State Experience with alternate disposal options

Under 10CFR20.2001 NRC and equivalent Agreement State (AS) regulations, licensed material and low-level radioactive waste can be transferred to an authorized recipient, decayed in storage, released in air and liquid effluents within limits, transferred to a licensee for decay, treatment or incineration, or, disposed at a land disposal facility licensed under 10CFR61 or equivalent AS regulation. A licensee may also apply to the NRC or an AS for an “alternate” disposal approach under 10CFR20.2002. This procedure is not often used, and the NRC has used a dose constraint of a “few” millirem per year for the member of the public dose receptor. This presentation will describe a few of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s recent experiences with the “alternate” disposal approach under 10CFR20.2002, and the justification for using a one (1) millirem per year dose constraint.