NRC Radioactive Materials Licenses

Part 30 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's rules governs licenses for byproduct material, a class of radioactive material it defines (10 CFR 30.1, 30.4). Apart from the exceptions and exempt persons the section names, making, holding, using or transferring it takes a specific or general license (10 CFR 30.3(a)).

What puts a property on this record

The regulation does not say which sites are on the record. It says who needs a license.

• Byproduct material. The definition begins with "Any radioactive material (except special nuclear material) yielded in, or made radioactive by, exposure to the radiation incident to the process of producing or using special nuclear material" (10 CFR 30.4). It also takes in discrete sources of radium-226 and accelerator-produced material made for commercial, medical or research use, and certain other discrete sources of naturally occurring radioactive material (10 CFR 30.4).
• Specific and general licenses. A specific license goes to a named applicant; a general license is granted by regulation, without an application or a licensing document, though it may call for registration (10 CFR 30.31). Part 30 also recognizes licenses an Agreement State issues under its agreement with the Commission (10 CFR 30.4, 30.41(b)(5)).

What a listing shows, and what it does not

The regulation does not say what a listing holds. A specific license shows that a named person was authorized to hold byproduct material at the locations and for the purposes it states (10 CFR 30.31(a), 30.34(c)); the sections cited say nothing of contamination there.

Licensees under part 30 keep records important to decommissioning, among them "Records of spills or other unusual occurrences involving the spread of contamination in and around the facility, equipment, or site", which may be limited to contamination that remained after cleanup or was reasonably likely to have spread to inaccessible areas, and which give what is known of the nuclides, quantities, forms and concentrations (10 CFR 30.35(g)(1)). They also include as-built drawings of restricted areas where radioactive material was used or stored and of places, such as buried pipes, where contamination may be out of reach, or, where drawings are not available, other records of those places (10 CFR 30.35(g)(2)); and a list of areas that includes those where wastes were buried, which need not cover areas that held only sealed sources that have not leaked or kept no contamination after a leak, or only material with half-lives under 65 days (10 CFR 30.35(g)(3)). Before termination, a licensee authorized to possess unsealed material with a half-life over 120 days forwards its records of disposal to the NRC, including burials under an earlier rule that "permitted burial of small quantities of licensed materials in soil before January 28, 1981, without specific Commission authorization" (10 CFR 30.51(d)(1)).

An expired specific license is not a terminated one: it stays in effect for possession, past its expiration date if necessary, until the Commission gives written notice of termination, which follows its finding, among other things, that the material was properly disposed of (10 CFR 30.36(c), (k)). Decommissioning may end in "Release of the property under restricted conditions and termination of the license" (10 CFR 30.4); see activity and use limitations. The absence of a licensing document does not show that no byproduct material was held: a general license takes effect without one, and part 30 exempts certain concentrations, quantities and products (10 CFR 30.14 to 30.22, 30.31(b)).

In a Phase I ESA

These licenses are not a standard source of Table 2, and Table 3, the standard's examples of additional records, does not name them (E1527-21, 8.2.2, Table 2, Table 3). Additional records are checked when the environmental professional judges them reasonably ascertainable, useful, accurate and complete enough for the purpose of the records review, and generally obtained in initial site assessments for the type of transaction involved, under local good commercial and customary practice (E1527-21, 8.2.4). The practice concerns hazardous substances as the federal cleanup law defines them (E1527-21, 1.1.1, 3.2.36); its legal appendix, background information only, notes that EPA has designated radionuclides as such (E1527-21, X1.1.4.3).

At the subject property, the answer turns on what material was authorized and in what form, where it was used, stored or buried, whether spills spread contamination, and how the license ended. The decommissioning records, the final survey report, if any, and the termination notice come closest to showing this; ask for them with the license (10 CFR 30.35(g), 30.36(j), (k)). Where they show a release that left hazardous substances present or likely present at the subject property, the condition is listed in the Conclusions as a recognized environmental condition (REC) unless judged a de minimis condition or a historical REC, and the professional should give an opinion on additional investigation, if any (E1527-21, 3.2.20, 3.2.39, 3.2.73, 12.7, 12.8).

Nearby, the answer turns on whether a release is known or likely and whether it could reach the subject property. See adjoining or nearby property.

A listing of the subject property, or of another site inside the approximate minimum search distance, from any source the assessment uses gets the professional's judgment on its significance (E1527-21, 8.1.10).

What the federal rule says

The inquiry rule does not name these licenses. Its list for the subject property includes:

Records of activities, conditions, or incidents likely to cause or contribute to releases or threatened releases as defined in § 312.1(c)

40 CFR 312.26(b)(2), edition revised as of July 1, 2025

The examples that follow include hazardous waste handler and generator records and spill reporting records (40 CFR 312.26(b)(2)). The rule lets the procedures of E1527-21 be used to comply with its sections 312.23 through 312.31 (40 CFR 312.11(a)).

Where the record is kept

The licensee keeps its decommissioning records in an identified place until the site's release for unrestricted use, hands them to a new licensee if the licensed activities are transferred, and forwards them to the appropriate NRC Regional Office before termination (10 CFR 30.35(g), 30.51(f)). Within 60 days after a license expires, the licensee decides to cease principal activities for good, or none have been conducted for 24 months, the licensee notifies the NRC in writing and begins decommissioning; where a plan is required, it is submitted within 12 months of the notice and decommissioning begins on its approval. The same applies to a separate building or outdoor area whose residual radioactivity makes it unsuitable for release, and the Commission may extend the times (10 CFR 30.36(d), (f), (g)). As the last step, the licensee certifies what became of the licensed material and reports a radiation survey of the premises, unless it shows in another way that they are fit for release (10 CFR 30.36(j)).

This page is general reference for environmental professionals. It does not classify any property. ASTM E1527-21 is the standard and is not reproduced here; the judgment of the environmental professional on the facts governs.