{"operation":"document","citation":"05-0241","title":"Envirocare of Utah, LLC — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2006-01-24","effective_on":null,"summary":"05-0241 response to Envirocare of Utah, LLC concerning 172.101, 173.403, 173.453.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0241.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0241.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0241","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2005/050241.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nof Transportation\nU.S. Department\n400 Seventh Street, S.W.\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nHazardous Materials Safety\nPipeline and\nAdministration\nJAN 24 2006\nMr. Mark Ledoux\nRef. No.: 05-0241\nCorporate Radiation Safety Officer\nEnvirocare of Utah, LLC\n605 North 5600 West\nSalt Lake City, Utah 84116\nDear Mr. Ledoux,\nThis is in response to your September 13, 2005 letter requesting clarification of the\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) regarding the\napplicability of fissile material exceptions. Specifically, you ask whether § 173.453(c) of\nthe HMR applies to waste generated at the Eastern Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP).\nYou describe the waste as demolition debris from the K-25 and K-27 buildings with\nenriched uranyl fluoride as surface contamination on structural steel and as scale within\nprocess piping and equipment. Prior to transportation structural foam filling is placed in\nprocess equipment voids to restrict geometry changes.\nconcentrations of solid fissile material commingled with solid non-fissile material\nThe fissile material exception provided in § 173.453(c) applies when there are low\nprovided that there are at least 2000 grams of non-fissile material for every gram of\nfissile material and there are no more than 180 grams of fissile material distributed within\n360 kg of contiguous non-fissile material.\nliquid state under conditions normally incident to transportation. The potential for\nvoids with structural foam is a step towards improved safety assurance, but such foam\n172.101\n050241\n173.403\n173.453 (c)\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\ndoes not eliminate the potential for the uranyl fluoride changing from a solid state to a\nliquid state because of its high solubility in water.\nTherefore, the exception in 173.453(c) does not apply to the situation you have described.\nI hope this satisfies your inquiry. If we can be of further assistance, please contact us.\nSincerely,\n18st\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nFichenlaub\nENVIROCARE OF UTAH, LLC\nSAFE AND SECURE\n1734830\nRAM\nCD05-0441\nSeptember 13, 2005\n05-0241\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nAssociate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nWashington, DC 20590-0001\nAttention: Richard Boyle, PHH-23\nDear Mr. Boyle:\nin 49 CFR173.453(c) to waste generated at the Eastern Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP). Specifically,\nEnvirocare of Utah, LLC (Envirocare), hereby requests an interpretation of the applicability of the exception found\nmeets the intent of the fissile exception given in the reference. However, Envirocare and the waste generator\nEnvirocare has determined that demolition debris with surface contamination, primarily enriched uranyl fluoride,\nwould like concurrence on this determination from DOT - RSPA.\nThe following information is provided to assist you in this determination:\nThe waste material is primarily metal debris including steel building materials and segmented process equipment,\nThe fissile material in question is enriched uranyl fluoride. The fissile material is present primarily as\nwhich are generated from the demolition of the K-25 and K-27 buildings at the East Tennessee Technology Park.\ncontamination on the structural steel and as scale within the process piping and equipment.\nSpecifically, Section 5.1.2 \"Fissile-Material Exemptions,\" Section 5.3.3 \"Recommendations for Fissile-Material\nEnvirocare reviewed NUREG/CR-5542, prepared by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for US NRC. •\nExemptions,\" and Appendix G \"Recommended New Criteria for Fissile-Material Exemptions.\" ORNL\nrespect to 10CFR73.15, et al.\nperformed various models to evaluate criticality safety during transportation to support rulemaking activities with\nORNL suggests in the first bullet of Section 5.3.3 that the exemption should be based on a ratio of fissile material\nratio). (The NRC through rulemaking changed the language to \"solid\" in lieu of \"insoluble-in-water and\nto non-fissile material which is insoluble-in-water and noncombustible (excluding special moderators from the\nnoncombustible\") The logic for these criteria is two-fold:\nconcern, and\n\"Add enhanced ensurance in preventing a potential transport situation that could provide a criticality safety\nMaintain flexibility for regulators, licensees, and operators by precluding the need to prescribe and use a TI for\ntransport control.\"\nAppendix G provides recommendations for several transportation scenarios:\n• Exemptions for Packages with Small Fissile Material Mass (<15 grams with a ratio of 200:1 non-fissile to\nfissile-material)\n• Exemptions for Packages Meeting Standards for NCT\n• Exemptions for Packages not Meeting the Standard for NCT (normal condition of transport)\n605 NORTH 5600 WEST • SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84116 • TELEPHONE (801) 532-1330\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nENVIROCARE\nPage 2\nSeptember 13, 2005\nThe applicable recommendation for the K-25/K-27 scenario is the Exemption for Packages not Meeting the\nStandard for NCT. This section (G.2) describes the mass density scenario of 350 g of U-235 with 2000 g of\naluminum metal.\nCONCLUSIONS\ncubic-feet rail cars from ETTP (i.e. building materials, process piping, and process equipment with the exception\nBased on the research in the previous paragraphs, it is Envirocare's opinion that the material transported by 6000\nand may be fissile excepted/exempted in accordance with 49CFR173.453(c) and 10CFR71.15. The reasoning for\nof the compressor seals and converters) would at a minimum qualify for a specific exception from the DOT/NRC,\nthis opinion is that:\nThe solid nonfissile to fissile-material ratio is greater than 2000:1\ngeometry changes in transport as well in accident scenarios.\nThe proposed material preparation (i.e. structural foam filling in process equipment voids) will further restrict\nThe material per rail car would be limited to 350 g of U-235 to meet our disposal license and SNM exemption.\nSincerely,\nMark Ledoux, CHP\nCorporate Radiation Safety Officer","truncated":false,"body_characters":5984}