Waste Disposal

10 C.F.R. Part ..., Subpart K
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01

10 C.F.R. § 20.2001 General requirements.

(a) A licensee shall dispose of licensed material only— (1) By transfer to an authorized recipient as provided in § 20.2006 or in the regulations in parts 30, 40, 60, 61, 63, 70, and 72 of this chapter; (2) By decay in storage; or (3) By release in effluents within the limits in § 20.1301; or (4) As authorized under §§ 20.2002, 20.2003, 20.2004, 20.2005, or 20.2008. (b) A person must be specifically licensed to receive waste containing licensed material from other persons for: (1) Treatment prior to disposal; or (2) Treatment or disposal by incineration; or (3) Decay in storage; or (4) Disposal at a land disposal facility licensed under part 61 of this chapter; or (5) Disposal at a geologic repository under part 60 or part 63 of this chapter.

10 C.F.R. § 20.2002 Method for obtaining approval of proposed disposal procedures.

A licensee or applicant for a license may apply to the Commission for approval of proposed procedures, not otherwise authorized in the regulations in this chapter, to dispose of licensed material generated in the licensee's activities. Each application shall include: (a) A description of the waste containing licensed material to be disposed of, including the physical and chemical properties important to risk evaluation, and the proposed manner and conditions of waste disposal; and (b) An analysis and evaluation of pertinent information on the nature of the environment; and (c) The nature and location of other potentially affected licensed and unlicensed facilities; and (d) Analyses and procedures to ensure that doses are maintained ALARA and within the dose limits in this part.

10 C.F.R. § 20.2003 Disposal by release into sanitary sewerage.

(a) A licensee may discharge licensed material into sanitary sewerage if each of the following conditions is satisfied: (1) The material is readily soluble (or is readily dispersible biological material) in water; and (2) The quantity of licensed or other radioactive material that the licensee releases into the sewer in 1 month divided by the average monthly volume of water released into the sewer by the licensee does not exceed the concentration listed in table 3 of appendix B to part 20; and (3) If more than one radionuclide is released, the following conditions must also be satisfied: (i) The licensee shall determine the fraction of the limit in table 3 of appendix B to part 20 represented by discharges into sanitary sewerage by dividing the actual monthly average concentration of each radionuclide released by the licensee into the sewer by the concentration of that radionuclide listed in table 3 of appendix B to part 20; and (ii) The sum of the fractions for each radionuclide required by paragraph (a)(3)(i) of this section does not exceed unity; and (4) The total quantity of licensed and other radioactive material that the licensee releases into the sanitary sewerage system in a year does not exceed 5 curies (185 GBq) of hydrogen-3, 1 curie (37 GBq) of carbon-14, and 1 curie (37 GBq) of all other radioactive materials combined. (b) Excreta from individuals undergoing medical diagnosis or therapy with radioactive material are not subject to the limitations contained in paragraph (a) of this section.

10 C.F.R. § 20.2004 Treatment or disposal by incineration.

(a) A licensee may treat or dispose of licensed material by incineration only: (1) As authorized by paragraph (b) of this section; or (2) If the material is in a form and concentration specified in § 20.2005; or (3) As specifically approved by the Commission pursuant to § 20.2002. (b)(1) Waste oils (petroleum derived or synthetic oils used principally as lubricants, coolants, hydraulic or insulating fluids, or metalworking oils) that have been radioactively contaminated in the course of the operation or maintenance of a nuclear power reactor licensed under part 50 of this chapter may be incinerated on the site where generated provided that the total radioactive effluents from the facility, including the effluents from such incineration, conform to the requirements of appendix I to part 50 of this chapter and the effluent release limits contained in applicable license conditions other than effluent limits specifically related to incineration of waste oil. The licensee shall report any changes or additions to the information supplied under §§ 50.34 and 50.34a of this chapter associated with this incineration pursuant to § 50.71 of this chapter, as appropriate. The licensee shall also follow the procedures of § 50.59 of this chapter with respect to such changes to the facility or procedures. (2) Solid residues produced in the process of incinerating waste oils must be disposed of as provided by § 20.2001. (3) The provisions of this section authorize onsite waste oil incineration under the terms of this section and supersede any provision in an individual plant license or technical specification that may be inconsistent.

10 C.F.R. § 20.2005 Disposal of specific wastes.

(a) A licensee may dispose of the following licensed material as if it were not radioactive: (1) 0.05 microcurie (1.85 kBq), or less, of hydrogen-3 or carbon-14 per gram of medium used for liquid scintillation counting; and (2) 0.05 microcurie (1.85 kBq), or less, of hydrogen-3 or carbon-14 per gram of animal tissue, averaged over the weight of the entire animal. (b) A licensee may not dispose of tissue under paragraph (a)(2) of this section in a manner that would permit its use either as food for humans or as animal feed. (c) The licensee shall maintain records in accordance with § 20.2108.

10 C.F.R. § 20.2006 Transfer for disposal and manifests.

(a) The requirements of this section and appendix G to 10 CFR part 20 are designed to— (1) Control transfers of low-level radioactive waste by any waste generator, waste collector, or waste processor licensee, as defined in this part, who ships low-level waste either directly, or indirectly through a waste collector or waste processor, to a licensed low-level waste land disposal facility (as defined in part 61 of this chapter); (2) Establish a manifest tracking system; and (3) Supplement existing requirements concerning transfers and recordkeeping for those wastes. (b) Any licensee shipping radioactive waste intended for ultimate disposal at a licensed land disposal facility must document the information required on NRC's Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest and transfer this recorded manifest information to the intended consignee in accordance with appendix G to 10 CFR part 20. (c) Each shipment manifest must include a certification by the waste generator as specified in section II of appendix G to 10 CFR part 20. (d) Each person involved in the transfer for disposal and disposal of waste, including the waste generator, waste collector, waste processor, and disposal facility operator, shall comply with the requirements specified in section III of appendix G to 10 CFR part 20. (e) Any licensee shipping byproduct material as defined in paragraphs (3) and (4) of the definition of Byproduct material set forth in § 20.1003 intended for ultimate disposal at a land disposal facility licensed under part 61 of this chapter must document the information required on the NRC's Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest and transfer this recorded manifest information to the intended consignee in accordance with appendix G to this part.

10 C.F.R. § 20.2007 Compliance with environmental and health protection regulations.

Nothing in this subpart relieves the licensee from complying with other applicable Federal, State, and local regulations governing any other toxic or hazardous properties of materials that may be disposed of under this subpart.

10 C.F.R. § 20.2008 Disposal of certain byproduct material.

(a) Licensed material as defined in paragraphs (3) and (4) of the definition of Byproduct material set forth in § 20.1003 may be disposed of in accordance with part 61 of this chapter, even though it is not defined as low-level radioactive waste. Therefore, any licensed byproduct material being disposed of at a facility, or transferred for ultimate disposal at a facility licensed under part 61 of this chapter, must meet the requirements of § 20.2006. (b) A licensee may dispose of byproduct material, as defined in paragraphs (3) and (4) of the definition of Byproduct material set forth in § 20.1003, at a disposal facility authorized to dispose of such material in accordance with any Federal or State solid or hazardous waste law, including the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as authorized under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

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