HENDERSON, Nev. — Communities along the Georgia-South Carolina line, as well as U.S. Energy Department cleanup vendors, are closely tracking federal consideration of disposal options for 10,000 gallons of vitrified wastewater from the Savannah River Site.
When the Energy Department published its proposed reinterpretation of the definition of radioactive high-level waste (HLW) in June, it also said it was looking at options for 10,000 gallons of radioactive wastewater treated at Savannah River’s Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF).
The 310-square-mile Savannah River Site is near Aiken, S.C., near the Georgia border.
The Energy Department is launching a National Environmental Policy Act analysis for the DWPF as something of a trial run for the new interpretation. The new position indicates some less radioactive HLW, such as material vitrified into glass at SRS, can be potentially be disposed of at sites licensed for low-level waste.
With the reinterpretation, waste treated at DWPF could conceivably go to locations other than a deep geologic repository.
At this time DOE is only considering 10,000 gallons for disposal under the new HLW policy, and no final decision has been made, Rick McLeod, president and CEO of the SRS Community Reuse Organization, at the ExchangeMonitor’s annual RadWaste Summit.
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 allows local, state, and tribal governments, along with the public, to comment on the Energy Department’s environmental analysis, he noted.
McLeod said he believes the process might move quickly f the Energy Department concludes there is no significant environmental impact from out-of-state disposal of this waste in glass form.
After filing the notice of environmental assessment in June, the Energy Department has not disclosed a timeline for the environmental analysis, McLeod said following his Wednesday presentation.
The EnergySolutions disposal site in Utah, and the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) facility in Texas, are listed in DOE’s June Federal Register notice as possible sites where the 10,000 gallons of waste could be shipped if an out-of-state alternative is pursued.
