[DOE LETTERHEAD]

 

 

The Honorable John T. Conway

Chairman

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

625 Indiana Avenue, N.W. - Suite 700

Washington, D.C. 20004

 

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Below is Section 3116 of the Senate version of the FY 2005 Defense

Authorization bill as reported by the Senate Armed Services Committee May 11,

2004:

“(a) IN GENERAL - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with

respect to material stored at a Department of Energy site at which activities are

regulated by the State pursuant to approved closure plans or permits issued by the

State, high-level radioactive waste does not include radioactive material resulting

from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel that the Secretary of Energy

determines -

(1) does not require permanent isolation in a deep geologic repository

for spent fuel or highly radioactive waste pursuant to criteria

promulgated by the Department of Energy by rule in consultation

with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission;

 

(2) has had highly radioactive radionuclides removed to the maximum

extent practical in accordance with the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission-reviewed criteria; and

 

(3) in the case of material derived from the storage tanks, is disposed of

in a facility (including a tank) within the State pursuant to a State-

approved closure plan or a State-issued permit, authority for the

approval or issuance of which is conferred on the State outside of

this Act.

 

(b) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN MATERIALS - Subsection (a)

shall not apply to any material otherwise covered by that subsection that is

transported from the State.

 

(c) SCOPE OF AUTHORITY TO CARRY OUT ACTIONS. - The

Department of Energy may implement any action authorized -

 

 

 

(1) by a State-approved closure plan or State issued permit in existence on

the date of enactment of this section; or

 

(2) by a closure plan approved by the State or a permit issued by the State

during the pendency of the rulemaking provided for in subsection (a).

 

Any such action may be completed pursuant to the terms of the closure plan or the

State-issued permit notwith-standing the final criteria adopted by the rulemaking

pursuant to subsection (a).

 

(d) STATE DEFINED. - In this section, the term “State” means the State

of South Carolina.”

 

In accordance with provisions of the Atomic Energy Act as amended and the

more than 14 years of safety oversight experience of the Board, it would be

helpful if the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) would advise the

Secretary of Energy as to the Board’s evaluation of the safety consequences of the

enactment of this provision.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jessie Hill Roberson

Assistant Secretary for

Environmental Management