Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
2/14/2014
IN DOE
The Department of Energy awarded Waste Control Specialists a task order this week to dispose of Class C mixed low level waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory Legacy Waste Project. The fixed-price task order calls for the disposal of 364.9 cubic yards of waste generated at the DOE Los Alamos National Laboratory from cleanup and remediation activities. The task order is set at a fixed-price of $2,287,193 for a one year performance period. WCS is currently the only site capable of disposing of Class C low level waste.
Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz reiterated the Obama Administration’s stance that Yucca Mountain is “unworkable” as a disposal site for the nation’s spent fuel in a talk given this week at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Meeting, held in Washington D.C. “Look, might as well say it up front, obviously there may be some divergence of opinion somewhat on certain issue of this problem, between us and those of you out there—let me be completely straight-forward, we, the administration, continue to feel that Yucca Mountain is just not a workable solution,” Moniz said. In an effort to clarify his remarks, Moniz later that day posted a blog post on DOE’s website explaining the Department’s current strategy of consent-based siting as the best option. He explained that the first priority should be the siting of a pilot-scale storage facility to accommodate used fuel from shutdown reactors.
IN THE STATES
The South Carolina Court of Appeals held a hearing last week concerning the license renewal of the Barnwell disposal facility. The Sierra Club is challenging the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s license renewal to Chem-Nuclear to continue operations at the low -level waste facility on the basis that there is a high risk of groundwater contamination. During the hearing, the Sierra Club argued that Chem-Nuclear was not doing enough to prevent the contamination of rain and groundwater while DHEC and Chem-Nuclear argued that they were minimizing exposure. EnergySolutions, the owner of Chem-Nuclear, felt that the Barnwell facility operates within the statutes of the law. “The Barnwell facility has always operated in full compliance with the applicable laws and regulations and also operates with the highest standards of safety,” EnergySolutions Mark Walker said. “Regarding the court of appeals, we do not comment on pending court cases or court decisions.” DHEC did not return calls for comment this week.
