Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
10/31/2014
Waste Control Specialists received approval late last week from the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality to store the transuranic waste containers it currently is hosting from Los Alamos National Laboratory in its Federal Waste Facility, according to a posting in the Texas Register. WCS had already moved the containers to the floor of the Federal Facility in an attempt to better control any temperature spikes, according to WCS spokesman Chuck McDonald, but this minor license amendment gives the storage the TCEQ stamp of approval. “No changes have been made to the kind of waste WCS can place in storage,” TCEQ spokesman Terry Clawson said. “The amendment allows for storage to be on the floor of the Federal Waste Facility in addition to the previously licensed storage areas at the WCS facility.”
The minor license amendment, though, still calls for case-by-case examination by TCEQ for temporary storage of waste in the facility. “The license will be amended to add the Federal Waste Facility to the approved list of temporary waste storage locations in certain conditions,” the Texas Register posting said. “Interim storage of waste in this facility will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Under the same consideration as required for a minor amendment, the license is also amended to allow overnight storage of radioactive materials in quantities of concern (RAMQC) inside the decontamination building when authorized by the Executive Director.” According to McDonald, WCS has no plans at this time to accept any more containers of transuranic waste for interim storage.
