1. EPA Work in TENORM Philip Egidi U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Radiation and Indoor Air
NORM/TENORM Training
May 8, 2017
CRCPD Annual Meeting
Scottsdale, AZ

2. Disclaimer
This presentation is the opinion of the author only and does not represent EPA policy, regulation, or position. The intent is to engage in meaningful exchange of ideas with interested parties on the evaluation, control and management of naturally occurring radioactive materials enhanced by industrial processes.
The author cannot represent EPA policy or position because we don’t know what they are. Or who they are.
Really – it’s existential
May 8, 2017

3. Overview EPA Definitions of NORM/TENORM EPA Authorities
Current Activities
May 8, 2017

4. EPA Definitions
NORM
Naturally occurring radioactive material (and radiation): Materials which may contain any of the primordial radionuclides or radioactive elements as they occur in nature, such as radium, uranium, thorium, potassium, and their radioactive decay products, that are undisturbed as a result of human activities
Radiation levels presented by NORM are generally referred to as a component of “natural background radiation”
Source: EPA 2008
May 8, 2017

5. EPA Definitions TENORM
Technologically enhanced NORM: NORM materials that have been concentrated or exposed to the accessible environment as a result of human activities such as manufacturing, mineral extraction, or water processing
Technologically enhanced means that the radiological, physical, and chemical properties of the radioactive material have been altered by having been processed, or beneficiated, or disturbed in a way that increases the potential for human and/or environmental exposures
Source: EPA 2008
May 8, 2017

6. Regulatory Variations
Some EPA regulations capture certain media-specific TENORM (CAA, SDWA, CWA)
There is no single, overarching TENORM cleanup or disposal standard.
One size would not fit all.
Uranium, thorium, radium, lead and polonium (among others) can be, and are in fact, regulated under the Act, and not regulated under the Act, depending on pedigree.
There is inconsistent regulation at the national, state and local level.
As such, isotopes of U, Th…
May 8, 2017

7. Regulation: The High View
The materials we are discussing today are not captured by the Atomic Energy Act (AEA)
AEA only addresses source (ore), byproduct (U/Th mill tailings) or special nuclear material (enriched).
Does not capture x-rays, NORM or TENORM
DOE regulates their TENORM under Order 458.1
Uranium mill tailings – AEA
Vanadium or radium tailings – Non-AEA
Authority primarily falls to the states.
May 8, 2017

8. Regulation
AEA requirements are strict with respect to control and exposure to radioactive materials
Licensing
Requirements for possession
Adequate training, resources, and need for material
Liability
Not so much with TENORM…
Unintended
Limited oversight, if any
Low activity, but high-volume
Can still be significant liability…
May 8, 2017

9. TENR* - Gesell and Prichard - 1975
“There appears to us to be a certain inconsistency in the relative concern for exposure to radiation from man-made sources and exposure from "natural" sources.” “We do not feel that equivalent exposures from man-made non- medical radiation or TENR should evoke different attitudes or be subject to different criteria for control.”
Thank you, gents…
A rem is a rem is a rem. Unless it isn’t…
* Technologically enhanced natural radiation
May 8, 2017

10. Examples of Federal Regulation
Safe Drinking Water Act
Maximum Contaminant Levels for drinking water (40 CFR 141)
Uranium, radium (combined), gross alpha/beta
Clean Water Act
Surface runoff standards for uranium and radium at mines and mills (40 CFR 440 (C))
Clean Air Act
National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (40 CFR 61)
Radon from underground uranium mines
Radon flux from phosphogypsum stacks
Po-210 from elemental phosphorous production
Radon flux from uranium mill tailings piles
May 8, 2017

11. EPA Work in TENORM Clean Air Act: Update to CAP88 V4 COMPLY
Subpart W update final (radon flux from uranium byproduct material)
Rad NESHAPS Program
Training for Regions and Stakeholders upcoming
May 8, 2017

12. Water
Clean Water Act
Effluent limit guidelines from unconventional oil and gas to POTWs – 2019 (40 CFR 435)
Safe Drinking Water Act
Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program
May 8, 2017

13. RCRA TENORM disposal in solid waste facilities Coal ash rule
Evaluation underway to determine if rulemaking is needed to address wastes from oil and gas
Brought by litigation
Decision due in 2019
Coal ash rule
Requirements for landfills and impoundments
May 8, 2017

14. Disposal TENORM is not disposed as radioactive waste.
Disposal is restricted for “radioactive waste,” which is usually defined as material licensed by the nuclear regulator (i.e., NRC).
Under that interpretation, TENORM is not “radioactive waste.” It is waste that contains some radioactivity.
Some waste Compacts do consider TENORM to be low level waste.
Most often disposed in a solid waste landfill or a hazardous waste landfill (which has more design requirements).
Permission from the local authorities required to accept TENORM.
It is growing practice for landfills to have portal monitors in order to detect materials with elevated radioactivity.
Limits may be imposed on the level of radioactivity or the type of material accepted at a facility.
State regulations, if they exist, may also apply to disposal.
May 8, 2017

15. CERCLA OLEM: Radiation Risk Assessment At CERCLA Sites: Q&A
OSWER
12 is the new 15
TENORM can be subject to CERCLA….
May 8, 2017

16. Other Guidance ANSI/HPS N13.53 Control and Release of TENORM
Consensus standard
References ANSI/HPS N13.12 (1999 version) for clearance levels.
EPA TENORM resources:
Uranium overburden study and more…
May 8, 2017

17. Questions?
Philip Egidi Environmental Scientist Radiation Protection Division US Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC (202)
May 8, 2017