The United Steelworkers union is sharply opposing a proposal to ease Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules for disposal of “very low-level” (VLLW) radioactive waste in landfills.
“The United Steelworkers asks the NRC to withhold issuing this proposed rule and strongly urge you to reconsider. The minimal monetary costs this rule may reduce is not worth the costs to workers, our communities, and our environment. We stand with those who oppose this rule, while continuing to support the ongoing mission of the cleanup of our nation’s [Department of Energy] nuclear sites,” Roxanne Brown, USW international vice president at large, wrote in a May 19 letter to NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki.
Very low-level waste is the informal term for the least radioactive form of Class A low-level radioactive waste, which is the least hazardous among the three classes of the material. For the most part it is intended to be disposed of in one of four U.S. facilities licensed to take low-level waste. However, current regulations allow the NRC to approve disposal via land burial at hazardous waste and municipal landfills, on a case-by-case basis.
A rule interpretation being considered at the NRC would allow landfills to apply for an agency exemption to accept VLLW on an ongoing basis, without needing approval for each shipment. Participating landfills would have to meet certain restrictions, including a cumulative dose limit under 25 millirem from all disposals in any year.
Brown raised three central objections to this approach. First is the lack of an official definition for very low-level waste, which “provides insufficient protection to workers and the communities surrounding the receiving company’s premises and the disposal site or sites.” Second, the updated rules would lead to more untrained personnel managing disposal of radioactively contaminated material. Third, according to the union, the new regulatory language does not include directives for monitoring of soil and groundwater near disposal facilities for contamination.
