A nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad could be considered for commercial waste disposal, as the U.S. Department of Energy is looking for alternatives to leaving commercial waste where it is generated. I have.
The Waste Separation Pilot Plant is only authorized to dispose of U.S. Department of Energy transuranium (TRU) nuclear waste by burial in underground salt pans under federal law.
It has been trucked in from DOE sites and national laboratories around the country, and consists primarily of clothing, equipment, and other debris irradiated during nuclear activities such as research and weapons development.
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However, in a Sept. 29 report from the Government Accountability Office, a federal oversight agency, the DOE said it would require additional waste streams to dispose of this additional waste stream, known as “above Class C (GTCC)” waste. Identified WIPP as the “preferred alternative”.
GTCC waste is a type of commercial low-level nuclear waste generated from decommissioned nuclear reactors or unused medical or industrial equipment, the report said.
DOE is responsible for the disposal of this commercial waste, along with similar government-generated waste known as “GTCC-like” waste.
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“Until legal disposal options become available, GTCC and GTCC-like waste will continue to be stored at the site or storage facility where it was generated, creating environmental and security risks and storage costs.” I have read the report.
With approximately 12,000 cubic meters of waste generated and expected to require disposal by 2083, reading the report, the DOE believes that WIPP, commercial landfills, or both are ideally suited to deal with the waste. I decided.
The report found multiple regulatory and legal hurdles to dispose of the waste currently stored at power plants.
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“GTCC and GTCC-like waste currently have no legal way of disposal,” read the report. “DOE is responsible for identifying and disposing of both types of waste.”
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which primarily oversees commercial waste generated from civilian facilities such as nuclear power plants, updates regulations restricting waste disposal and grants the NRC the authority to dispose of waste. I discovered that I should be able to potentially abandon the . state.
DOE must wait for congressional direction before proceeding with disposal of GTCC waste because current federal law may prohibit the federal government from managing commercial waste, the report notes. ing.
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The NRC’s role in waste disposal is to approve facilities for work, and the DOE must find a ‘route’ to disposal, read reports, and receive NRC approval before performing work. need to do it.
“However, failure to clarify the NRC’s statutory ability to waive this power could expose it to litigation,” the report said. “This delays disposal and can lead to ongoing costs and risks.”
Federal Reserve wants to add plutonium, nuclear tank waste to disposal
These barriers should be too many to see waste end up in WIPP, said Don Hancock of the Southwest Center for Research and Information, a government oversight group based in Albuquerque. I’m here.
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He said that if the federal government wants to expand the types of nuclear waste it can handle, it needs to install and build a second repository.
Preferably it would be outside of New Mexico, Hancock said, which has a history of nuclear activity and subsequent public health risks, and was first tested in 1947 at the Trinity site near Alamogordo. part of the state.
“This is another indication that the DOE needs to develop another repository,” Hancock said of potential plans for GTCC waste at WIPP. “WIPP does not cover commercial waste of any kind.”
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DOE had also developed disposal plans for two other waste streams. One is excess plutonium that the DOE plans to dilute to meet WIPP disposal standards, and the other is stored in tanks at the DOE’s Hanford Site, a decommissioned nuclear manufacturing facility outside Washington state. There is TRU waste. be repaired.
For the plutonium program, DOE will transfer approximately 34 tons of waste from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Pantex plant near Amarillo, Texas, first to Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico for initial treatment. I suggested sending
It is then returned to the Savannah River for dilution to be characterized as TRU waste and sent to WIPP for final disposal.
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The plan has angered watchdog groups and activist groups who say the waste will pass through New Mexico three times before being disposed of, endangering communities in the state.
For Hanford waste, DOE removes TRU waste from tanks on site, dewaters, packages, and ships to WIPP.
“The Department’s plan for these wastes is to remove these wastes from these tanks, dewater them, package them, certify them, and dispose of these TRU wastes at WIPP,” the report read. rice field.
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DOE reports that the waste already meets TRU waste requirements and consists of tools, clothing, and laboratory equipment used during plutonium production at Hanford that was stored in the 1970s and 80s. and can be legally disposed of by WIPP. Report from Hanford site.
About half of the waste meets TRU waste requirements for disposal at WIPP.
Reports estimate that more than 1,200 wastes will be shipped from Hanford to WIPP during the TRU waste collection program.
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Adding new types of nuclear waste is excessive ‘expansion’, says Watchdog
But Hancock said that more types of waste being disposed of at WIPP would mean extending its original purpose and lifespan.
“Class C and above waste is just one of the masses of waste that we are going to send to WIPP,” he said. “DOE needs to find new places for waste. If he only has one repository, it doesn’t matter what the law is. Eventually that law will be violated and changed.” I guess.”
Under the current permit DOE holds with the New Mexico Department of the Environment (NMED), WIPP was scheduled to close in 2024.
That timeline may be extended with the next permit renewal, as DOE has removed the closure date and elected to leave work unrestricted at WIPP towards its statutory capacity of 6.2 million cubic feet of waste. there is.
WIPP officials insisted they had no intention of expanding WIPP’s capabilities beyond current federal law.
In a February interview with the Carlsbad Current Argus, Todd Schrader, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Agency (EM) chief assistant secretary, said in a February interview that “WIPP will not extend beyond its legal limits. ‘ said.
“That number is still there.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com, or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
