Deadline for comments on decommissioning guidance extended

The public comment period was to end on February 8 but has been extended to April 8, according to an NRC notice published in the January 22 Federal Register. The NRC said that it decided to extend the public comment period to allow more time for members of the public to develop and submit their comments on the draft.

The NRC also will hold a public meeting on March 15 to discuss updates to NUREG-1757 and provide members of the public an additional opportunity to comment. Details regarding the public meeting and agenda will be forthcoming on the NRC website.

How to comment: The NRC encourages interested parties to submit comments electronically through the federal rulemaking website using Docket ID NRC-2020-0192 in the submission.

Draft updates: NUREG-1757, which is intended for use by applicants, licensees, and the NRC staff, was last updated in 2006. This latest revision addresses lessons learned and experience gained from the review of license termination plans, decommissioning plans, and final status surveys for licensees undergoing license termination since then.

Updates to NUREG-1757 include new guidance related to dose modeling, as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) criteria, surface water and groundwater characterization, use of engineered barriers, and radiological surveys (e.g., composite sampling, subsurface surveys, and surveys demonstrating radioactivity indistinguishable from background).