The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on Wednesday approved the latest financial assurance cost estimate for closure and post-closure activities for radioactive waste facilities operated by Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County.
The three commissioners spent only a couple minutes discussing the matter before their unanimous vote, and asked no questions of TCEQ staff.
Under its state license, Waste Control Specialists must provide financial assurance to cover the projected cost of certain closure and post-closure operations by a third party. The amount is updated annually, at least to account for inflation.
The total financial assurance amount as of Feb. 26 of this year was $115.5 million, in 2018 dollars, divided between Waste Control Specialists’ low-level radioactive waste disposal facility and its low-level radioactive waste treatment, storage, and processing facility.
The cost estimate for the disposal facility is broken down into three components: closure, at $46.7 million; post-closure monitoring, at $25 million; and corrective action, at $21.9 million. The treatment facility requires only financial assurance for closure costs, estimated now at $21.9 million.
The financial assurance is provided by bonds from three insurance companies, according to a memo from TCEQ staff.
Closure operations, under state regulations, involve any mix of dismantlement, decontamination, decommissioning, reclamation, disposal, aquifer restoration, stabilization, monitoring, or observation or maintenance.
Post-closure operations can involve “an environmental monitoring program at the disposal site, periodic surveillance, minor custodial care, and other requirements as determined by the commission or executive director, and administration of funds to cover the costs for these activities,” according to state regulations.
Corrective action means dealing with unanticipated developments that could threaten public health and safety or the environment after the facilities are decommissioned and closed.
