an agreement program as provided for in Section 274 of the AEA. The apparent justification for the proposed legislation stems from the fact that NRC believes its legal authority to regulate tailings is terminated once the source material license for the uranium mill itself is terminated. Although the Council recognizes the need to protect the public health and safety from any potential adverse effects due to the long-term disposal of the mill tailings, the proposed legislation creates several problems which need to be addressed. The proposed legislation amends the AEA to explicitly redefine the definition of by-product material to include the natural occurring radioactivity contained in the uranium mill tailings. Conceivably, this could create a situation where the Commission would require two separate licenses for a uranium mill -- one for processing of source material and the second for disposing of the by-product material or tailings. This could result in two separate licensing tracks replete with public hearings and environmental impact statements. The bill should be revised to provide for one license and one licensing procedure which takes into account all of the relevant considerations, including the disposition of the tailings material. We disagree with the testimony presented by the State of New Mexico that the new definition of by-product material includes mine wastes. No sufficient justification or need has been presented to this Subcommittee to include mine wastes as by-product material. The legislative history accompanying the proposed legislation should make it explicitly clear that it is not the intent to include mine wastes in the definition of by-product material. Section 2 prohibits the Commission from licensing mill tailings for a 3 year period following the date of enactment of the proposed legislation. There is no indication of what is intended to transpire after the 3 year period concerning existing mill tailing disposal sites either at active or inactive uranium mill - sites. Presumably, NRC could retroactively apply regulatory criteria to active mill sites that have been regulated during the interim by Agreement States. The retroactive application of NRC criteria could place an economic hardship on mill operations and could possibly disrupt production. This uncertainty could be removed from the legislation by grandfathering existing mills. Section 3 of the proposed legislation amends the AEA to allow the Department of Energy to accept donations of reclaimed land used for the disposal of mill tailings. However, the bill fails to define either implicity or explicity what constitutes reclaimed land. It should be modified to clearly define the requisite conditions upon which land would be acceptable for donation. More fundamentally, the bill fails to address the central issue of the transfer of responsibility for the mill tailings upon donation. Since the natural occurring radioactivity contained in the mill tailings is long-lived, there may be a need for perpetual care and monitoring. How much perpetual care and monitoring is open to question and hopefully will be resolved when NRC finalizes its generic environmental impact statement on mill tailings. The question is whether or not the responsibility for these activities is conveyed to the Federal Government upon donation. It may turn out that this question moot if in fact reclaimed land is defined as land not requiring any of the activities mentioned above. Precedent already exists for the Federal Government's assumption of the long-term responsibility for nuclear wastes. Under present NRC regulations, 10 CFR 50 Appendix F, NRC must accept title to high-level waste upon transfer to a Federal repository. (Incidently, the provision contained in Section 3 which excludes NRC from assignment of custody of donated mill tailing sites appears to be inconsistent with this Federal Regulation.) The question of long-term re Long-term responsibility sponsibility becomes important in a situation where a mill operator disposes of mill tailings at a site located on federal or state lands. for mill tailings must be addressed and determined before a truely effective regulatory system can be established for mill tailings. Section 4 amends the AEA to require that the Commission establish by rule, regulation or order such standards and instructions to ensure that funds will. be made available by the licensee for the completion of all requirements established by the Commission for the decommissioning, decontamination, and reclamation, . and long-term care of sites, structures and equipment used in conjunction with facilities or materials licensed under the AEA. As drafted this proposed pro - vision applies to all types of facilities and materials licensed by the NRC, including nuclear power plants not just uranium mill tailing disposal sites. This is a broad, new and sweeping authority granted to NRC without any justification in the hearing record for such a requirement; also there are no guidelines or criteria under which such funds would be required. The provision goes far beyond the scope of the bill and whether it has merit or not, it is inappropriate to include it in this bill which is addressing a specific problem. In any event, we are opposed to the provision even as it relates to mill tailings, since it appears that there has been no consideration given at all to the potential economic impact it might have on the operation of uranium mills. Finally, with respect to stabilization of mill tailings, NRC in the past has set out general regulatory guidelines for acceptable procedures and programs which are not necessarily regulatory requirements. However, during the licensing process, these guidelines are applied as if they were regulations. Therefore, we recommend that the Commission be required to formally codified such regulations so that the regulations would be subject to appropriate public review and Congressional oversight. Attachment 1 Aerojet Manufacturing Company Alabama Power Company Allied Chemical Corporation Allied-General Nuclear Services COUNCIL MEMBERS American Electric Power Service Corporation American Kining Congress American Public Power Association Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. Atomics International Division Rockwell International Corporation The Betcock & Wilcox Company Bechtel Power Corporation Boeing Engineering & Construction Division Bokum Resources Corporation Boston Edison Company C. F. Braun & Company Byron Jackson Pump Division Combustion Engineering, Inc. Consumers Power Company Curtiss-Wright Corporation Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc. EG&G, Inc. Electro-Kucleonics, Inc. Florida Power & Light Company Fluor Corporation General Atomic Company General Electric Company General Public Utilities Service Georgia Power Company Jersey Central Power & Light Company J. A. Jones Construction Company Kansas Gas & Electric Company Long Island Lighting Company Mutual Atomic Energy Liability National Association of Electric National Rural Electric Cooperative New York State Electric & Gas Corporation Northeast Utilities Nuclear Associates International Nuclear Energy Liability-Property Insurance Association Kuclear Energy Services, Inc. Nuclear Engineering Company, Inc. Nuclear Exchange Corporation Nuclear Fuel Services Corporation Nuclear Services Corporation NUS Corporation Offshore Power Systems Omaha Public Power District Public Service Co. of Colorado Public Service Co. of New Hampshire Public Service Co. of New Mexico Public Service Co. of Oklahoma Puget Sound Power & Light Company The Rockbestos Company Science Applications, Inc. Southern Calfiornia Edison Company The S. M. Stoller Corporation Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation Toledo Edison Company Union Carbide Corporation Union Electric Company United Nuclear Corporation United States Steel Corporation Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation Virginia Electric & Power Company Washington Public Utility Districts The Washington Water Power Company Westinghouse Electric Corporation Visconsin Public Service Corporation 32-331 - 78 - 36 Southwest Research and Information Center LEGAL OFFICE: Rt. 3, Box 99, Santa Fe, NM 87501 This letter is for the purpose of transmitting Southwest Research and Information Center's comments on H.R. 1382, Amendments to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. I regret that I was unable to attend the subcommittee's hearings on this bill on July 10, 1978. Very truly yours, Denise D. Fort Denise D. Fort Im DDF/jm CC Representative Manual Lujan Enclosures |