SOUTHWESTERN LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE COMMISSION
1731 Howe Avenue #611, Sacramento, California 95825
Voice: (916) 448-2390
Fax: (916) 720-0144
E-mail:
Website: www.swllrwcc.org
October 30, 2017
FINAL
Minutes-76th Meeting of the Southwest LLRWCC
October 6, 2017, Hyatt Regency in Sacramento, California
Chair Campbell called the 76th meeting of the Southwestern Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission to order at 0900 hrs. PDT, at the Tahoe Room of the Hyatt Regency, Sacramento, Ca. A roll call was taken and a quorum was present. Staff members participating were Stephen Kowalewski, Legal Counsel and Kathy Davis, Executive Director.
Chair Campbell welcomed everyone. A sign-in sheet was passed around to all attendees. Those in attendance were Mr. Dan Shrum, Energy Solutions, Mr. Gonzalo Perez, Mr. John Fassell, Mr. Ira Schneider, Mr. Robert Custodio, all from the Department of Radiologic Health Branch and Mr. Anthony Chu, Division Chief over the Radiologic Branch, CDPH.
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 September 23, 2017 in compliance with the requirements of California Open Meeting Act, Government Code section 11125.
Agenda Item #5-Reports-Status and/or activity:
a. Commission Chair Report-
Chair Campbell reported that there had not been any correspondence to respond too. He was looking forward to attending the LLW Forum meeting in .Alexandria, VA.
b. Executive Director-
Chair Campbell asked Ms. Davis to report on her activities over the last six months. Ms. Davis stated there were a number of issues she would be reporting on later in the meeting. Disposal reports for the 2016 Petition year were due this past June, 2017 and the response has been good. Only about 15 generators are still outstanding on this requirement. This has greatly improved from when she started tracking generators in 2008. In early September she was in attendance at the Rad Waste Summit sponsored by the Exchange Monitor. New owners have been changing the format and type of speakers over the last two years. This past year had a limited focus on low-level waste (LLW). Attendance really drops on the second day of the conference. Next year the venue will change and the location will be at Henderson, Nv and hoping more focus will be given to LLW issues and disposal options for the future. The LLW Forum will be having their fall meeting later this month in Alexandria, VA. The meeting agenda will be discussed later on during this meeting. Ms. Davis asked for any questions. With no comments, Chair Campbell went on to the next agenda item.
c. Licensing Agency-
Mr. Gonzalo Perez, with the Radiologic Health Branch of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) reported there are currently 1733 licensees-about 800 are from the medical field. Mr. Perez also noted the fact that there has been no interest in anyone requesting to submit an application to construct a low level radioactive facility. He also reported on the recently sponsored workshops on a policy movement from the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) for educating licensees on replacement opportunities of Cesium-137 blood irradiators. In the absence of government requirements to convert to new technology, NTI in cooperation with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Radiological Security (NNSA-ORS), has launched an initiative, where possible, to eliminate Cesium 137 blood irradiators which are used globally in biomedical research and treatment. NTI feels replacing these radiological sources with alternative technologies is the best way to achieve a permanent threat reduction. In order to assist licensees to replace their old blood irradiators, NTI is offering to pay ½ of the cost of a new X-ray device (approx. cost of $270, 000) as well as assisting them with disposal cost of the cesium sources. Thirty different licensees attended the first workshop and the second workshop even included Governor Brown who is strongly supporting this effort. As a result, there are 18 to 20 California licensed irradiators scheduled for disposal with the NNSA-ORS over the next two years. Vice Chair Earley expressed concerns on the true long term cost. No studies have been done on the efficiency and abilities of this new technology to run on a 24/7 basis as required by Cedars Sinai Medical Facility. Discussion continued with the Commissioners and Mr. Perez. Mr. Perez and Mr. Fassell further discussed the efforts on continuing to sending out notices on the Source Collection and Threat Recovery (SCATR) Program and follow-up on 66 identified sites with Radium. None were found to be designated as an emergency response site. Mr. Perez also noted that Mr. Anthony Chu has been appointed to the vacant position left by Mr. Steve Wood. He would be arriving soon to attend this meeting.
d. Party States-
Arizona Commissioner for Goretzki reported on the reorganization which continues for his Division and is being moved to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Two Radium sites have been inspected with no issues. There has been an uptick in the request for petitions under the SCATR Program for the disposal of sealed sources at a number of medical facilities.
North Dakota Commissioner Patrick reported on his Division which is being moved from the Department of Environmental Health to the Governor’s Cabinet reporting directly to the Governor. Current Rule revisions are being submitted to the NRC reflecting this change
as requested by the new Governor. This should be completed by July 2018. There was only 1 Radium site in North Dakota with filter socks.
South Dakota Commissioner Emme had nothing to report on legislation in South Dakota. There
were no Radium sites in South Dakota.
Commissioners Vadnais, Campbell, Brierty and Earley had no update on any other legislation regarding low-level radioactive waste, reuse and/or disposal options.
Item# 6-Discuss & potential action on LLW Forum activities i.e. Sponsorship, membership, workshops, future agendas & participation.
Chair Campbell asked Ms. Davis to give an update on LLW Forum activities. The first issue Ms. Davis reported on was the scheduling of the Spring meeting of the LLW Forum in 2018 at Burlingame, California. The LLW Forum Executive Director, Mr. Todd Lovinger, did contact Ms. Davis on the completion of a contract and the $5,000 check was issued as was decided upon at our last meeting. A room has been reserved for our Compact to hold a Spring meeting at the conclusion of the LLW Forum meeting. This will be discussed further at the end of this meeting.
In a couple of weeks the LLW Forum will be holding their Fall meeting in Alexandria, VA. Because of the change of administration, a lack of appointments has taken place. The Officers of the Forum determined that there would be no meetings scheduled with any agencies (i.e. NRC, DOE) until a later date to be determined. A 4 hour meeting will be held after the LLW Forum meeting concludes. Four topics had been decided at the past Spring meeting supported by a majority of attending members of the Executive Committee. The topics will include a discussion on the Forum’s future vision, funding, expanding membership, agenda structure and a method for funding the Forum meetings. We have no volunteers for 2019 Forum meetings. The LLW Forum annual budget continues to run in the red. At the Rad Waste Conference during September, Mr. Lovinger spoke to Ms. Davis privately stating he was unsure how to structure the upcoming meeting with the Executive Committee. It was stated that Ms. Davis was the only one who had continued to strongly expressed concerns on issues such as the LLW Forum operations, membership and funding. Several Commissioners asked how the other Compacts view their participation in the Forum’s operations, with several Compacts even discontinuing the tracking of any shipments of LLW from their borders. Extensive discussion ensued. The Commissioners would be looking for an update on the outcome of this scheduled meeting in Alexandria, VA. Chair Campbell stated it was time to move on. Chair Campbell allowed Mr. Chu an opportunity to introduce himself as he had arrived during the past discussion. Chair Campbell thanked Mr. Chu for attending and congratulated him on his new position.
Further information was shared with the Commission on WCS’s struggle on how to keep the facility open. The industry continues to store waste instead of disposing of it at WCS and this is causing WCS to cut its staff to bare bones while continuing to seek out a buyer for the facility. There seems to be no back up plan established by TCEQ of Texas at this time. This is a facility that is serving 34 states and territories in the US and would cause a country wide emergency for the lack of disposal ability for low-level waste (Class A, B and C). As we have SONGS getting ready to start decommissioning at their facility, this could become a big issue for the residents of the State of California. We will need to track this closely.
Item# 7-Update & status of Energy Solutions, WCS & SONGS & PG & E
Chair Campbell asked Ms. Davis to give an update on activities from Energy Solutions, WCS, SONGS and PG & E as requested from the last meeting of the Compact. She started with reporting on the SONGS facility located in southern California. Mr. Stevie Vaughan, our current contact at the facility, was sorry he was unable to attend today. A number of issues continue to be ongoing such as public meetings, acceptable location and storage of fuel rods, lawsuits and continues to work closely with AECOM & Energy Solutions, the new decommissioning contractors, State officials and Navy officials all involved at the site. Mr. Vaughan indicated his interest in attending our next meeting. We will stay in touch. Regarding WCS, rumors continue on as to who the possible buyer is that has come forward negotiating a possible future purchase. Within 60 days an announcement could be made. PG & E-Diablo Canyon continues to ship LLW to Energy Solutions and WCS. Clint Miller and Ms. Davis continue to be in touch regarding reporting efforts and shipping schedules. They are slated for closure in 2024 as committed to by a prior agreement with California. PG & E – Humboldt Bay has indicated an end of future shipments to Energy Solutions and perhaps may need just one more petition in 2018 for WCS. Mr. Jasen continues to keep our Compact updated.
At this time, Chair Campbell asked the Executive Director to give a brief report on the history of this Compact giving approval for a “multi-year” petition and how this could provide benefits to the taxpayers during decommission activities at a utility site. Ms. Davis gave a brief overview to the current Commissioners on how during the past decommission activities back in the eighties, a “multiyear” petition had been issued to both SMUD and PG & E in the State of California. This request must be brought forward to the full Commission as an agenda item and can only be approved by the Commissioners as stated in our By-Laws. A presentation by the requesting generator would be necessary to outline a time period, the anticipated total amount to be shipped out of the Compact boundaries, the total anticipated savings to taxpayers, a process for a notice of any possible delays, an agreement for an annual review of shipments with the Executive Director, who would report back to the Commission and any other requirements established by the Compact prior to approval. Because our annual petition currently requires a $60,000 fee for shipments over 40,000 cubic feet and allowing an additional cost of a $0 .10 cent fee per any additional amount of cubic feet thereafter within that petition year, the benefit of a “multiyear” petition would acknowledge the limit of the collection of a onetime $60,000 fee to be given for just the first year of the agreed upon “multiyear” petition. The remaining years would be charged the $0.10 fee per cubic feet within the agreed upon time line. This will provide a savings to the taxpayers of California and still provide monitoring of annual shipment amounts. Ms. Davis indicated there is an interest in this type of petition from the SONGS decommissioning contractor. No formal request has been made to date.
Mr. Shrum of Energy Solutions gave an update on activities with SONGS and did anticipate a future presentation to request a “multiyear” petition. Working together we look forward to establishing a smooth process. On WCS, Mr. Shrum read a statement from legal counsel regarding their proposed acquisition and the decision not to proceed with a legal challenge. Energy Solutions proposal has been withdrawn. Mr. Shrum did express that the SONGS decommissioning is dependent on WCS remaining open to complete their contract. Commissioner Vadnais asked why WCS is having financial problems since it is the only commercial Class B & C waste facility open to 34 states and territories in the US. Of course Mr. Shrum stated he doesn’t have all the information regarding WCS’s issues, however part of the problem could be misinterpreting the commercial market needs and competing against companies who have planned to store rather than ship. After Barnwell closed in 2008, utilities made a business decision to store and this resulted in spending their funds to build additional storage areas. No new facility seemed to be on the horizon in the near future. Mr. Shrum indicated at the meeting in Vermont, the TX VT Compact did introduce a new Management Rule. This was brought about because of utilities shipping LLW to WCS and having various materials diverted to the Company’s RCRA facility. The Compact will be requiring information from WCS showing amounts of LLW coming into the State of Texas and documenting location of all such materials. Commission Vadnais wondered if the State of Texas or the TX VT Compact would be required to give approval for a new buyer.