March 17, 2014

NRC KICKS OFF SERIES OF MEETINGS ON SALTSTONE DISPOSAL CONCERNS

By ExchangeMonitor

The Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission held the first in a series of meetings yesterday to attempt to resolve issues raised in a recent NRC report regarding the disposal of low-level waste in saltstone at the Savannah River Site. Last week, the NRC released a Technical Evaluation Report questioning if DOE’s modeling for saltstone disposal proves that the technique meets objectives for radiation dose to the public for the next 10,000 years. In addition to yesterday’s meeting, the NRC will hold meetings on May 15, May 22 and May 29 to discuss the issue. “As we work together to address the issues that we’ve cited there are two possible outcomes that may come out of our deliberations. One would be that we are able to find resolution and DOE is able to satisfactorily address the concerns that we raised,” NRC Waste Management Director Larry Camper said at yesterday’s meeting. In that case, the NRC would send a letter of resolution to DOE.

However, if no resolution is reached the NRC will send a letter signed by the agency’s chairman to Congress, DOE and South Carolina stating that the NRC no longer has reasonable assurance that all performance objectives are being met. “I think we all are certainly striving toward a resolution and I believe that the excellent technical work that will take place today and over the weeks to come will hopefully lead us there,” Camper said. The NRC does not have a timeframe or deadline for a decision. DOE officials at the meeting said they look forward to working to resolve the issue, and declined to comment on potential effects on saltstone disposal activities. “We received the report as did the rest of the public. We are here to listen and absorb what the NRC is saying and we will continue to review it. As we follow up over the next several weeks on Tuesdays, we will explore and see where that takes us,” DOE’s Bill Levitan said.

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