Topic 1: Federal Agencies

Let’s explore regulatory agencies.

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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC)

To establish regulatory programs which sought to ensure public health and safety from the hazards of nuclear power without imposing excessive requirements that would inhibit the growth of the industry.

The NRC also has the authority to enter into agreements with individual States to carry out radiation programs within those State.

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The USNRC was established as an independent agency by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 to regulate civilian use of nuclear materials.

Then in 1976 the Energy Research and Development Agency was simply joined into the existing Department of Energy, which researches and develops different forms of energy.

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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC)

The USNRC only regulates by-product material, source material, and special nuclear materials (SNM).

By-product material is radioactive material that is the result of fission or from fission neutron bombardment (irradiation) of stable isotopes using the nuclear reactor. Cs-137 and Co-60 are examples of some of the many by-product materials.

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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC)

Source material is defined by regulation as ores that contain, by weight, one-twentieth of one percent (0.05 %), or more, of uranium, thorium, or any combination of uranium and thorium. Source material means that these materials are a source of “fissile” or fissionable isotopes of certain elements to be used for domestic or defensive purposes.

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For example, natural uranium is predominantly the uranium-238 (U-238) isotope, which is non-fissionable. However, it has in its natural form 0.711% of uranium-235, which is fissionable. As long as the uranium has any percentage of fissionable uranium, it is considered source material. Thus, uranium that has been depleted in the U-235 is still source material as there is a remnant amount of the fissionable isotopes in the uranium. This type of uranium is also called “depleted” uranium, or more correctly it is “uranium, depleted in the  U-235 isotope.”

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Depleted uranium is used as shielding materials in therapy units as it is denser than lead with a “Z” number of 92 instead of 82 for lead. Also, depleted uranium is used as armor-piercing projectiles because of its increased density and it is pyrophoric (meaning it is an oxidizer) when impacting the metal shielding of a tank. This property of depleted uranium allows the projectile to penetrate the metal encasement and destroy a heavily shielded object.

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A naturally radioactive ore is not considered as source material by a regulatory agency until it is enhanced by chemical or mechanical processes.

Special nuclear materials are isotopes, such as uranium-235, uranium-233 and plutonium that are capable of undergoing nuclear fission when irradiated by neutrons. While not all isotopes of plutonium are fissionable, they can be if further modified, so all the plutonium isotopes are considered special nuclear materials.

These are used in weapons and nuclear power plants.

States can issue licenses for special nuclear materials only for research purposes, but in not enough quantity for a CRITICAL MASS.

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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) started in the 1970s after the creation of the National Pollution Act for regulating various segments of the environment.

Whereas the EPA does not have a specific Act that focuses on the regulation of radioactive materials, there are provisions within the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) that provide authority for the EPA to create standards for the primary air pollutants and contamination standards due to hazardous materials, including radioactive materials.

The EPA has been more restrictive with their guidelines than other agencies. The agency started as a response to rectify major spills and hazardous effluents in public waterways. They had to create regulations relatively quickly when toxic wastes were found at the Love Canal site in Niagara Falls, NY.

This philosophy has continued through the years and has created a very prescriptive regulatory framework that provides little flexibility for the regulated community.

The USNRC and the EPA create Memoranda of Understandings (MOUs) when jurisdiction overlaps. When this is not done, it creates potential compliance and liability issues for the licensee. This is apparent when licensed facilities request termination of the radioactive materials license and residual radioactive materials create remediation and closure issues.

For example, the USNRC has a dose limit of 25 mrem per year for the free release of a formerly licensed site. The EPA has developed guidelines of 15 mrem per year.

The goal of any cleanup is always to meet the more restrictive limits.

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Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for any commercially available material that is placed in the body. This not only includes foods and drugs but also implants. The FDA reviews test results for new drugs, or for radioactive material that is used for the diagnosis of aliments.

For instance, a popular method of diagnosis today is the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) exam. For a PET exam, a patient drinks, inhales, or is injected with a drug that will rapidly concentrate in and around the organ of concern. The drug is impregnated with a short half-life radioactive tracer (typically Fluorine-18) that emits positively charged anti-electrons called positrons. The FDA must review and approve any new carrier drug to be used with the PET exam.

Approval by the FDA for the use of a radioactive material in the body does not alleviate the facility’s responsibility to obtain approval from the USNRC or agreement state.

While the FDA can give approval for use of a radioactive material on humans, the USNRC or agreement state gives approval for the people in the facility to possess and use the radioactive materials safely.

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Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

OSHA has the federal authority to ensure that the industry protects their workers from hazards in the workplace.

Generally, OSHA is not immediately involved in the day-to-day inspections of workplaces regarding the handling of radioactive materials. This is performed by the USNRC or the Agreement State as we have previously discussed.

Where OSHA may be involved is regarding the agreement between the federal government and the state. If an agreement state is determined by the USNRC to be “incompatible” with federal regulations, the agreement can be revoked. At that time, the USNRC will delegate OSHA as the authority to implement radiation protection safety inspections at that state’s licensed activities on behalf of the USNRC.