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NRC Withdraws Proposal to Regulate Radionuclides Disposal in Wastewater
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission withdrew an advance notice of proposed rulemaking Nov. 10 that would have amended existing rules for radionuclide disposal into the nation's sanitary sewer systems (70 Fed. Reg. 68,350).
NRC said the action follows a decade of surveys and studies which concluded
that existing regulations are "adequate" and "sufficient" to protect public
health and safety.
"In general, the doses from licensed materials in sewage sludge present a
sufficiently low health and safety risk to [publicly owned treatment works]
workers and to the public under the current regulatory structure," NRC wrote in
the Federal Register.
The action brings closure to an issue that has been the subject of debate and
studies since 1994, when the agency first released its advance notice of
proposed rulemaking to ascertain the need to tighten existing rules for
disposing radionuclides in sanitary sewer systems.
"The purpose of the [Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking] was not initiated to
propose specific changes in regulations, but rather to solicit stakeholder
opinions," A. Christianne Ridge, of NRC's office of nuclear material, safety and
safeguards, told BNA Nov. 14.
NRC asked for comment on the need to regulate excreta of patients who were
undergoing chemotherapy as well as the form of radionuclides that should be
subject to regulation.
Current NRC regulations require that any licensed material discharged into a
sanitary sewer system be water soluble and "readily dispersible biological
material." The agency does not allow facilities licensed to use nuclear
materials to discharge radionuclides, which are insoluble and non-biological in
nature, into the sewer systems.
Radionuclide Concentration
Between 1994, when NRC first issued its advance notice of proposed rulemaking,
and 1997, federal and state officials and industry conducted studies to
determine the extent of radionuclide concentration in wastewater treatment
systems.
In 1996, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies conducted a limited
survey of ash samples from 55 wastewater treatment plants in 17 states. NACWA
was then known as the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies. The survey
found that the "most significant sources of radioactivity were potassium and
radium isotopes," which are naturally occurring radioactive materials.
In 1997, the Washington Department of Health similarly concluded that "there was
no indication that radioactive material in sewage sludge in the state of
Washington poses a health risk."
NRC and the Environmental Protection Agency set up an Interagency Steering
Committee on Radiation Standards (ISCORS) in 1995 to address the issue. Under
the aegis of ISCORS, EPA and NRC analyzed samples from 313 publicly owned
treatment works, including those that were located in areas with nuclear plants
and hospitals with chemotherapy facilities.
In 2003, ISCORS concluded in a report, ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in
Sewage Sludge: Radiological Survey Results and Analysis, that "no widespread or
nationwide public health concern was identified by the survey and no excessive
concentrations of radioactivity were observed in sludge or ash" (228 DEN A-1,
11/26/03 ).
In February 2005, ISCORS issued guidance for wastewater treatment operators on
actions to take in case radioactive materials do crop up in sewage sludge. The
guidance also provided information about monitoring for such materials.
Adam Krantz, NACWA's managing director for government and public affairs, said
the ISCORS study definitively proved that the levels of radionuclides in sewage
sludge did not "warrant major action such as national rulemaking."