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TITLE 25HEALTH SERVICES
PART 1DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
CHAPTER 289RADIATION CONTROL
SUBCHAPTER FLICENSE REGULATIONS
RULE §289.257Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material

  (19) Fissile material--The radionuclides plutonium-239, plutonium-241, uranium-233, uranium-235, or any combination of these radionuclides. Fissile material means the fissile nuclides themselves, not material containing fissile nuclides. Unirradiated natural uranium and depleted uranium, and natural uranium or depleted uranium that has been irradiated in thermal reactors only are not included in this definition. Agency jurisdiction extends only to special nuclear material in quantities not sufficient to form a "critical mass" as defined in §289.201(b) of this title. Certain exclusions from fissile material controls are provided in subsection (h) of this section.

  (20) Freight forwarder--A person or entity which holds itself out to the general public to provide transportation of property for compensation and in the ordinary course of its business:

    (A) assembles and consolidates, or provides for assembling and consolidating, shipments and performs break-bulk and distribution operations of the shipments;

    (B) assumes responsibility for the transportation from the place of receipt to the place of destination; and

    (C) uses for any part of the transportation a rail, motor or water carrier subject to the jurisdiction of either the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or the Surface Transportation Board.

  (21) Generator--A licensee operating in accordance with an agency, NRC, or agreement state license who:

    (A) is a waste generator as defined in this section; or

    (B) is the licensee to whom waste can be attributed within the context of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985 (e.g., waste generated as a result of decontamination or recycle activities).

  (22) Graphite--For the purposes of this section, this means graphite with a boron equivalent content of less than 5 parts per million and density greater than 1.5 grams per cubic centimeter.

  (23) High integrity container (HIC)--A container commonly designed to meet the structural stability requirements of Title 10, CFR, §61.56, and to meet DOT requirements for a Type A package.

  (24) Indian Tribe --An Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian Tribe pursuant to the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994, 25 U.S.C. §479a.

  (25) Low-level radioactive waste (LLRW)--Radioactive material that meets the following criteria:

    (A) LLRW is radioactive material that is:

      (i) discarded or unwanted and is not exempt by rule adopted in accordance with the Texas Radiation Control Act (Act), Health and Safety Code, §401.106;

      (ii) waste, as that term is defined in Title 10, CFR, §61.2; and

      (iii) subject to:

        (I) concentration limits established in Title 10, CFR, §61.55, or compatible rules adopted by the department or the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), as applicable; and

        (II) disposal criteria established in Title 10, CFR, or established by the department or TCEQ, as applicable.

    (B) LLRW does not include:

      (i) high-level radioactive waste as defined in Title 10, CFR, §60.2;

      (ii) spent nuclear fuel as defined in Title 10, CFR, §72.3;

      (iii) byproduct material defined in the Act, Health and Safety Code, §401.003(3)(B);

      (iv) naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) waste that is not oil and gas NORM waste;

      (v) oil and gas NORM waste; or

      (vi) transuranics greater than 100 nanocuries (3.7 kilobecquerels) per gram (g).

  (26) Low specific activity (LSA) material--Radioactive material with limited specific activity which is nonfissile or is excepted in accordance with subsection (h) of this section, and which satisfies the following descriptions and limits set forth in this section. Shielding materials surrounding the LSA material may not be considered in determining the estimated average specific activity of the package contents. LSA material shall be in one of the following three groups:

    (A) LSA-I.

      (i) Uranium and thorium ores, concentrates of uranium and thorium ores, and other ores containing naturally occurring radionuclides that are intended to be processed for the use of these radionuclides; or

      (ii) Natural uranium, depleted uranium, natural thorium or their compounds or mixtures, provided they are unirradiated and in solid or liquid form; or

      (iii) Radioactive material other than fissile material for which the A2 value is unlimited; or

      (iv) Other radioactive material (e.g.: mill tailings, contaminated earth, concrete, rubble, other debris, and activated material) in which the radioactivity is distributed throughout, and the estimated average specific activity does not exceed 30 times the value for exempt material activity concentration determined in accordance with subsection (ee) of this section.

    (B) LSA-II.

      (i) Water with tritium concentration up to 0.8 terabecquerel per liter (TBq/l) (20.0 curies per liter (Ci/l)); or

      (ii) Other material in which the radioactivity is distributed throughout, and the average specific activity does not exceed 10-4 A2/g for solids and gases, and 10-5 A2 /g for liquids.

    (C) LSA-III. Solids (e.g., consolidated wastes, activated materials), excluding powders, that satisfy the requirements of Title 10, CFR, §71.77 in which:

      (i) the radioactive material is distributed throughout a solid or a collection of solid objects, or is essentially uniformly distributed in a solid compact binding agent (such as concrete, bitumen, ceramic, etc.); and

      (ii) the radioactive material is relatively insoluble, or it is intrinsically contained in a relatively insoluble material, so that, even with a loss of packaging, the loss of radioactive material per package by leaching, when placed in water for 7 days, will not exceed 0.1 A2; and

      (iii) the estimated average specific activity of the solid, excluding any shielding material, does not exceed 2 x 10-3 A2/g.

  (27) Low toxicity alpha emitters--Natural uranium, depleted uranium, natural thorium; uranium-235, uranium-238, thorium-232, thorium-228 or thorium-230 when contained in ores or physical or chemical concentrates or tailings; or alpha emitters with a half-life of less than 10 days.

  (28) Maximum normal operating pressure--The maximum gauge pressure that would develop in the containment system in a period of 1 year under the heat condition specified in Title 10, CFR, §71.71(c)(1), in the absence of venting, external cooling by an ancillary system, or operational controls during transport.

  (29) Natural thorium--Thorium with the naturally occurring distribution of thorium isotopes (essentially 100 weight percent thorium-232).

  (30) Normal form radioactive material--Radioactive material that has not been demonstrated to qualify as special form radioactive material.

  (31) NRC Forms 540, 540A, 541, 541A, 542, and 542A--Official NRC forms referenced in subsection (ff) of this section which includes the information required by DOT in Title 49, CFR, Part 172. Licensees need not use originals of these forms as long as any substitute forms contain the equivalent information. Licensees may include additional information deemed relevant to the licensee's shipment of low-level radioactive waste. Upon agreement between the shipper and consignee, NRC Forms 541 (and 541A) and NRC Forms 542 (and 542A) or equivalent documents may be completed, transmitted, and stored in electronic media. The electronic media shall have the capability for producing legible, accurate, and complete records in the format of the uniform manifest.

  (32) Package--The packaging together with its radioactive contents as presented for transport.

    (A) Fissile material package, Type AF package, Type BF package, Type B(U)F package, or Type B(M)F package--A fissile material packaging together with its fissile material contents.

    (B) Type A package--A Type A packaging together with its radioactive contents. A Type A package is defined and shall comply with the DOT regulations in Title 49, CFR, Part 173.

    (C) Type B package--A Type B packaging together with its radioactive contents. On approval by the NRC, a Type B package design is designated by NRC as B(U) unless the package has a maximum normal operating pressure of more than 700 kilopascals (kPa) (100 pounds per square inch (lb/ in2 )) gauge or a pressure relief device that would allow the release of radioactive material to the environment under the tests specified in Title 10, CFR, §71.73 (hypothetical accident conditions), in which case it will receive a designation B(M). B(U) refers to the Cont'd...

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