The regulation of radioactive materials and wastes by federal agencies

Thomas E. Rudolph
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Abstract

Perhaps no area of environmental law is less understood than the law that regulates radioactive materials and wastes. Radiation experts such as health physicists who talk in terms of “curies,” “Sierverts,” and “critical mass” have a language and methodology that seem alien to most environmental practitioners used to dealing with the intricacies of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act, or the Clean Water Act. When I think of how most environmental engineers and attorneys view the rules that regulate radioactive materials, I am reminded of a Churchill quote that Russia was “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

Many people assume that virtually all rules pertaining to radioactive materials and waste are governed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations. While the NRC obviously is a major “player,” it is not the only one. Depending on the quantity and type of substance involved, the activity involved, that is, possession, use, transportation, disposal, or cleanup of contamination, other agencies may be “players” as well. Those agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), other federal agencies such as the Department of Defense (DOD), and even state radiation protection agencies.

联邦机构对放射性物质和废料的管理
也许在环境法的各个领域中,人们对放射性物质和废料的监管法律了解得最少。辐射专家,如健康物理学家,用“curies”、“siervert”和“critical mass”等术语来谈论辐射问题,他们的语言和方法对于大多数环境从业者来说似乎是陌生的,因为他们习惯于处理《资源保护和恢复法案》、《清洁空气法案》或《清洁水法》等错综复杂的问题。当我想到大多数环境工程师和律师是如何看待管理放射性物质的规则时,我想起了丘吉尔的一句名言:俄罗斯是“一个包裹在谜中谜中的谜”。许多人认为,几乎所有有关放射性物质和废物的规定都受核管理委员会(NRC)条例的管辖。虽然NRC显然是一个主要的“玩家”,但它并不是唯一的一个。根据所涉物质的数量和类型,所涉活动,即拥有、使用、运输、处置或清理污染,其他机构也可能是“参与者”。这些机构包括环境保护局(EPA)、能源部(DOE)、运输部(DOT)、职业安全与健康管理局(OSHA)、其他联邦机构,如国防部(DOD),甚至是州辐射防护机构。
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