The Environmental Protection Agency announced July 27 that it had developed a nearly $40 million plan for cleanup of a radioactively contaminated site in Queen, N.Y.
From about 1920 to 1954, the Wolff-Alport Chemical Co. retrieved rare earth minerals via processing of monazite sand, a process that produced radioactive waste that the company through 1947 dumped into the sewer system or onto its property, according to an EPA press release.
The site today, along Queens’ border with Brooklyn, encompasses six parcels of land with five buildings that house a number of businesses, along with office and warehouse space. Surveys by EPA and New York City and state found waste and radioactive contamination spread through the site, as well as below nearby sidewalks and roadways and in sewers.
After a series of interim steps to protect locals against potential exposure, at a cost of $3.5 million, the agency said it had established an estimated $39.4 million remediation plan encompassing: moving five commercial businesses offices off-site; demolishing all contaminated buildings; remediating and replacing radioactively contaminated sewers; and digging, removing, and disposing of what is expected to be 24,300 cubic yards of contaminated soil, sediment, and debris.
The agency is taking comments on the proposed plan through Aug. 28. Comments can be sent to Thomas Mongelli, remedial project manager, U.S. EPA, 290 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10007; or at [email protected].
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has certified AREVA’s new dry storage system for used nuclear fuel, allowing the product to go onto the market.
The NUHOMS Extended Optimized Storage system from AREVA subsidiary TN Americas can be used for transport and storage of high burn-up fuel from closed nuclear reactors, according to a July 31 company press release. The horizontal container’s high heat dispersal capacities would enable utilities to move fuel from wet storage to dry storage faster than with other systems, AREVA said.
The NRC formally said it had added the system to its list of approved spent fuel storage casks in a July 25 Federal Register notice. The certification expires on June 7, 2037.
One EOS model can be used to hold and ship 37 pressurized water reactor assemblies, while the other has capacity for storage of 89 boiling water reactor assemblies. The cost of each system is competitive information that cannot be released, AREVA spokesman Curtis Roberts said by email.
Two utilities representing four nuclear power plants have to date ordered 90 of the systems, according to Roberts. He said AREVA was not yet identifying the companies or locations: “We may have future announcements specific to the projects with more details.”
From The Wires
From Law 360 (subscription required): State of Nevada files new argument in federal court against Texas lawsuit demanding licensing of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.
From World Nuclear News: The Nuclear Energy Institute files its own argument against Texas’ demand for a refund of money it provided to the Nuclear Waste Fund.
From GazetteXtra: SHINE Medical Technologies breaks ground on prototype medical isotope production plant.
