Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
3/20/2015
EnergySolutions’ proposal to open the Barnwell disposal site to out-of-compact waste faces a major hurdle this week after South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) voiced her opposition to the plan. Earlier this month, EnergySolutions released a proposal that called for the facility to accept out-of-compact Class B and C waste, while encouraging in-compact Class A waste to go to the company’s Clive, Utah, facility. The plan, though, needs legislative approval. “South Carolina has become a state of quality, a state where we are really improving everything about it,” Haley said in a press conference. “We think to go in and open up the compact to take additional nuclear waste would be a huge step backwards for the state of South Carolina.” She added, “There are a lot of other things we need to be working on right now, and taking in other states’ nuclear waste is not one of them.”
The Barnwell facility closed to out-of-compact waste in 2008 following the formation of the Atlantic Compact in 2000. New Jersey, Connecticut, and South Carolina are the only states currently allowed to use the facility for disposal. Only Waste Control Specialists in Texas currently accepts Class B and C waste from states out-of-compact generators.
‘We Don’t Sell Our Soul for Jobs and Money’
According to EnergySolutions, the motivation for the change stems from an ability to cover Barnwell operational costs as well as offering its customers a new disposal option. The company said that the proposal would bring additional revenue and jobs it could bring to the state. Haley, though, shot the job argument down. “We don’t sell our soul for jobs and money,” Haley said. “Yes, I’m the jobs governor, and yes we want to go in and improve the economy. But you have to go in and look at what cost do you do that . I’m not willing to go and take in nuclear waste that our kids and grandkids are going to have to deal with.”
Haley’s comments came as a disappointment to EnergySolutions, who Haley said met with the governor’s office about a month ago. "We are disappointed in the governor’s comments [this week],” EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker said. “We do however look forward to working with the governor and legislators to ensure the long-term viability of the Barnwell Disposal facility to meet the needs of nuclear facilities in South Carolina and other Atlantic Compact States.”
