Minutes-66 th Meeting of the Southwest Compact April 9, 2013-Hobbs, New Mexico

Transcription

1 SOUTHWESTERN LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE COMMISSION 1731 Howe Avenue #611, Sacramento, California Voice: (916) Fax: (916) Website: May 11, 2013 Minutes-66 th Meeting of the Southwest Compact April 9, 2013-Hobbs, New Mexico Chair Godwin called the meeting to order for the 66 th Meeting of the Southwestern Low- Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission at 1601 hrs MDT. A roll call was taken and all Commissioners were in attendance. A quorum was present. Staff participating were Stephen Kowalewski, Legal Counsel and Kathy Davis, Executive Director. Chair Godwin noted that no one from the public was in attendance. In response to the Chair s request, Mr. Kowalewski stated that the agenda of the meeting had been sent to interested parties and posted on the Commission s website on March 28, 2013 in accordance with the California Open Meeting Act, Government Code section The Chair moved to Agenda Item #5-Reports. The Chair stated no correspondence had been received by any regulatory agency to the Compact. Brief comments were made by Commissioners regarding further correspondence and additional discussion was deferred to Agenda # 7 regarding incompatibility issues. Chair Godwin asked for the Executive Director s report. Ms. Davis reported that during December, 2012 she had informed the Exportation Committee regarding Qal Tek picking up sealed sources from our Compact and holding them for a number of years. Neither the State of California nor the Compact had been aware of these shipments. Qal-Tek was informed by the Tx-Vt Compact on the requirement of requesting a Petition from the Southwest Compact prior to disposal at the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) facility in Texas. In late January, 2013 the Compact annual Workshops took place. Again, one day programs were held for both Southern and Northern California Generators and Brokers. The focus was on sealed sources and options for disposal. Expenditures were approximately $8,000 and offset by the income of $9,200. The Workshops continue to provide education and updates on events and changes within the LLW industry. Again, we were able to cover our expenses thru the Registration Fee and we are fortunate that our guest speakers were able to participate at no cost to the Compact. Positive feedback was given regarding the participation of Philotechnics Vice President Megan Turvey, giving an update on the status of waste materials left at the Impact Services site after the filing of bankruptcy in TN. Many Generators in our Compact are still waiting to resolve final shipments to Energy Solutions because of this bankruptcy. Anthony Borland of Qal- Tek made a presentation discussing their operation and the storage of sealed sources at their facility in Idaho and changes being made to accommodate the Southwest Compact petition process. The evaluation sheets again gave very positive comments on having the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Radiologic Branch attending and presenting current information on State audits, procedures and requirements working with the Generators. The Generators and Brokers appreciate the face-to face- meeting at the Workshop. Steve Hsu and John Fassell also brought a number of Information

2 Notices sent out by their office regarding the Source Collection and Threat Reduction Program (SCART), information on the Uniform Waste Manifest as well as a notice from the State of Illinois on ADCO. Ruth McBurney of the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD) presented information on how to participate in SCATR to have sealed sources disposed of at both Energy Solutions and/or WCS. Our Compact is very fortunate to maintain an open relationship with the two disposal sites servicing our Compact and both Dan Shrum of Energy Solutions and Jeff Havlicak of Waste Control Specialists gave an update on their facilities and services being offered. At the beginning of March, 2013 Ms. Davis again attended the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, Az. She attended a number of sessions thru the week along with a special presentation by the Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) at the end of the event. Ms. Davis stated this is always a good resource to seek out new speakers for the annual workshop. DOE, DOD, NRC, EPA are just a few of the US Agencies participating along with the attendance of Companies and Government Agencies from France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Japan. Officials from Japan gave an extensive report on the Fukushima cleanup and to ongoing plans for the facility. A number of countries continue to move forward with an underground depository outlining their progress as well as delays. Mid-March, 2013 Ms. Davis attended the LLW Forum in South Carolina. Prior to this meeting, a number of nuclear waste legislation issues were being discussed by Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Diane Feinstein regarding the future of interim and/or permanent storage based on BRC recommendations presented in Wash D.C. Ms. Davis had e mailed Todd Lovinger, Executive Director of the LLW Forum, asking if the LLW Forum was prepared to track or comment on any potential recommendations for legislation regarding nuclear waste. Todd responded that with limited resources and organizational priorities, he felt most legislative proposals that Ms. Davis referred to dealt with high-level waste issues which is somewhat beyond the immediate scope of the LLW Forum. He indicated that a number of members feel that this is too outside of our purview. During the March meeting there seemed to be numerous presentations regarding high-level nuclear issues. Ms. Davis was confused by the conflict in Todd s response and the presentations that had been brought forward at this past meeting. Several Commissioners expressed their desire to have a more active role by our Compact regarding the LLW Forum s future scope and asked Ms. Davis to do some further research on the time requirements involved to become a member of the Executive Committee. It was also expressed by legal counsel that the LLW Forum has been addressing concerns more effectively with developing a more inclusive dialogue with the NRC officials during various NRC rule changes. As a final note, the LLW Forum will be increasing their annual fees and our Compact charge will increase by $1,000 per year. The next scheduled LLW Forum meeting will be in late October at Park City, Utah. Ms. Davis discussed her working relationship with the staff of CDPH-Radiologic Branch. There continues to be a good circle of information being shared. The Department has been extremely helpful during the annual Workshops. Mr. John Fassell, Supervising Health Physicist, is presently updating forms for audits and new licensees to include in their check list verification of shipments of low-level waste thru proper documentation. Mr. Fassell has also indicated his willingness for our Compact to submit a Notice that would be sent out to all licensees indicating the legal requirements associated with the disposal of their low-level radioactive waste (LLRW). Both Mr. Fassell and Ms. Davis believe this is necessary because of the failure of some California generators of LLRW who have neglected to obtain a legally required approved Export Petition in connection with their disposal of LLRW. Ms. Davis expressed her feelings that this is a great advancement in being in a process acknowledging the importance of petitions and filing of disposal reports. Chair Godwin asked for a copy of the new check list being developed by John Fassell with the State of California as he felt this would be an important format for all States in the Compact to follow. Ms. Davis stated she would be contacting Mr. Fassell regarding that information for all our Compact members. This would allow all our Compact states to be consistent.

3 Ms. Davis gave an update regarding meetings she had participated in for the issue of recycling leaded glass. At this time, AB 1022 has been introduced to give companies an opportunity to obtain grants for pilot projects to develop uses for leaded glass. A future meeting with Kurion of Irvine is scheduled to take a look at using this leaded glass with their geo-melt process. That concluded Ms. Davis report. Chair Godwin moved on to the reports from each party state. Commissioner Dan Harman indicated that two petition applications for disposal should be coming thru to the Compact for approval. Commissioner Harman also expressed his desire to have a type of check list incorporated in their process for Generators to be aware of their responsibility to obtain Exportation Petitions for shipments outside the Compact boundaries. Commissioner Joe Nadenicek of South Dakota reported on legislation that will be placing a moratorium at landfills of disposal of oil generated T Norm waste. Commissioner Harman of North Dakota did indicate this has become a major issue addressing the filter socks which are being taken out of the State of North Dakota for disposal to neighboring States (South Dakota and Montana) and therefore resulted in this legislation by South Dakota.. Chair Godwin of Arizona reported on a 2 paragraph bill stating no Agency can adopt changes effecting anyone s vested right they have before the regulation was adopted. This has been moving thru the legislative process unopposed. Chair Godwin expressed his concerns over Agreement States being able to be stay current with changing legislation. The California licensing agency was not in attendance. There was no report from the State of California at this time. Out of state travel is limited at this time. Chair Godwin moved on to Agenda #6-Ratification of Exportation The Executive Director presented the documents listing the petitions that have been issued for the calendar year end of 2012 and the new year of 2013 for Energy Solutions (E thru E and E thru E ). Also submitted for ratification are the petitions for the calendar year end of 2012 for WCS and the new 2013 year (WCS thru WCS and WCS thru WCS ). The Chair indicated that action would be taken separately for each year for Energy Solutions and then for WCS 2012 and 2013 year. It was requested by the Commissioners to have the information presented in a better format and to include a column for waste description for the Class B & Class C waste. The Chair asked what the pleasure of the Commission was. Commissioner Ken Vadnais moved to ratify the petitions presented for Energy Solutions for E thru E This motion was seconded by Commissioner Donna Earley. With no further discussion the Chair asked for a roll call vote. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Ken Vadnais moved to ratify the petitions presented for Energy Solutions for E thru E This motion was seconded by Commissioner Donna Earley. With no further discussion the Chair asked for a roll call vote. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Ken Vadnais moved to ratify the Petitions for Waste Control Specialists WCS thru WCS Commissioner Donna Earley seconded the motion. With no further discussion the Chair asked for a roll call vote. The motion passed unanimously.

4 Commissioner Ken Vadnais moved to ratify the WCS petitions for WCS thru Commissioner Donna Earley seconded the motion. With no further discussion the Chair asked for a roll call vote. The motion passed unanimously. The Chair moved to Agenda Item 7 Status of the Incompatibility Issue. At the last Meeting, the Commission asked Commissioner Vadnais to work with Counsel to draft letters to NRC using the NRC "Request for Public Comment procedure. These draft letters would be sent to our Commissioners for review and when appropriate, the Chair would call a teleconference meeting for the Commission to decide whether or not to send the letters forward to the NRC. Counsel Kowalewski reported that this action item is still open. No draft letters had been prepared. He stated that it is important to emphasize that the Commission and he need to be careful here. He stated his job is to keep this Commission on the straight and narrow and when NRC is asking for comments on a particular subject and he recommends we draft a comment but the comment is not related to what the NRC is asking for, it reflects on his credibility and also the credibility of the Commission. After our last meeting Counsel started looking in the Federal Register for articles in which NRC asked for Public Comments. On October 15, 2012, NRC asked for comments on Draft Agency Procedures for Consulting with Native American Tribes. For our Commission to comment here about our compatibility issue is completely inappropriate. On October 22, 2012, NRC published for Public Comment BTP on Import of Non U.S. Origin Radioactive Sources. Likewise for our Commission to comment here is also inappropriate. There were several more articles where NRC asked for comments but for our Commission to comment was inappropriate. These are the reasons for this action item being open. Commissioner Vadnais, in his review, came to the same conclusion. There were no NRC requests for Public Comment that was related to our compatibility issue. Chair Godwin raised the IMPEP procedure document for Agreement States. The Chair would be forwarding a copy of this document to all the Commissioners. Chair Godwin believes this would be an avenue to develop ideas to pursue resolving the incompatibility issues here in California. Commissioners continued discussion on the future of disposal facilities availability to the Southwest Compact and future outcomes. Commissioner Vadnais and Counsel Kowalewski will continue to work on this open action item. Chair Godwin asked the Executive Director to report on Agenda # 8 raising issues and concerns that she had regarding various generators with their failure to obtain approved Export Petitions. Ms. Davis indicated feedback would be very valuable from the Commissioners on how to proceed while understanding the legal ramifications for those who refuse to follow the procedures established by the Southwest Compact. A number of generators have dropped under the radar for securing a Compact petition and Ms. Davis, working with the Radiologic Branch, hope to close those loop holes. Recently, working with Qal-Tek as an example, have over the past several years picked up sealed sources thru out the country and placed them in storage out of our Compact boundaries. Just recently Qal-Tek has attempted to dispose of these sealed sources at WCS in Texas and did not understanding the requirement of petitions from the Southwest Compact. Qal Tek has since made efforts to establish new procedures and develop new forms with the language indicating the need to secure a petition from our Compact. All of the generators who had Qal-Tek pick up sealed sources in the past have now obtained an approved petition and as of January 2013 can move forward with disposal in Texas. The Texas-Vermont Compact has been very supportive in meeting the needs of our Compact. A review of the Rocky Mt Compact indicates an extensive violation process for anyone who should proceed to ship outside their Compact boundaries without prior approval. Both Ms. Davis and Mr. Steve Kowalewski, Legal Counsel, did not feel developing a violation process would be an appropriate way for the Southwest Compact to go after

5 reviewing our Compact language. Recently, another company raising a red flag thru the Tx-Vt Compact was RAM Services. Initially they did not plan to obtain petition forms from the Southwest Compact. This situation required many additional hours due to the required follow-up with generators who needed personal assist from our Compact to secure petitions. Again, another one of Ms. Davis concerns was how to stress the legal obligations to those brokers who operate outside the Compact boundaries and must obtain a petition prior to any shipments out of the Compact. Finally, a serious disregard for the rules and procedures of our exportation petition process was with ADCO. This Company was regularly picking up LLW materials, driving to Illinois and dropping the loads in a holding yard. ADCO had not followed thru with shipments to the listed processor which had been indicated on the petition, or even worse, just never obtained or require the generator to obtain a Southwest Compact Petition. A list was sent to our office from the State of Illinois of those generators from our Compact that have materials on site in their State. Efforts are being made to secure petitions for those generators. Commissioners also discussed their concerns of a generator or broker who signs the Southwest Compact Petition listing a particular processor or disposal site and then does not follow thru with that obligation of a delivery and what are the legal consequences of such actions. The Commissioners felt strongly about working with our legal counsel in order to turn over evidence to the NRC notifying them of this health and safety violation. Ms. Davis is currently working with the Mr. John Fassell, as indicated earlier in the meeting, to establish a check list as the State works with generators on their audits. Again, Ms. Davis and Mr. Fassell will be working towards a NOTICE to be sent out by thru the Radiologic Branch which would be an effective tool to stress the legal requirement of obtaining a Southwest Compact Export Petition. The Chair again expressed the importance for all the Compact States to have a similar process and check list to have a consistency in aiding our operation of approving petitions. Commissioners discussed a number of ways to encourage generators to be informed of their legal requirements and recommended the Executive Director develop a check list for the generators, RSOs and brokers to be sent out thru our various mailing lists. Discussion continued regarding the importance of the annual disposal report making a number of suggestions for improvement to maintain accurate logs. It was noted that our Compact should be more aggressive to work with many of the smaller generators in our Compact, as they do not always have the resources to participate in our Workshops nor ship often enough to be familiar with completing a petition and filing the required disposal report..with changes in personnel and the offers of brokers who do not really provide a complete service, some smaller generators have fallen thru the cracks. All the Commissioners agreed to have the Executive Director continue to pursue her efforts working with the Compact States, Energy Solutions, WCS, Tx-Vt-Compact and processors with efforts to properly notify generators and brokers on the requirements of export petitions and disposal reports. The Commissioners also felt the enforcement power is thru the States regarding LLW management and encouraged Ms. Davis to continue her efforts with the different Compact State Departments. Ms. Davis appreciated the input from all the Commissioners and their continued support on how to work with generators, brokers and others in the industry to provide safe disposal pathways for our Compact members. Ms. Davis indicated she would be checking with brokers and processors on the time frames they are allowed to hold materials at their sites. This would help in monitoring generators for disposal reports to be received in a timely manner. Chair Godwin asked Ms. Davis for her recommendations on Item #9-Amend approved budget Ms. Davis stated she was not bringing forward any changes for the budget of At this time, all line items seem to be on track. There could be some minor changes due to the added expense of the meeting and field trip during the week of April 8 thru April 11,

6 2013. The WCS petitions for B & C waste has resulted in additional income (42 petitions at $225 each). Ms. Davis did state she would be adding a new line item to the upcoming budget showing a set aside of $5,000 per year for future sponsorship of LLW Forum meetings. It is anticipated the Southwest Compact will be hosting a meeting again in This set aside of $5,000 will build up a fund for expenses. The Exportation Committee did review the Budget recommendation and agreed with the Executive Director as indicated by Vice-Chair George Campbell. Item #10 was for any public comment to be made on items other than Agenda topics. As Chair Godwin noted, there was no one in attendance from the public. Moving on to Agenda Item #11, Chair Godwin asked for any additional recommendations for future Agenda items other than those discussed earlier. Legal Counsel received direction to continue to track NRC comment opportunities relevant to the incompatibility issues facing the State of California along with standing direction to develop letters when appropriate. No further requests were made. Item #12 was for establishing a time and date for the next meeting. Chair Godwin asked for recommendations from the Commissioners. Ms. Davis is to move forward and reserve a meeting time and place in Sacramento for the 4 th of October, Item# 13 -Adjournment of the 66 th meeting for the Southwestern Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission Compact was called at 1824 hrs. END