Submit Your Adverse Comments to NRC on or Before Wednesday, November 4th
Under the President’s Executive Order, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, is at it again. This time, during a 30-day comment period, the NRC is proposing a multitude of exemptions to an existing rule in order to deregulate or decontrol nuclear waste and nuclear materials. Recall its previous efforts to deregulate nuclear waste and materials under terms such as “below regulatory concern,” BRC, “beneficial use,” “de minimus,” “linguistic detoxification,” and “very low level radioactive waste,” or VLLW. https://www.nirs.org/the-secret-radioactive-rule-change-that-we-can-stop/
When you submit your comments, please state that they are a “significant adverse public comment” or “controversial.” Ask specifically that NRC immediately withdraw the proposed rule. This language is important because otherwise the direct final rule would slip through and go into effect on December 21, 2026.
We must stop or delay this process because the administration is trying to eliminate labeling, recordkeeping, tracking and licensing of a multitude of radionuclides – basically deregulating them. Comments are due on or before Wednesday, November 4th at 11:59 pm Eastern Time to Docket ID NRC-2025-1568 at https://www.regulations.gov/document/NRC-2025-1568-0002 .
Further, under Executive Order No. 14300, named “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” the administration’s proposal violates the NRC’s legal obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, and the Atomic Energy Act – key laws that have created procedures to protect against radiation exposures over the past 60 years. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202500633/pdf/DCPD-202500633.pdf
The threat of rolling back specific licensing thresholds would expand the volume and radioactivity of radioactive materials circulating in the public realm. Imagine setting up your new apartment with utensils, pots and pans and other metal objects that were made of melted down radioactive metals that would release radioactivity under the NRC’s proposal.
If the rule were finalized, nothing would prohibit diluting more concentrated wastes or materials to the less protective exemption levels. Those wastes could be released as solid waste into unregulated destinations, including, but not limited to, incinerators, landfills and commercial recycling streams. Congress revoked these scenarios 35 years ago when it outlawed such practices.
The NRC has not justified the proposed change, which would quadruple the number of exemptions from licensure, potentially allowing some or all of every waste stream to be omitted from regulatory controls.
Please submit your concerns now. To get started, comment ideas are available here: https://nirs.salsalabs.org/2025-1568exemptions
- Friday, October 23rd from noon to 1 pm
– Join the nuclear disarmament community at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval in Santa Fe for the weekly peaceful protest in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Bring your flags, signs and banners.
- Sunday, November 1 through Saturday, November 7th –
Global Resistance Week to Stop US Imperialism & Genocide. Actions are planned from coast to coast, including mobilizations at about ten U.S. military bases. https://globalresistancenow.org/
In New Mexico, events will take place at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis. View details here: Nov wk poster 10-27
- Thursday, November 5th and Friday, November 6th –
New Mexico Interim Legislative Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee meeting at State Capitol. Mark your calendar. Agenda will be posted closer to the meeting. https://www.nmlegis.gov/Publications/Work_Plans/RHMCworkplan26.pdf
- Free online and for public screenings, conferences, classrooms and viewing parties
– An Ordinary Insanity – a 29-minute documentary about renowned whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg provides a powerful wakeup call about the global threat posted by nuclear weapons and how we can dramatically reduce the real and present danger of nuclear annihilation. https://www.anordinaryinsanity.com/
Tags: AEA, APA, below regulatory control, beneficial use, BRC, controversial, de minimus, linguistic detoxification, NEPA, NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Presidential Executive Order 14300, significant adverse public comment, very low level radioactive waste, VLLW, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ” deregulate nuclear waste
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