

(2) Which is not an exempted aquifer as defined in §144.7 of this chapter.

[48 FR 602, Jan. 5, 1983, as amended at 60 FR 2865, Jan. 11, 1995]

§192.02 Standards.

Control of residual radioactive materials and their listed constituents shall be designed ¹ to:

¹ Because the standard applies to design, monitoring after disposal is not required to demonstrate compliance with respect to §192.02(a) and (b).

(a) Be effective for up to one thousand years, to the extent reasonably achievable, and, in any case, for at least 200 years, and,

(b) Provide reasonable assurance that releases of radon-222 from residual radioactive material to the atmosphere will not:

(1) Exceed an average ² release rate of 20 picocuries per square meter per second, or

² This average shall apply over the entire surface of the disposal site and over at least a one-year period. Radon will come from both residual radioactive materials and from materials covering them. Radon emissions from the covering materials should be estimated as part of developing a remedial action plan for each site. The standard, however, applies only to emissions from residual radioactive materials to the atmosphere.

(2) Increase the annual average concentration of radon-222 in air at or above any location outside the disposal site by more than one-half picocurie per liter.

(c) Provide reasonable assurance of conformance with the following groundwater protection provisions:

(1) The Secretary shall, on a site-specific basis, determine which of the constituents listed in Appendix I to Part 192 are present in or reasonably derived from residual radioactive materials and shall establish a monitoring program adequate to determine background levels of each such constituent in groundwater at each disposal site.

(2) The Secretary shall comply with conditions specified in a plan for remedial action which includes engineering specifications for a system of disposal designed to ensure that constituents identified under paragraph (c)(1) of this section entering the groundwater from a depository site (or a processing site, if residual radioactive materials are retained on the site) will not exceed the concentration limits established under paragraph (c)(3) of this section (or the supplemental standards established under §192.22) in the uppermost aquifer underlying the site beyond the point of compliance established under paragraph (c)(4) of this section.

(3) Concentration limits:

(i) Concentration limits shall be determined in the groundwater for listed constituents identified under paragraph (c)(1) of this section. The concentration of a listed constituent in groundwater must not exceed:

(A) The background level of that constituent in the groundwater; or

(B) For any of the constituents listed in Table 1 to subpart A, the respective value given in that Table if the background level of the constituent is below the value given in the Table; or

(C) An alternate concentration limit established pursuant to paragraph (c)(3)(ii) of this section.

(ii)(A) The Secretary may apply an alternate concentration limit if, after considering remedial or corrective actions to achieve the levels specified in paragraphs (c)(3)(i)(A) and (B) of this section, he has determined that the constituent will not pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health and the environment as long as the alternate concentration limit is not exceeded, and the Commission has concurred.

(B) In considering the present or potential hazard to human health and the environment of alternate concentration limits, the following factors shall be considered:

(1) Potential adverse effects on groundwater quality, considering:

(i) The physical and chemical characteristics of constituents in the residual radioactive material at the site, including their potential for migration;

(ii) The hydrogeological characteristics of the site and surrounding land;

(iii) The quantity of groundwater and the direction of groundwater flow;

(iv) The proximity and withdrawal rates of groundwater users;

(v) The current and future uses of groundwater in the region surrounding the site;

(vi) The existing quality of groundwater, including other sources of contamination and their cumulative impact on the groundwater quality;

(vii) The potential for health risks caused by human exposure to constituents;

(viii) The potential damage to wildlife, crops, vegetation, and physical structures caused by exposure to constituents;

(ix) The persistence and permanence of the potential adverse effects;

(x) The presence of underground sources of drinking water and exempted aquifers identified under §144.7 of this chapter; and

(2) Potential adverse effects on hydraulically-connected surface-water quality, considering:

(i) The volume and physical and chemical characteristics of the residual radioactive material at the site;

(ii) The hydrogeological characteristics of the site and surrounding land;

(iii) The quantity and quality of groundwater, and the direction of groundwater flow;

(iv) The patterns of rainfall in the region;

(v) The proximity of the site to surface waters;

(vi) The current and future uses of surface waters in the region surrounding the site and any water quality standards established for those surface waters;

(vii) The existing quality of surface water, including other sources of contamination and their cumulative impact on surface water quality;

(viii) The potential for health risks caused by human exposure to constituents;

(ix) The potential damage to wildlife, crops, vegetation, and physical structures caused by exposure to constituents; and

(x) The persistence and permanence of the potential adverse effects.

(4) Point of compliance: The point of compliance is the location at which the groundwater concentration limits of paragraph (c)(3) of this section apply. The point of compliance is the intersection of a vertical plane with the uppermost aquifer underlying the site, located at the hydraulically downgradient limit of the disposal area plus the area taken up by any liner, dike, or other barrier designed to contain the residual radioactive material.

(d) Each site on which disposal occurs shall be designed and stabilized in a manner that minimizes the need for future maintenance.

[60 FR 2865, Jan. 11, 1995]

§192.03 Monitoring.

A groundwater monitoring plan shall be implemented, to be carried out over a period of time commencing upon completion of remedial actions taken to comply with the standards in §192.02, and of a duration which is adequate to demonstrate that future performance of the system of disposal can reasonably be expected to be in accordance with the design requirements of §192.02(c). This plan and the length of the monitoring period shall be modified to incorporate any corrective actions required under §192.04 or §192.12(c).

[60 FR 2866, Jan. 11, 1995]

§192.04 Corrective action.

If the groundwater concentration limits established for disposal sites under provisions of §192.02(c) are found or projected to be exceeded, a corrective action program shall be placed into operation as soon as is practicable, and in no event later than eighteen (18) months after a finding of exceedance. This corrective action program will restore the performance of the system of disposal to the original concentration limits established under §192.02(c)(3), to the extent reasonably achievable, and, in any case, as a minimum shall:

(a) Conform with the groundwater provisions of §192.02(c)(3), and

(b) Clean up groundwater in conformance with subpart B, modified as appropriate to apply to the disposal site.

[60 FR 2866, Jan. 11, 1995]

Table 1 to Subpart A of Part 192 - Maximum Concentration of Constituents for Groundwater Protection

[60 FR 2866, Jan. 11, 1995]