OAR 345-050-0100: Release of Radioactivity

(1) A person shall not locate a waste disposal facility at a site un­less the facility is designed to contain radioactive releases. To is­sue a site certificate, the Council must find that the applicant has proposed to construct the site using methods that include, but are not limited to, construction of dikes, liners and covers, such that there can be no release of radioactive materials from the facility. (2) To find that the proposed radioactive waste disposal facility is designed to contain radioactive releases, the Council shall con­sider measurements of natural background concentrations of radioactive materials near the facility. For the purpose of this rule, radioactive releases are contained if radiation levels and concentrations of radioactive materials are less than the upper statistical limit of background measurements measured before any waste is placed at the site. In making this finding, the Council shall consider statistical limits determined at the 99 percent confidence level. (3) The applicant shall take samples to determine background from a minimum of four samples evenly spaced over a period of a year from each monitoring location of air, soil, groundwater and surface water. The applicant shall calculate the average of the mea­surements from each seasonal period and for each sample type to determine the background concentration. From year to year, the ap­plicant may average the values to increase the statistical base of mea­surements, but only within the same seasonal period. The ap­plicant shall use a sufficient number of monitoring locations to ac­curately characterize the area. (4) After construction of the facility, the certificate holder shall determine compliance with release limits by statistically com­paring the average of sample measurements to the upper limit of the range of background values. The certificate holder shall make this determination by comparing measurements from individual locations to the established background levels. The certificate holder may average multiple samples from the same location to determine compliance with release limits, but only within the same seasonal period.