Received Texas Department of Health Feb 22 1999 Bureau of Radiation Control
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Waste Control Specialists, LLC
Procedures for Approval to Dispose of Exempt Level of Radioactive and Mixed Waste at the WCS Andrews Facility

USDOE radioactive and mixed waste containing levels of radioactive material that are considered exempt under Texas regulations, and that do not have to be shipped as low-level radioactive waste can be disposed of at the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) Andrews facility. This disposal is authorized under USDOE directives that allow reclassification of certain radioactive and mixed waste as residual material and unique regulatory authorities that exist in Texas.

USDOE Headquarters has issued two memoranda that address the issue of reclassifying radioactive waste as residual material and approving disposal at non-licensed facilities; Jan 7. 1997 re: Establishment and coordination of authorized limits for release of hazardous waste containing residual radioactive material; and Nov 17, 1995 re: Application of DOE 5400.5 requirements for release and control of property containing residual radioactive material. These memoranda are included as Attachment A.

Both memos contains similar procedures that allow DOE sites to ship waste (hazardous and non-hazardous) containing low levels of radioactivity as residual materials to unlicensed ofgite disposal facilities after performing an ALARA analysis which shows that the impacts will be minimal. These procedures are as follows:

1. The authorized limits are selected and approved by DOE based on an ALARA assessment that insures that individual doses to the public are less than 25 mrem per year with a goal of a few millirem per year or less. If it can be shown that the maximum individual dose is less than 1 mrem per year with a collective dose of less 10 person-rem per year, then DOE Field Office managers can authorize disposal without EH-1 written approval.
2. The authorized limits ensure that groundwater will be protected consistent with state requirements.
3. The authorized limits are assessed to ensure that release of the disposal facility property would not be expected to require remediation under DOE 5400.5 or other applicable requirements.
4. The activities are coordinated with and acceptable to the disposal facility operator and appropriate state regulators.

DOE radioactive and mixed waste which is less than exempt levels and which can be reclassified as residual material can be disposed of at the WCS Andrews facility because of the following unique regulatory authority that exists in Texas. The Texas Health Department (TDH) regulates possession and use of radioactive material and treatment and storage of radioactive waste, while the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC) regulates disposal of radioactive waste. In a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two agencies, if the Health Department has exempted a radioactive material from licensing requirements under its regulations, then the waste can be disposed of without regard to its radioactive properties under TNRCC authority. Since WCS has this authority to dispose of radioactive material and solid waste under its RCRA permit, a variety of low activity exempted materials can be disposed of at the Andrews facility. See the WCS Waste Acceptance Criteria Section 3.2 (Attachment B) for details on these exempt levels.

The WCS Andrews facility can meet each of the above criteria for all DOE mixed and radioactive waste containing radioactive materials that are below exempt levels under Texas regulations. A description of how the WCS facility meets each of these criteria follows.

1. The safety analysis, RESRAD and TSD calculations, included as Attachment D, demonstrates that the Andrews can meet the 1 mrem/yr criteria for exempt level waste.

2. The facility description (Attachment C) provides adequate discussion to show that groundwater at the site will be protected consistent with state requirements. The fact that the facility has a RCRA disposal permit issued by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and a TSCA disposal permit issued by USEPA is further evidence that the facility meets these criteria.

3. Since the material would meet exempt levels, it could be disposed of without regard to its radioactivity. The RCRA closure and post closure requirements under the RCRA permit would further assure that future remediation would not be required. The various financial assurance instruments required by the radioactive material license and RCRA permit will provide additional protection.

4. The TDH, Bureau of Radiation Control has indicated that WCS can dispose of exempt level DOE waste if notification is provided of the quantities received and certification of DOE reclassification as residual materials. Our RCRA permit authorizes us to dispose of radioactive materials and TNRCC has provided written authorization that WCS can dispose of exempt level material.

In June 1998, WCS was awarded a significant portion of the DOE Broad Spectrum Contract. All DOE facilities can utilize this contract vehicle (through Bechtel-Jacobs at ORNL) to ship the following generic waste streams to the WCS Andrews facility for treatment, storage and possible disposal. Since WCS has most of the necessary permits and licenses currently in place, we anticipate that selected waste streams can be shipped as early as September 1998.

- Treatment Category C: Non-TSCA. RCRA hazardous Waste with Metals and Insignificant Organics Requiring Treatment Primarily for Metals Only.

- Treatment Category E: TSCA-Only Waste with Organics WCS is in the process of negotiating inclusion of additional services, including disposal and treatment of other categories of waste strearns that will require stabilization (Category C) and decontamination (Category E). Since WCS can dispose of exempt level materials after DOE facilities have reclassified the waste as residual materials, significant quantities of DOE mixed could be disposed at WCS after treatment under the Broad Spectrum Contract. If disposal cannot be included as part of the Broad Spectrum Contract, it could be done under a separate contract.

It is believed that the attached information and analyses will provide sufficient justification for DOE site managers to approve the reclassification as residual material and disposal at WCS of all DOE radioactive and mixed waste that meets the WCS WAC disposal requirements. You can contact William P. Dornsife, WCS Yice President-Nuclear Affairs at 717-540-5220 (E-mail: dornsife.william@MCI9000.com) if additional information or details of the analyses are needed. You can also visit the WCS website at www.wcstexas.com.