TOPIC 2: Non-Federal Agencies

Let’s explore a little more about non-federal Regulatory Agencies.

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For the USNRC to regulate all the radioactive materials licenses in the nation would be a daunting task. Therefore, the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 authorized the federal government to enter into agreements with states so they can regulate the use of radioactive materials within their borders.

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This was equally desired by the states as a state’s rights issue. The USNRC’s only requirement is that each agreement state’s regulations must be at least as stringent as the USNRC. This concept is called “compatibility.” This requirement included promulgating equivalent regulations, having trained staff for licensing and inspections, and performing timely inspections.

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Here are a few things Agreement States cannot regulate.  The agreement states are unable to regulate those amounts of special nuclear materials (SNM) that constitute a critical mass (sufficient for a sustained nuclear reaction).  This, as we have learned, is a specified mass of any combination of the fissile isotopes of uranium, thorium or plutonium.

Also, the agreement state does not regulate federal facilities in that state or nuclear power plants. Those facilities are all directly regulated by the USNRC.

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Agreement states can promulgate regulations or issue policies that regulate radioactive materials that the USNRC does not regulate.

For instance, within the last few decades, radioactive materials have been created through bombardment of materials with protons from linear accelerators.  These linear accelerators use magnetic fields to accelerate protons towards a target. They are also called “cyclotrons.”

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Agreement states can also regulate Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM).

TENORM is the enhancement of the activity concentration of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) through physical or chemical processing.

In order for agreement states to regulate TENORM, they need to promulgate regulations, establish formal policies, or have internal guidelines for its handling, use, storage, and disposal.

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Licensing States that have not entered into an agreement with the federal government to be an agreement state may still regulate the NORM, Naturally-Occurring and Accelerator-Produced Radioactive Material (NARM), and TENORM in their respective states. This authority is provided by their state legislature that allows the state regulatory agency to promulgate regulations, create policies, or issue guidelines to regulate these materials.

A licensing state cannot regulate by-product materials, source materials, or SNM.