The Government Accountability Office wants congress to clarify regulatory authority over a certain type of commercial low-level nuclear waste from shuttered reactors and old medical and industrial equipment, according to a report released Thursday.
The Department of Energy has been studying disposal options of what is known as greater-than Class C (GTCC) waste and GTCC-like waste, both of which lack a clear disposal path.
The DOE estimates about 12,000 cubic meters of GTCC and GTCC-like waste already exist or will be produced by 2083, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said in the new report.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management agrees with GAO’s desire for more transparency on the waste issues, a spokesperson said by email Thursday. Environmental Management “will continue to apply integrated radioactive waste disposal strategies which consider environmental justice, climate change, and site equities to maintain the current and develop additional disposal options, ensuring a sustainable cleanup mission while being fully protective.”
Over the next decade the DOE Office of Environmental Management “will overcome barriers and advanced disposal capabilities” for these types of waste, William (Ike) White, special adviser to the agency’s cleanup office, said in a formal response included in the GAO report. The office will continue to work with congress, tribal nations, communities around nuclear facilities and other stakeholders to address the issue, White said.
The GAO said congress should provide DOE with direction so the agency can approve a waste disposal option — whether deep underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico, near-surface disposal at a commercial facility such as Waste Control Specialists in West Texas or options such as boreholes, trenches and above-ground vaults.
The DOE did a draft environmental impact statement in 2011. In its final version in 2016, DOE selected WIPP, land disposal at commercial facilities, or both, as its preferred alternative for GTCC and GTCC-like waste disposal. The DOE had not made a final decision as of Friday.
All the options face certain barriers, whether regulatory, environmental or health and safety issues.
WIPP, for example, is licensed only for disposal of defense-related transuranic waste; GTCC comes from commercial sources.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules discourage near-surface disposal, defined as less than 30 meters deep, unless other safeguards are in place. While Waste Control Specialists could likely satisfy the Nuclear Regulatory Commission safety standards, Texas policy currently prohibits GTCC disposal.
In 2014, Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County filed a petition for rulemaking with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to remove the state ban. In 2015, the Texas board sought clarity from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, only to encounter something of a catch-22-style contradiction.
The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 allows the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cede its regulatory authority to agreement states such as Texas. But the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985 requires GTCC waste be disposed of in a facility licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission passed on clarifying GTCC rules in 2015 in part due to fear of litigation, together with some staff hesitancy about turning over the regulatory power to the states, GAO said in the report.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission lacks disposal rules for GTCC-like waste in part because it is vaguely defined by law. Such material is government-owned rather than commercial and “GTCC-like” is not a legal or regulatory concept, but a DOE term, GAO said. As with GTCC waste, GTCC-like waste remains orphaned without a path to disposal. DOE is considering using similar approaches to dispose of both types of waste, GAO said.
The biggest concentration of GTCC-like waste is at the West Valley Demonstration Project site in New York. There is about 880 cubic meters of contaminated debris from pipes, equipment and buildings at West Valley, a state-owned property being cleaned up by DOE. Much of the GTCC-like waste at West Valley does not qualify as defense-related transuranic waste and so is not allowed at WIPP.
In April, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission moved to streamline a GTCC waste rulemaking process.
