§ 194.8 Approval process for waste shipment from waste generator sites for disposal at the WIPP.
(a) Quality Assurance Programs at Waste Generator Sites. The Agency will determine compliance with requirements for site-specific quality assurance programs as set forth below:
(1) Upon submission by the Department of a site-specific quality assurance program plan the Agency will evaluate the plan to determine whether it establishes the applicable Nuclear Quality Assurance (NQA) requirements of § 194.22(a)(1) for the items and activities of §§ 194.22(a)(2)(i), 194.24(c)(3) and 194.24(c)(5). The program plan and other documentation submitted by the Department will be placed in the dockets described in § 194.67.
(2) The Agency will conduct a quality assurance audit or an inspection of a Department quality assurance audit at the relevant site for the purpose of verifying proper execution of the site-specific quality assurance program plan. The Agency will publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing a scheduled inspection or audit. In that or another notice, the Agency will also solicit public comment on the quality assurance program plan and appropriate Department documentation described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section. A public comment period of at least 30 days will be allowed.
(3) The Agency's written decision regarding compliance with the requisite quality assurance requirements at a waste generator site will be conveyed in a letter from the Administrator's authorized representative to the Department. No such compliance determination shall be granted until after the end of the public comment period described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section. A copy of the Agency's compliance determination letter will be placed in the public dockets in accordance with § 194.67. The results of any inspections or audits conducted by the Agency to evaluate the quality assurance programs described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section will also be placed in the dockets described in § 194.67.
(4) Subsequent to any positive determination of compliance as described in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, the Agency intends to conduct inspections, in accordance with §§ 194.21 and 194.22(e), to confirm the continued compliance of the programs approved under paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this section. The results of such inspections will be made available to the public through the Agency's public dockets, as described in § 194.67.
(b) Waste characterization programs at transuranic waste sites. The Agency will establish compliance with Condition 3 of the certification using the following process:
(1) DOE will implement waste characterization programs and processes in accordance with § 194.24(c)(4) to confirm that the total amount of each waste component that will be emplaced in the disposal system will not exceed the upper limiting value or fall below the lower limiting value described in the introductory text of § 194.24(c). Waste characterization processes will include the collection and use of acceptable knowledge; destructive and/or nondestructive techniques for identifying and measuring waste components; and the validation, control, and transmittal to the WIPP Waste Information System database of waste characterization data, in accordance with § 194.24(c)(4).