FINAL GTCC EIS TO COME OUT BEFORE END OF YEAR, DOE OFFICIAL SAYS

The final environmental impact statement for Greater-than-Class-C waste disposal is expected to be issued by the end of this year, a Department of Energy official said yesterday. While acknowledging that DOE previously expected to issue the final EIS by now, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Waste Management Frank Marcinowski said at this year’s ExchangeMonitor Publications’ RadWaste Summit that additional time has been needed because the Department’s new senior management had to be briefed on the issue. In early 2011, DOE issued a draft version of the environmental impact statement that identified a number of sites under consideration for GTCC disposal, including Hanford in Washington state; the Idaho National Laboratory; the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico; the Nevada National Security Site; the Savannah River Site; and “generic” commercial disposal sites.