Institutional and technical issues in the management of low-level mixed wastes

The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 vested in the Atomic Energy Commission the exclusive authority to regulate source, special nuclear, and byproduct materials and to own and operate the facilities for their production. It further authorized the Commission to regulate any activity covered by the Act in order to protect health and to minimize danger to life and property. In addition, Executive Order 12088 of October 13, 1978, required federal agencies to meet pollution control standards equivalent to those required of the regulated community. These legislative mandates had been interpreted to exempt federal Atomic Energy Act facilities from all outside regulation, until the recent, successful, legal challenge to this interpretation. This court challenge raised the prospect of dual regulation of mixed (radioactive and chemically hazardous) wastes and led us to analyze the consequences of such dual regulation. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have been developing a basis for delineating their relative responsibilities in order to avoid the necessity for a dual program. 1 reference, 1 table