---identifier: "/us/cfr/t40/s191.13"source: "ecfr"legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"title: "40 CFR § 191.13 - Containment requirements."title_number: 40title_name: "Protection of Environment"section_number: "191.13"section_name: "Containment requirements."chapter_name: "ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY"subchapter_number: "F"subchapter_name: "RADIATION PROTECTION PROGRAMS"part_number: "191"part_name: "ENVIRONMENTAL RADIATION PROTECTION STANDARDS FOR MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL, HIGH-LEVEL AND TRANSURANIC RADIOACTIVE WASTES"positive_law: falsecurrency: "2026-03-24"last_updated: "2026-03-24"format_version: "1.1.0"generator: "[email protected]"authority: "The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2011-2296; Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970, 5 U.S.C. app. 1; the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 10101-10270; and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act, Pub. L. 102-579, 106 Stat. 4777."regulatory_source: "50 FR 38084, Sept. 19, 1985, unless otherwise noted."cfr_part: "191"---
Identifier
/us/cfr/t40/s191.13
Currency
2026-03-24
Positive Law
No
Updated
2026-03-24
Chapter
Environmental Protection Agency
Authority
The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2011-2296; Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970, 5 U.S.C. app. 1; the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 10101-10270; and the Was... The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2011-2296; Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970, 5 U.S.C. app. 1; the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 10101-10270; and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act, Pub. L. 102-579, 106 Stat. 4777.
# 191.13 Containment requirements.(a) Disposal systems for spent nuclear fuel or high-level or transuranic radioactive wastes shall be designed to provide a reasonable expectation, based upon performance assessments, that the cumulative releases of radionuclides to the accessible environment for 10,000 years after disposal from all significant processes and events that may affect the disposal system shall:(1) Have a likelihood of less than one chance in 10 of exceeding the quantities calculated according to Table 1 (appendix A); and(2) Have a likelihood of less than one chance in 1,000 of exceeding ten times the quantities calculated according to Table 1 (appendix A).(b) Performance assessments need not provide complete assurance that the requirements of § 191.13(a) will be met. Because of the long time period involved and the nature of the events and processes of interest, there will inevitably be substantial uncertainties in projecting disposal system performance. Proof of the future performance of a disposal system is not to be had in the ordinary sense of the word in situations that deal with much shorter time frames. Instead, what is required is a reasonable expectation, on the basis of the record before the implementing agency, that compliance with § 191.13 (a) will be achieved.