Exceptions for EcoTek, Inc., as a Decommissioning Contractor
HPPOS-281 PDR-9306160199
Title: Exceptions for EcoTek, Inc., as a Decommissioning
Contractor
See the memorandum from R. E. Cunningham to J. P. Stohr
dated February 4, 1993. The memo states: (1)
decommissioning contractors may operate under their own
license when they are providing the radiation safety
programs under which the work is being done at a temporary
job site; and (2) decommissioning contractors may be
exempted from financial assurance requirements to the
extent that the licensed materials remain at the temporary
job site or are transferred to another licensee for
disposal. This is a change in NRC policy. The previous NRC
policy was that contractors who perform decommissioning
activities at NRC licensed facilities do not require
separate licenses, but rather perform these operations
under the current NRC license for the facility.
After receiving the position paper from EcoTek dated
September 23, 1992, concerning application of the financial
assurance requirements to their service license, the NMSS
staff met with the LLWM and OGC staffs to discuss the
policy of issuing service licenses for work at temporary
job sites. As a result of this meeting, we concluded that
there are cases where the radiation safety programs in
place at an NRC licensed facility may not be broad enough
to ensure the safety of decommissioning activities
performed by a service contractor. In such instances, it
is appropriate for service contractors to operate under
their own license when they are providing the radiation
safety programs under which the work is being performed.
This differs from the policy established in 1989 concerning
licenses for decommissioning contractors (see Enclosure 2).
Before starting work, contractors should establish a
written agreement with their customers specifying which
activities will be performed under the contractor's license
and supervision, and which activities will be performed
under the customer's license and supervision. This will
assure that responsibility for job site radiation safety is
clearly defined, provide for further assurance that
operations will be conducted safely by the customer and the
contractor, and identify the responsible licensee for
purposes of inspection and enforcement.
We also concluded that decommissioning contractors may be
exempted from the requirement to establish decommissioning
financial assurance to the extent that licensed materials
remain at the temporary job site or are transferred to
another licensee for disposal. We have suggested changes
to the EcoTek license to address these and other issues
(see Enclosure 1) if EcoTek wishes to proceed with a formal
request for an exemption. A policy and guidance directive
will be developed for reviewing applications for service
licenses, and a draft of this directive will be provided to
the Regions for comment.
Regulatory references: 10 CFR 30, 10 CFR 40, 10 CFR 70,
License Conditions
Subject codes: 5.8, 11.2, 12.19
Applicability: Byproduct, Source, and Special Nuclear
Materials