By Wayne Barber
Executives at two U.S. radioactive waste disposal companies said this week they aren’t worried that the Energy Department is taking longer than initially anticipated to report to Congress on plans for disposal of Greater Than Class C (GTCC) waste.
In February 2016, DOE issued the final environmental impact statement for disposal of GTCC low-level radioactive waste and GTCC-like waste – the year after it had been anticipated and five years after the draft version of the document was released. The final EIS found the preferred alternative would be storage at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) geologic repository in New Mexico and/or generic commercial facilities.
A DOE representative said in late July the agency is working on “departmental concurrence” ahead of submitting a report on disposal options to Congress. That leaves the schedule for issuing the record of decision on the disposal pathway “TBD at this time,” the spokesperson said.
Before it can issue any record of decision, which is a public document that explains the remediation plan for the waste cleanup, the Energy Department needs a congressional decision.
Greater Than Class C waste is the most radioactive of the forms of low-level radioactive waste, and currently has no disposal pathway in the United States. The federal government, under legislation from 1985, is responsible for disposing of what is likely to be about 12,000 cubic meters of GTCC and GTCC-like waste: activated metals from commercial nuclear power plants, sealed sources from hospitals and universities, and other waste from environmental cleanup sites.
Speaking during an industry conference in March, a DOE official involved in the work said she expected the department to submit its report to Congress by the end of 2017. She cited the national election as a factor in extending the process.
“Since this is the first time that the government is taking on this initiative” it’s no real surprise that this effort is taking some time, Joe Weismann, vice president for government and radiological affairs at US Ecology, told RadWaste Monitor.
“I’m not surprised that it has taken longer to get a report to Congress” than originally expected, concurred Waste Control Specialists President and CEO Rod Baltzer.
Both executivess called GTCC an important waste disposal issue that will take time to resolve.
“Finding a solution for Class C is important,” Baltzer said, adding that he was confident the Energy Department would move forward. “They do owe Congress a report,” he noted.
While Weismann and US Ecology are following developments with a general interest, the Boise, Idaho, company has no plans to dispose of GTCC waste at its sites. Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists is watching the GTCC disposal planning process with more immediate concern: “We have been paying attention to this matter for a while,” Baltzer said.
Baltzer thinks the WCS waste storage complex, in Andrews County, Texas, which currently can take Class A, B, and C low-level radioactive wastes, might also prove suitable for handling Greater Than Class C material.
“We have done what I’ll call draft calculation” on how the site might handle low-level material like GTCC, Baltzer said.
The company suspended its efforts to license interim storage of spent nuclear plant fuel at its Andrews County land earlier this year. Baltzer called the potential projects unrelated.
Waste Control Specialists has also been in communication with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as to whether Texas can be certified to regulate GTCC waste, Baltzer said.
Texas regulators already have the authority from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to regulate Class A, B, and C wastes. NRC staff recommended two years ago that the commission authorize Texas to license and regulate the disposal of GTCC waste. Texas is already an NRC “agreement state” with the authority to license and inspect byproduct, source, or special nuclear materials used or possessed within its borders.
One huge consideration that any waste disposal company will have to consider is the position of any potential host state about storing this waste, said Weismann of US Ecology.
Officials in Washington and South Carolina have said publicly they would prefer their states not be disposal sites for GTCC waste. US Ecology’s low-level radioactive waste disposal site is on DOE’s Hanford reservation in Washington state. South Carolina is home to a large waste site operated by nuclear services company EnergySolutions, which declined to comment for this article.
