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Nuclear sites fear becoming permanent waste dumps

Nuclear sites fear being the alternative to Yucca

The Richmond Times Despatch , LES BLUMENTHAL MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPER September 26, 2009

WASHINGTON — It is among the nastiest substances on earth: more than 14,000 tons of highly radioactive waste left over from the building of the nation’s nuclear-weapons arsenal.

As the Obama administration and Senate leaders move to scuttle a proposed repository for the waste in Nevada, the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state, along with federal facilities in Idaho and South Carolina, could become the de facto dump sites for years to come……………

local leaders and lawmakers from the sites where the waste is now stored are increasingly concerned that the Energy Department will leave the material in place, even though that might violate legally binding cleanup agreements.

There’s no backup plan for dealing with the waste. A promised commission to study the issue has yet to be appointed.

Nuclear sites fear being the alternative to Yucca | Richmond Times-Dispatch

September 28, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reprocessing, uranium, wastes