Why Modernization of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Radiation Protection Framework Requires Coordination Across Federal Law

Under the direction of Executive Order 14300, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is reconsidering one of the foundational principles of the federal radiation protection system: that radiation exposures and releases be maintained “as low as is reasonably achievable,” commonly known as ALARA. The Commission has proposed replacing ALARA with a “graded approach to dose management” and revising several numerical standards governing radioactive effluents. The NRC’s reconsideration of ALARA presents a legitimate opportunity to modernize federal radiation protection.

The changes are primarily being considered under the Atomic Energy Act (AEA), which assigns the NRC responsibility for protecting public health and safety in its regulation of civilian nuclear materials and facilities. But the legal significance of ALARA extends beyond the AEA. ALARA and related NRC emissions requirements also became part of an interagency arrangement under the Clean Air Act (CAA) that allowed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw separate radionuclide emissions standards for NRC-regulated facilities.

Section 112(d)(9) of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments authorizes the EPA to forgo promulgating radionuclide emission standards for NRC-licensed facilities only if the EPA determines that the NRC’s regulatory program provides “an ample margin of safety to protect the public health.” The EPA previously determined that the NRC’s regulations resulted in that standard, in part due to ALARA. The proposed changes must either enable the EPA to continue to rely on its prior determinations, enable the EPA to make a new determination that is not based on ALARA, or be made obsolete due to statutory changes.