6 Colo. Code Regs. § 1007-1-3.16

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 11, June 10, 2024

Section 6 CCR 1007-1-3.16 - Expiration, Decommissioning and Termination of Licenses

3.16.1 Definition of "principal activity".

3.16.1.1 As used in this regulation, "principal activity" means an activity authorized by the license which is essential to achieving the purpose(s) for which the license was issued or amended.

3.16.1.2 Not included as principal activities are:

(1) Radioactive material storage while no licensed material is accessed for use or disposal; and

(2) Any activity incidental to decontamination or decommissioning.

3.16.2 Expiration.

3.16.2.1 Except as provided in 3.17.2, each specific license shall expire at the end of the specified day in the month and year stated therein.

3.16.2.2 Each specific license revoked by the Department expires at the end of the day on the date of final determination to revoke the license, or on the expiration date stated in the determination, or as otherwise provided by order.

3.16.2.3 With respect to possession of radioactive material and residual radioactive contamination, each specific license continues in effect beyond the expiration date until the Department notifies the licensee in writing that the license is terminated, even if:

(1) The licensee decides not to renew the license;

(2) No application for license renewal is submitted;

(3) An application for renewal is denied; or

(4) The Department modifies or suspends a license.

3.16.2.4 No less than 30 days before the expiration date specified in the license, the licensee shall either:

(1) Submit an application for license renewal under 3.17; or

(2) Notify the Department, in writing, that the licensee has decided not to renew the license.

3.16.2.5 If a licensee does not submit an application for license renewal under 3.17, the licensee shall, on or before the expiration date specified in the license:

(1) Terminate use of radioactive material;

(2) Transfer radioactive materials to an authorized recipient and/or properly dispose of radioactive material;

(3) Reduce residual radioactive contamination to levels which are as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA); and

(4) Submit a completed Department Form R-23, Request for Termination of a Radioactive Materials License, or equivalent information requesting license termination, including survey results, leak tests, disposal records, and/or other documentation which demonstrates acceptable conditions for license termination as specified in 3.16.6.

3.16.2.6 Each licensee who possesses radioactive material, including residual radioactive contamination attributable to licensed activities, following the expiration date specified in the license shall:

(1) Limit actions involving radioactive material to those related to decontamination and other activities related to preparation for release for unrestricted use; and

(2) Continue to control entry to restricted areas until they are suitable for release for unrestricted use or the Department notifies the licensee in writing that the license is terminated.

3.16.2.7 Each licensee or person responsible for a facility or site which includes a non-exempt source of radiation or which may be contaminated by residual radioactivity shall, no less than 30 days before vacating or relinquishing possession or control of the facility or site, notify the Department, in writing, of the intent to vacate.

3.16.3 Timely Decommissioning.

3.16.3.1 Each licensee or person in possession of a non-exempt source of radiation who decides to terminate all activities involving that source of radiation shall notify the hazardous materials and waste management division immediately, in writing.

3.16.3.2 The licensee shall notify the Hazardous Materials And Waste Management Division in writing within 60 days of the occurrence of any of the following:

(1) The licensee has decided to permanently cease principal activities, as defined in this part, at the entire site or in any separate building or outdoor area that contains residual radioactivity such that the building or outdoor area is unsuitable for unrestricted use in accordance with 4.61; or

(2) No principal activities under the license have been conducted for a period of 24 months; or

(3) No principal activities have been conducted for a period of 24 months in any separate building or outdoor area that contains residual radioactivity such that the building or outdoor area is unsuitable for unrestricted use in accordance with these regulations.

3.16.3.3 Concurrent with the notification of the Hazardous Materials And Waste Management Division required in 3.16.3.1 and 3.16.3.2, the licensee shall either:

(1) Begin decommissioning activities; or,

(2) Within 12 months of notification, submit a decommissioning plan if required by 3.16.4, and begin decommissioning upon approval of that plan.

3.16.3.4 Licensees shall complete decommissioning of the site or separate building or outdoor area as soon as practicable but no later than 24 months following the initiation of decommissioning, unless an alternate schedule addressing the factors in 3.16.4 is requested and approved by the Department.

3.16.3.5 When decommissioning involves the entire site, the licensee shall request license termination upon completion of decommissioning activities.

3.16.3.6 The Department may approve alternate schedules for the submission of plans and for the completion of decommissioning as required pursuant to 3.16.3.3 and 3.16.3.4 if the Department determines that the alternate schedule:

(1) Is necessary to effectively conduct decommissioning;

(2) Presents no undue risks to public health and safety; and

(3) Is otherwise in the public interest.

3.16.4 Decommissioning Plan.

3.16.4.1 A licensee must submit a decommissioning plan:

(1) If the licensee intends to terminate the license using radiological criteria specified in 4.61.3 or 4.61.4 (the exemption of 4.61.1.1 applies);

(2) If required otherwise by these regulations;

(3) If required by license condition; or

(4) If the procedures and activities necessary to carry out decommissioning of the site or separate building or outdoor area have not been previously approved by the Department and these procedures could increase potential health and safety impacts to workers or to the public, such as in any of the following cases:

(a) Procedures would involve techniques not applied routinely during cleanup or maintenance operations;

(b) Workers would be entering areas not normally occupied where surface contamination and radiation levels are significantly higher than routinely encountered during operation;

(c) Procedures could result in significantly greater airborne concentrations of radioactive materials than are present during operation; or

(d) Procedures could result in significantly greater releases of radioactive material to the environment than those associated with operation.

3.16.4.2 Procedures such as those listed in 3.16.4.1 of this section with potential health and safety impacts may not be carried out prior to Department approval of the decommissioning plan.

3.16.4.3 The decommissioning plan for the site or separate building or outdoor area must include:

(1) A description of the conditions of the site, separate buildings, and/or outdoor areas sufficient to evaluate the acceptability of the plan;

(2) A description of planned decommissioning activities and a schedule for completion;

(3) A description of methods used to ensure protection of workers and the environment against radiation hazards during decommissioning;

(4) A description of the planned final radiation survey;

(5) A current detailed cost estimate for decommissioning, comparison of that estimate with present funds set aside for decommissioning, and a plan for assuring the availability of adequate funds for completion of decommissioning; and

(6) A description of the intended final condition of the site, separate buildings, and/or outdoor areas upon completion of decommissioning activities.

(7) Decommissioning plans proposing the use of radiological criteria specified in 4.61.3 or 4.61.4, must also include:

(a) An analysis demonstrating that reductions in residual radioactivity necessary to comply with the provisions of 4.61.2 would result in net public or environmental harm or were not being made because the residual levels of contamination associated with restricted conditions are ALARA.

(i) Determination of dose and residual radioactivity levels which are ALARA must take into account consideration of any detriments, such as deaths from transportation accidents, expected to potentially result from decontamination and waste disposal;

(b) A description of the institutional controls necessary to satisfy the requirements of 4.61.3.2, including a description of how the controls will be enforced and an analysis showing that the controls will not impose undue burdens on the local community or other affected parties;

(c) An analysis demonstrating that if institutional controls were no longer in effect then the dose criteria of 4.61.3.4 will be met;

(d) A detailed cost estimate for a long-term care warranty, and a plan for establishing a Department approved warranty prior to completion of decommissioning activities;

(e) A description of how the licensee will seek advice from representatives of a broad cross section of community interests who may be affected by the decommissioning and how the licensee will provide participants an opportunity for a comprehensive, collective discussion on key decommissioning issues, including: the adequacy and enforceability of institutional controls, burdens/impacts to local communities and affected parties, and the adequacy of financial assurance; and

(f) A description of how the licensee will make publicly available a summary of the results of all such discussions, including: a description of the individual viewpoints of the participants on the issues, the extent of agreement and disagreement among the participants on the issues, and a description of how key issues in disagreement will be addressed during decommissioning.

3.16.4.4 For decommissioning plans calling for completion of decommissioning later than 24 months after plan approval, the plan shall include a justification for the decommissioning schedule which addresses the following:

(1) Whether it is technically feasible to complete decommissioning within a 24-month period;

(2) Whether sufficient waste disposal capacity is available to allow completion of decommissioning with a 24-month period;

(3) Whether a significant volume reduction in wastes requiring disposal will be achieved by allowing short-lived radionuclides to decay;

(4) Whether a significant reduction in radiation exposure to workers can be achieved by allowing short-lived radionuclides to decay; and

(5) Other site-specific factors which the Department may consider appropriate on a case-by-case basis, such as the regulatory requirements of other government agencies, lawsuits, ground-water treatment activities, monitored natural ground-water restoration, actions that could result in more environmental harm than deferred cleanup, and other factors beyond the control of the licensee.

3.16.4.5 Upon the receipt of a decommissioning plan or proposal by the licensee for release of a site pursuant to 4.61.3 or 4.61.4, or whenever the Department deems such notice to be in the public interest, the Department shall:

(1) Notify and solicit comments from:

(a) Local and state governments in the vicinity of the site and any Indian nation or other indigenous people that have treaty or statutory rights that could be affected by the decommissioning; and

(b) The environmental protection agency for cases where the licensee proposes to release a site pursuant to 4.61.4.

(2) Publish a notice in a forum, such as local newspapers, letters to state or local organizations, or other appropriate forum, that is readily accessible to individuals in the vicinity of the site, and solicit comments from affected parties.

3.16.4.6 The proposed decommissioning plan will be approved by the Department if the information therein demonstrates that the decommissioning will be in accordance with the requirements of 3.9.5.15, 3.16, and 4.61 (the exemption of 4.61.1.1 applies), completed as soon as practicable, and that the health and safety of workers and the public will be adequately protected.

3.16.5 Decommissioning Record Keeping.

3.16.5.1 The licensee shall keep records of information important to the decommissioning of a facility in an identified location until authorized by the Department.

(1) Before licensed activities are transferred or assigned in accordance with 3.15.2, licensees shall transfer all records described in this paragraph to the new licensee.

(2) In this case, the new licensee will be responsible for maintaining these records until the license is terminated. If records important to the decommissioning of a facility are kept for other purposes, reference to these records and their locations may be used.

3.16.5.2 Information considered important to decommissioning includes:

(1) Records of spills or other unusual occurrences involving the spread of contamination in and around the facility, equipment, or site.

(a) These records may be limited to instances when contamination remains after any cleanup procedures or when there is reasonable likelihood that contaminants may have spread to inaccessible areas as in the case of possible seepage into porous materials such as concrete.

(b) These records must include any known information on identification of involved nuclides, quantities, forms and concentrations.

(2) As-built drawings and modifications of structures and equipment in restricted areas where radioactive materials are used and/or stored, and of locations of possible inaccessible contamination such as buried pipes which may be subject to contamination.

(a) If required drawings are referenced, each relevant document needs to be indexed individually. If drawings are not available, the licensee shall substitute appropriate records of available information concerning these areas and locations.

(3) A list contained in a single document and updated every 2 years-- except for areas containing only sealed sources (provided the sources have not leaked or no contamination remains after any leak), radioactive materials having only half-lives of less than 65 days, or areas containing depleted uranium used only for shielding or as penetrators in unused munitions,-- of the following:

(a) All areas designated and formerly designated restricted areas as defined in 1.4;

(b) All areas outside of restricted areas that require documentation under 3.16.5.2(1);

(c) All areas outside of restricted areas where current and previous wastes have been buried as documented under 4.48; and

(d) All areas outside of restricted areas which contain material such that, if the license expired, the licensee would be required to either decontaminate the area to unrestricted release levels or apply for approval for disposal under 4.34.

(e) A list containing the location and description of all equipment to remain onsite after license termination that was contaminated when final decommissioning was initiated; and

(f) Any other information not required by 3.16.5.3 that is considered necessary to support the adequacy of the decommissioning plan for approval.

(4) Records of the cost estimate performed for the decommissioning funding plan or of the amount certified for decommissioning, and records of the funding method used for assuring funds if either a funding plan or certification is used.

(5) For licenses decommissioned in accordance with the requirements of 4.61.3 or 4.61.4, the licensee shall maintain documentation of public meetings held to discuss decommissioning activities.

(a) This documentation is to include the dates and locations of the meetings, participants, topics of discussion, a description of the individual viewpoints of the participants on the issues, the extent of agreement and disagreement among the participants on the issues, and a description of how key issues in disagreement were addressed during decommissioning.

3.16.6 Demonstrating Acceptable Conditions for License Termination.

3.16.6.1 The Department will address comments provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and public comments submitted pursuant to 3.16.4.5 prior to the use of the alternate criteria, authorized in 4.61.4, to terminate a license.

3.16.6.2 The licensee shall conduct a radiation survey of the licensee's site to confirm the absence of radioactive material and/or to establish levels of residual radioactive contamination, unless the licensee can demonstrate that the site is suitable for release in some other manner.

(1) As appropriate, the licensee shall also conduct radiation surveys in any separate building or outdoor area that contains residual radioactivity resulting from the licensee's activities.

3.16.6.3 The licensee shall submit a report of the results of this survey and/or other documentation to the Department which demonstrates compliance with the radiological criteria for license termination specified in Part 4 of the regulations.

3.16.6.4 The licensee's report required by 3.16.6.3 shall specify, as appropriate:

(1) Levels of gamma radiation in units of microsievert per hour (µSv/hr or µrem/ hr) at one meter from surfaces;

(2) Levels of radioactive surface contamination, including alpha and beta emitting radioactive materials, in units of disintegrations per minute per 100 square centimeters (dpm/100cm² or Bq/100cm²), specifying levels for both removable and fixed contamination;

(3) Levels of radioactivity in units of becquerel per liter (Bq/l or pCi/l) for water, and becquerel per gram (Bq/g or pCi/g) for solids such as soils or concrete; and

(4) Survey instrument(s) used including certification that each instrument is properly calibrated and tested.

3.16.7 License Termination.

3.16.7.1 Specific licenses, including expired licenses, will be terminated by written notice to the licensee when the Department determines that:

(1) Radioactive materials have been properly disposed and records of disposal required by 4.48 to be maintained and retained have been forwarded to the Department as required by 3.15.4;

(2) Reasonable effort has been made to eliminate residual radioactive contamination, if present;

(3) The licensee has demonstrated, by radiation survey results and/or other appropriate methods, that the license termination will be in compliance with these regulations;

(4) The licensee has established a Department approved long term care warranty, if required;

(5) Department approved institutional controls have been implemented to limit public doses, if required; and

(6) All records required by 3.16.5 have been transferred to the Department.

3.16.8 Additional Cleanup.

3.16.8.1 Except for facilities exempted under 4.61.1.1, after a site has been decommissioned and the license terminated in accordance with 3.16 and 4.61, the Department may reinstate the terminated license or issue a new license and require additional cleanup only if, based on new or previously unknown information, it determines that the criteria of 4.61 were not met and residual radioactivity remaining at the site could result in significant threat to public health and safety.

6 CCR 1007-1-3.16

Colorado Register, Vol 37, No. 14. July 25, 2014, effective 8/14/2014

38 CR 02, January 25, 2015, effective 2/14/2015

38 CR 05, March 10, 2015, effective 3/30/2015

38 CR 12, June 25, 2015, effective 7/15/2015

38 CR 14, July 25, 2015, effective 8/14/2015

39 CR 02, January 25, 2016, effective 2/14/2016

39 CR 16, August 25, 2016, effective 9/14/2016

39 CR 22, November 25, 2016, effective 12/15/2016

40 CR 11, June 10, 2017, effective 6/30/2017

40 CR 20, October 25, 2017, effective 11/14/2017

42 CR 24, December 25, 2019, effective 1/14/2020

43 CR 14, July 25, 2020, effective 8/14/2020

43 CR 18, September 25, 2020, effective 10/15/2020

44 CR 11, June 10, 2021, effective 7/15/2021

44 CR 14, July 25, 2021, effective 8/14/2021

45 CR 22, November 25, 2022, effective 12/15/2022