Ensuring Clarity and Transparency in Radioactive Waste Definitions

The purpose of this document is to help states impacted by cleanup at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons cleanup sites clarify the radioactive waste classifications that underpin cleanup activities and ensure consistent use of terminology among the Federal Facilities Task Force (FFTF), DOE and other organizations as cleanup proceeds.

(View/Download)

Introduction and Background

Following the Manhattan Project, the end of World War II, and a series of actions reorganizing the regulation of energy and defense activities, policymakers designated DOE as responsible for nuclear waste, nuclear weapons production and nuclear reactor research.

States play an important role in the cleanup partnership, regulating and/or overseeing the cleanup effort and working with DOE to ensure that federal and state laws are followed and that cleanup decisions are transparent, responsible and equitable. States have authority to regulate DOE's mixed hazardous wastes in accordance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) under the authority granted by the Federal Facilities Compliance Act. As such, states approve and regulate implementation of DOE's Site Treatment Plans for the treatment, storage and/or disposal of DOE's mixed low-level waste to protect human health and the environment. DOE self-regulates low-level waste (LLW) under the Atomic Energy Act (AEA).