What are some of the key issues with disposal of unique waste streams?
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has identified several key issues for initial discussion with stakeholders. These include defining key regulatory terms such as unique waste streams and significant quantities of depleted uranium as well as technical parameters of a site-specific analysis including a time period of performance, appropriate exposure scenarios for protection of the public and individuals from inadvertent intrusion. The NRC staff is also soliciting stakeholder views on technical issues for a site-specific analysis of near-surface disposal of significant quantities of depleted uranium. These technical issues include appropriate considerations for depleted uranium waste form(s), uranium geochemistry, and radon migration and exposure. These issues arose from the results of the NRC staff’s technical analysis (SECY-08-0147) that was submitted to the Commission on October 7, 2008, in response to Commission Order CLI-05-20 regarding depleted uranium. Given those