{"operation":"document","citation":"06-0204","title":"Mr. Jim Pitts — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2006-10-26","effective_on":null,"summary":"06-0204 concerning 173.403.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-06-0204.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-06-0204.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-06-0204","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2006/060204.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\n400 Seventh Street, S.W.\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nHazardous Materials Safety\nPipeline and\nAdministration\nMr. Jim Pitts\nOCT 26 2006\n3755 Bethel Church Road\nRef. No.: 06-0204\nKevil, Kentucky 42053\nDear Mr. Pitts:\nThis is in response to your September 7, 2006 letter requesting clarification of the\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). You ask two questions\nrelative to the requirements for transporting Class 7 (radioactive) material. You also\ninclude sample data describing the contents and activity of material taken from a\nremediation site near Tonowanda, NY. Your questions are summarized and answered as\nQ1. Based on a determination made by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),\nradioactive material taken from the remediation site may be categorized as \"alternative\nfeed.\" May the same \"alternative feed\" material be considered \"ore\" to meet the \"LSA-I\"\ndefinition in § 173.403?\nA1. The answer is no. The definition of \"LSA-I\" in § 173.403 includes uranium and\nthorium ores, concentrates of uranium and thorium ores, and other ores containing\nradionuclides. The determination by the NRC that the material is \"alternative feed\"\nnaturally occurring radionuclides which are intended to be processed for the use of these\nmaterial does not, in itself, mean the material is considered an ore. The term ore is not\npecifically defined in the HMR. However, a uranium or thorium ore that has bee\nan ore. You do not provide a sufficient history of the processing performed on the\nhysically or chemically processed for use of radionuclides may no longer be considere\nmaterial to accurately determine if it is an ore.\nQ2. Despite the analytical data that indicates the presence of enriched and depleted\ncontains natural uranium, is it permissible to use the RQ value for \"uranium, natural,\"\nuranium in the soil samples from Tonowanda, NY, if it is known that the material only\nand the Az value for \"U (nat)\" in the table in § 173.435 to determine the proper\nlisted in § 172.101, the exemption values for \"U (nat)\" listed in the table in § 173.436,\nclassification of the material?\nA2. The answer is no. \"Uranium - natural\" is defined in § 173.403 as chemically\n(approximately 99.28% uranium-238 and 0.72% uranium-235 by mass). The analytical\nseparated uranium containing the naturally occurring distribution of uranium isotopes\ndata you provided indicates that the material may contain enriched or depleted uranium.\nIt is not appropriate to use the RQ value, exemption values, and A2 values for \"Uranium -\n113.403\n060204\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nnatural\" to determine the proper classification of the material if analytical data suggests\nthe material contains enriched or depleted uranium.\ncontact this office.\nI hope this information is helpful. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to\nSincerely,\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nWilliams, James <HMSA>\nSent:\nFrom:\nnewclearson@comcast.net\nCc:\nTo:\nThursday, September 07, 2006 8:55 Al\nEchenlaub\nVilliams, James <PHMSA\nSubject:\nWilliam Lorenz\n§172101 Table 2\nFW: The question\n§ 173.403\nHazardous\nSubtances\nThe question\nLinde_EA_F_EA_M_\n06-0204\nData.x/s (84 K...\nJim,\nquestion from Linde personnel and adding some of my own. I want to sum up the questions concisely if I can:\nHere is the question and some data that I promised you I would send last week. I am forwarding the attached\nas ore in the USDOT using the LSA-I (i) definition in 403 as well as using the ore placarding exemption? There\n1. The attached question from Tonawanda. I think what they mean by this is can the Linde material be shipped\nis a letter from the NRC to International Uranium (The Mill in Utah) that all of the linde radioactive\ncontaminated materials was acceptable as \"alternate feed\" and thus \"ore\" to the mill back in 2000. My question\nwith this one is this: Since all of the Linde material was deemed \"alternate feed\" (ore) by the NRC, then could\nthis material still be \"ore\" even if shipping to another disposition outlet somewhere else in the country?\nlevels of uranium (U-238, 234, 235) and daughters (Ra-226, Th-230) can the A2 for \"natural uranium\" be used\n2. The attached xl file has some actual data from one of the digs. The question on this one is this: Given the\nstatus? Can the Table 436 exemption level for natural uranium (b) be used so that everything is consistent?\nwhich is unlimited? Can the RQ for natural uranium (**) be used when determining hazardous substance\nNotice that the last two data sets in the attached file have Th-230 with really high levels, however when the\nwhole set is averaged Uranium 238 levels are the highest.\nAn interesting point to take into consideration here when looking at these analytical numbers is this: We know\nhid compare you natural in late 23a this urani is hole erichen or takthe data for dazin he-23:\nhis Uranium 1s \"t\nas well.\nnumbers are that far off and they can also be assumed to be off by 50% or more for the other nuclides in the list\nJim Pitts\nThank you,\n270-210-7455\n--- Forwarded Message: ----\nFrom: \"Lorenz, William\" < William.Lorenz@shawgrp.com>\nTo: <newclearson@comcast.net>\nSubject: The question\nDate: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:46:40 +0000\n> Jim,\n>\n>\n>\n> Please have your contact provide an answer to this question:\n>\n1","truncated":false,"body_characters":5271}