§ 7023. Waste separation; recoverability; and minimum facility design standards

(a) Under the authority of section 7020 of this title, the Agency shall adopt rules establishing waste separation, recoverability, and minimum facility design standards for any low-level radioactive waste disposal facility including:

(1) a prohibition on shallow land burial;

(2) definitions of short-lived waste and long-lived waste;

(3) definition of hazardous life of the short-lived waste;

(4) requirements for maximum separation of short-lived and long-lived waste;

(5) requirements that the design be compatible with and complement the characteristics of the site as necessary for the performance objectives;

(6) requirements for active management during, and setting the length of, an institutional control period;

(7) requirements to control the dilution of long-lived waste where the purpose is to convert long-lived waste to short-lived waste or to change the federal classification;

(8) requirements for enhanced containment sufficient to meet the performance objectives;

(9) requirements for recoverability of the separated long-lived waste that are compatible with the performance objectives;

(10) requirements for structural integrity during the design life of the facility;

(11) requirements for monitoring, until the end of the institutional control period, that are adequate to detect failure of the facility in time to take reasonable remedial action and that provide for independent review and verification;

(12) requirements for long-term passive isolation of the waste from the environment, including the minimization of water intrusion and protection against intruders;

(13) requirements for the permanent unmistakable marking of the facility identifying it as hazardous to future human inhabitants;

(14) performance objectives for each stage of the life of the facility to ensure the protection of individuals and the general population from releases of radioactivity, the protection of individuals and the general population from direct radiation, the protection of individuals from and during intrusion; and

(15) capacity specifications to limit the size of the disposal facility to that necessary to dispose of the expected low-level radioactive waste.

(b) In establishing the definitions of short-lived and long-lived waste and in establishing the requirements for maximum separation of those wastes, the Agency shall ensure that the hazardous life of the short-lived waste is less than the institutional control period and shall consider the costs of separation and all risks from separating and disposing of the separated wastes. This should include the risks associated with the separation process, the placement of the separated wastes in the facility authorized by this chapter, the recovery of the long-lived waste and any transportation and preparation of that waste for permanent disposal. (Added 1989, No. 296 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. June 29, 1990.)