Three state officials responded positively this week to news that sites in their respective jurisdictions were left off the Department of Energy’s site recommendation for the disposal of Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) waste and GTCC-like waste.
Last week, DOE released its final environmental impact statement on disposal options for GTCC waste, recommending the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico and/or land disposal at generic commercial facilities. Congress will make the final selection from a list that currently also includes the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico; the Hanford Site in Washington state; the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS); the Idaho National Laboratory (INL); and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
Leo Drozdoff, director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said Tuesday that Nevada state and local officials have agreed throughout the process that the waste material would not be appropriate at NNSS.
“Obviously the preferred alternative does not include NNSS,” Drozdoff said. “They still have to issue a record of decision, but as far as it goes, not having the NNSS as a preferred alternative, we’re pleased with that outcome because it’s consistent with what we had commented on throughout the process.”
Washington state has long opposed the disposal of GTCC waste at Hanford, citing environmental studies showing that additional waste from other sites would increase the risk to groundwater, said Dieter Bohrmann, spokesman for the Washington Department of Ecology.
Jon Hanian, spokesman for Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, cited two objections from 2011 against potential disposal of GTCC waste at the Idaho National Laboratory. Otter then said DOE has safer and more appropriate alternatives. The governor suggested DOE look elsewhere because INL is located on top of the Snake River Plain Aquifer, a basalt aquifer serving more than 200,000 people.
