Protecting the Public Health and Safety

Nuclear materials are specifically regulated under 10 CFR 1.42, administered by the U. S. NRC, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Security (NMSS). The duties and responsibilities of the NMSS include protecting the public health and safety, national defense and security by licensing, inspection, and environmental impact assessment for nuclear facilities and activities involving nuclear materials, and for the import and export of special nuclear materials. 

NRC protects the public health and safety and the environment by licensing and regulating the use of nuclear energy. It also develops and enforces regulations concerning nuclear safety and it inspects licensed activities, sponsors research, and publishes reports related to its mission. 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sets broad policy to protect the public health and safety and to... 

CFR 50.54(x) states A licensee may take reasonable action that departs from a license condition or a technical specification (contained in a license issued under this part) in an emergency when this action is immediately needed to protect the public health and safety and no action consistent with license conditions and technical specifications that can provide adequate or equivalent protection is immediately apparent. 10 CFR 50.54(y) states that the minimum level of management which may authorize this action is ... 

The thermal conductivity Qi) of polymers is an important property in thermal-stress applications and also in thermal insulations. For the latter, polymer foams with air pockets or other gas (CCL3F) pockets have k values as low as 0.15 BTU in./(°F ft h). Values of thermal conductivity for several materials are listed in Table G.l. Use of foam insulations that contain formaldehyde are cautioned against because of recent evidence of possible adverse health effects. The professional engineer (P.E.), upon registration, pledges to protect the public health and safety. Therefore, such concerns should always be considered in design. Of course, this concern also applies to all engineering professionals. 

Initially PSAs were used, primarily, to evaluate risk imposed on the public or workers. This includes the use of PSA in licensing and/or review procedures to assure protection of public health and safety. Examples by user are ... 

The mission of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is to regulate the nation s civilian use of by-product, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, to promote the common defense and security, and to protect the environment. 

Finding 1. Consistent with the Stockpile Committee s prior recommendation that the CSDP use technology that will minimize overall risk to the public and to the workers at each site, protecting the health and wellbeing of the workforce at chemical agent disposal facilities is an overarching priority, on a par with protection of the public health and safety. 

Although NARM is not a radioactive material defined in AEA, DOE is responsible for management and disposal of NARM waste generated by any of its authorized activities, based on the provision of AEA that all DOE activities must be protective of public health and safety (AEA, 1954). Current DOE policy specifies that NARM waste is to be managed as mixed waste under AEA and RCRA or TSCA (1976) if the waste is hazardous under either of the latter two laws (DOE, 1999c). Thus, all issues that arise in management and disposal of DOE s mixed low-level waste (see Section 4.3.3) also apply to DOE s mixed NARM waste. 

Government regulation to protect the public health cuid safety is not a recent phenomenon. It has been prevalent throughout recorded history. Numerous Federal statutes now exist to protect the safety of the products we consume and use, and all aspects of our environment. 

O3), aromatic hydrocarbons, particulate matters, and so forth. Some of these pollutants are listed in Table 2.1 [1]. EPA has defined the primary standard (with an adequate margin of safety, to protect the public health) and secondary standard (air quality defines levels of air quality necessary to protect the public welfare from any known or anticipated adverse effects of a pollutant) for keeping the quahty of air. Such standards are subject to revision and are promulgated with the need to protect the public health. So, it is necessary to measure the pollutants in air below the standard set by EPA (U.S.) and also the European Union (EU) for such hazardous gases (Table 2.1). 

Although designs that provide adequate protection of public health and safety also protect the environment, low-level contamination limits, as specified by various nations, differ greatly, so there is no common international approach for land contamination issues. The trend in some countries is to establish limits on land contamination in time and area. Other countries may rely on clean-up and recovery actions. A related issue is consideration for long-term cleanup and recovery following an accident. These issues are addressed in TECDOC-801 through the concept of the Complementary Design Objective. 

Future NPPs should achieve a higher level of safety (enhanced safety) than currently operating plants. Since current plants are judged to provide adequate protection of public health and safety, this enhanced safety for future plants is stated by NRC as an "expectation", beyond current regulations, for suppliers of hiture designs. The utilities have also imposed this expectation for enhanced safety on future designs as a commercial requirement. 

In the context of the efficient implementation of 10 Cm Part 52, NTDG calls for a new regulatory framework that is fully risk-informed and performance-based and go[es] beyond the ongoing efforts to risk-inform 10 CFR Part 50 for current plants to improve the protection of public health and safety, ehminate regulatory burdens that do not contribute to safety, and increase the confidence of prospective applicants in the regulatory environment for new plants and encourage business decisions to proceed with new nuclear projects (DOE, 2001). 

The Commission shall require the bacl0tting of a facility only when it determines. .. that there is a substantial increase in the overall protection of the public health and safety or the common defense and security to be derived from the backfit and that the direct and indirect costs of implementation for that facility are justified in view of this increased protection. 

If a dmg regulation system is to bring about the ultimate outcome of protecting public health and safety, certain stmctural and process arrangements must be securely in place. 

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