Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) NRC’s Low-Level Radioactive Waste Regulatory Program: Update of Emerging Issues April 13, 2016 LLW Forum Meeting Park City, Utah John Tappert, Director Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs (DUWP) Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS)

Objective To discuss the NRC’s Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) Program with a focus on: Management Changes Ongoing Part 61 Rulemaking Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) and Transuranic Waste Byproduct Financial Assurance Scoping Study Project AIM 2

Management Changes Marc Dapas, Director, NMSS (June 2016) John Tappert, Director, DUWP (January 2016) Andrea Kock, Deputy Director, DUWP (March 2016) Gregory Suber, Chief, Low-Level Waste Branch

Overview LLRW Program Uniform Waste Manifest Next Part 61 Rulemaking? GTCC/Trans-uranic Waste Programmatic Assessment LLRW Program CA BTP Implementation Byproduct Material Financial Assurance Scoping Study Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR) International 4

10 CFR Part 61 Rulemaking

Rulemaking Process 2/12/14 3/26/15 5/30/16 Proposed Rule and Associated Draft Guidance Issued Commission Approved Proposed Rule Final Rule Due to Commission

Public Participation Received over 2,400 comment letters Addressed comments gathered during public meetings Comments from industry, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Agreement States, licensees, public interest groups, and others Over 850 comments identified and binned

Significant Comments Three tiered approach is too complicated Recommended moving to Compatibility Category C for many of the primary rule changes Proposed rule should not apply to sites that don’t plan to accept new unanalyzed waste Re-classification of depleted uranium should be done before the current rule is finalized Backfit analysis should be developed

GTCC and Transuranic Waste

Activities Related to GTCC and Transuranic Waste Disposal February 18, 2011 - Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Disposal of GTCC and GTCC-Like Waste January 30, 2015 - Texas Letter July 17, 2015 - SECY-15-0094 December 23, 2015 - Commission’s Direction in SRM-SECY- 15-0094 February 25, 2016 - Final EIS for the Disposal of GTCC and GTCC-Like Waste

Next Steps Complete Ongoing Part 61 Rulemaking Prepare Regulatory Basis with Public Workshops Possible Part 61 Rule for GTCC and Transuranic Waste Disposal

Byproduct Material Financial Assurance Scoping Study

Public Participation Federal Register Notice (FRN) issued on August 3, 2015 Public Meeting held on October 7, 2015 Comment Period closed on October 19, 2015

Significant Comments Financial assurance should be required for all Category 1, 2, and 3 sealed sources Financial assurance requirements should be based on cost estimates that are periodically reevaluated Fixed dollar amounts established by regulation are not desirable – each situation is unique Need to be careful in defining “end-of-life”, particularly for applications that may require periodic use of sources Cost of disposal should be borne by the entity that receives the economic benefit

Objective Making smart changes in a proactive manner that will position the agency to effectively and efficiently implement its mission now and in the future

Project Aim Tasks In January 2015, NRC staff sent a proposal to the Commission Right-sizing the agency to retain skill sets needed to accomplish its mission Streamlining agency processes to use resources more wisely Improving timeliness in regulatory decision-making and responding quickly to changing conditions Promoting unity of purpose with clearer agencywide priorities

Prioritization and Re-baselining - Process Evaluated work against mission, principles, and values Identified the work beyond the point of diminishing returns Considered suggested efficiencies from staff and stakeholders Identified unnecessary process burdens to be eliminated

Proposed Shed, De-prioritization, Reduced Resource Sheds Item # Proposed Shed, De-prioritization, Reduced Resource Item $K Item FTE 5 Terminate the current rulemaking activity to change 10 CFR Part 20 $10 1.0 12 Reduce resources for travel for conference and non-critical events $300 0.0 75 Reduce Agreement State travel and training funds $125 141 Reduce WIR Travel $25 142 Reduce WIR Mission Related Training $15

Additional Steps March 18, 2016 - Commission received: List of long-term process improvements for efficiencies in FY 2018 and beyond Known changes in workload through 2020 Continue implementation of tasks For more info: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/plans-performance/project-aim-2020.html

Questions?