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Danger in blending Class A radioactive wastes with hotter classes

blended waste should be dealt with as part of a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s low-level radioactive waste, with careful attention paid to public-safety issues…..Under Utah law, Energy- Solutions is banned from taking waste hotter than Class A.

NRC head urges caution on waste blending | The Salt Lake Tribune, By JUDY FAHYS  Sep 10, 2010 Las Vegas • Blended radioactive waste won’t be coming to Utah anytime soon if the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission adopts its leader’s position.NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko said in a newly released memo that blended waste should be dealt with as part of a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s low-level radioactive waste, with careful attention paid to public-safety issues.

“Given that the staff has indicated there may be a safety concern with large quantities of this [blended] waste,” said Jaczko, “large-scale blending should not be performed by licensees or processors until this rule-making is completed.”

Handling blended waste the way Jaczko suggests would likely add years to a decision on whether EnergySolutions Inc. can bury blended waste in Utah. And, while state regulators and a local advocacy group welcome delay, the Utah nuclear services company will suffer if a majority of the five-member commission ultimately agrees with Jaczko.

The memo, made public in the past few days, basically outlines the chairman’s view of how to handle blended waste, which is a mixture of mildly concentrated “Class A” radioactive waste and more-contaminated “Class B” and “Class C” wastes.

Under Utah law, Energy- Solutions is banned from taking waste hotter than Class A.

NRC head urges caution on waste blending | The Salt Lake Tribune

September 10, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | technology, USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive