Radioactive materials regulations

The Packaging, Labelling and Carriage of Radioactive Materials by Rail Regulations 1996... 

Radioactive Material (Road Transport) (Great Britain) Regulations 1996... 

SI 1996/2090 Packaging, Labelling and Carnage of Radioactive Material by Rail Regulations... 

Approved requirements for the packaging, labelling and carriage of radioactive material by rails A guide to the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 A guide to the Work in Compressed Air Regulations 1996... 

The NRC issues licenses for the facilities noted and the operators of those facilities. Licenses may also be issued by individual state governments under NRC-approved regulatory programs. There are more than 8500 such licenses under the NRC s jurisdiction and approximately 15,000 under the jurisdiction of Agreement States, which regulate certain radioactive materials under agreements with the NRC. As of 1996, there are 109 licensed commercial nuclear power reactors in the United States, located at 71 sites in 33 states (see Nuclear REACTORS). However, several of these facilities are only partially constructed and further construction has been deferred. There are more than 5300 licensed nuclear power plant operators in the United States, each licensed for a specific reactor. Every operator must be requalified before renewal of a six-year license (14,15). 

Radioactive Material From 49 CFR 173.403, a radioactive material is any material having a specific activity greater than 0.002 microcuries per gram (uCi/g). Specifications and descriptions can be found in the regulations. The reader may also refer to the term fissile material in this glossary. 

Along with the unique sensitivity and small quantities of material associated with radiochemistry, there is the need to comply with the regulations governing the safe use and handling of radioactive material. This task is a primary focus in the design and execution of radiochemical experiments and is often a significant factor in the cost of the experiment. Because so many of these rules are site specific, they are not treated in this chapter. 

In the first level of the hierarchy, radioactive waste that arises from operations of the nuclear fuel cycle (i.e., from processing of uranium or thorium ores and production of nuclear fuel, any uses of nuclear reactors, and subsequent utilization of radioactive material used or produced in reactors) is distinguished from radioactive waste that arises from any other source or practice. The latter type of waste is referred to as NARM (naturally occurring and accelerator-produced radioactive material), which includes any radioactive material produced in an accelerator and NORM [naturally occurring radioactive material not subject to regulation under the Atomic Energy Act (AEA)]. 

NRC has statutory authority to define radioactive materials as low-level waste, consistent with existing law, but has not done so. Given that NRC can only regulate radioactive materials defined in... 

Established Exemption Levels. NRC s radiation protection standards in 10 CFR Part 20 (NRC, 1991) include limits on concentrations or annual releases of radionuclides for unrestricted discharge into sanitary sewer systems, except any excreta from individuals undergoing medical treatment with radioactive material are exempt from the limits. These regulations also include an exemption for land disposal of liquid scintillation materials and animal carcasses that contain 2 kBq g 1 (0.05 pCi g-1) or less of 3H or 14C, although the exempted scintillation materials must be managed in accordance with RCRA requirements due to the presence of toluene. 

Current NRC regulations for source material in 10 CFR Part 40 (AEC, 1961) and byproduct material in 10 CFR Part 30 (AEC, 1965a) specify conditions for exemption of many products or materials that contain small amounts of radioactive material (see also Schneider et al, 2001). These exemptions apply to commercial or specialized industrial uses of radioactive materials, as well as their disposal, and they include many common consumer products e.g., timepieces, smoke detectors, thorium gas mantles). These exemptions were established based on judgments by AEC and NRC that the benefits of exempt uses far outweighed the risks to public health. 

NRC regulations described above represent a case-by-case approach to establishing exemption levels for radioactive material. Although the various exemption levels are expected to correspond to low doses from use and disposal of materials compared, for example, with dose limits in radiation protection standards for the public... 

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