Perma-Fix Northwest Richland, Inc.

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Export license application; opportunity to provide comments, request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene.

SUMMARY:

On October 17, 2022, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received an application to amend an export license (XW027/01), from Perma-Fix Northwest Richland, Inc. (PFNW), authorizing the export of low-level radioactive waste to Eckert and Ziegler Nuclitech GmbH located in Germany. The request seeks the NRC's approval to amend an existing license authorizing the export of radioactive waste to Germany. The NRC is providing notice of the opportunity to comment, request a hearing, and petition to intervene on PFNW's application.

DATES:

Submit comments by December 22, 2022. A request for a hearing or a petition for leave to intervene must be filed by December 22, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by any of the following methods; however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking website:

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0195. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; email: Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For technical questions contact the individual listed in the For Further Information Contact section of this document.

• Email comments to: Hearing.Docket@nrc.gov. If you do not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact us at 301-415-1677.

• Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 301-415-1101.

• Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.

For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments, see “Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments” in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stephen C. Baker, Office of International Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-287-9059, email: Stephen.Baker@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

Please refer to NRC-2022-0195 or Docket No. 11006380 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publicly available information related to this action the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0195.

• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select “Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.” For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The export license application is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML22292A007. Additional information is available in ADAMS under XW027 and Docket No. 11006380.

• NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking website ( https://www.regulations.gov ). Please include NRC-2022-0195 or Docket No. 11006380 in your comment submission.

The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove identifying or contact information.

If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

On October 17, 2022, the NRC received an application from PFNW requesting to amend their specific license to export German-origin radioactive waste from PFNW processing facilities to Eckert and Ziegler Nuclitech GmbH located in Germany. The application seeks authorization to export no greater than 800,000 kilograms (8.5 terabecquerels (TBq)) of treated low-level radioactive waste, originally received from Germany in the form of liquid, shredded and combustible material produced from research, medical, and other industries (excluding nuclear power plants). The material to be treated includes plastics, paper, wood, personal protective equipment, and glass, primarily contaminated with carbon-14, cesium-137, cobalt-60, nickel-63, radium-226 and strontium-90. The treated waste to be returned to Germany will consist of residual ash and residual metal or non-combustible material that cannot be recycled. The applicant requests an expiration date of September 1, 2026.

In accordance with section 110.70 paragraph (b) of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) the NRC is providing notice of the receipt of the application; providing the opportunity to submit written comments concerning the application; and providing the opportunity to request a hearing or petition for leave to intervene, for a period of 30 days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register .

A hearing request or petition for leave to intervene must include the information specified in 10 CFR 110.82(b). Any request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene shall be served by the requestor or petitioner in accordance with 10 CFR 110.89(a), either by delivery, by mail, or filed with the NRC electronically in accordance with the NRC's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at 77 FR 46562; August 3, 2012). Detailed guidance on making electronic submissions may be found in the Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.

To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the Office of the Secretary by email at Hearing.Docket@nrc.gov, or by telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID) certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the hearing in this proceeding if the Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.

The information concerning this application for an export license follows: