nuclear-news

The thorny question of the importation of nuclear wastes for temporary management

Importation of foreign radioactive waste into the U.S. sets a bad precedent and may well serve to discourage other countries from developing safe techniques to manage their own waste

US company applies to import radioactive waste from Mexico, incinerate it and return the ash  Washington Post, 2 May 12,  YAKIMA, Wash. — A waste management company has applied to the federal government for a license to import up to 500 tons of radioactive waste from Mexico to south-central Washington, where the waste will be incinerated and the resulting ash returned to Mexico.

This isn’t the first application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to import foreign radioactive waste, but it’s among several recent proposals that have generated little opposition because the waste won’t be permanently stored in the U.S.  In 2009, a proposal to import thousands of tons of radioactive waste from Italy, treat it and ultimately store the remnants in Utah was abandoned following public outcry.

The latest application was filed April 3 by Atlanta-based Perma-Fix
Environmental Solutions Inc. A public comment period on the
application ends Thursday.

According to the application, the company would begin importing up to
500 tons of radioactively contaminated materials this year from
Mexico’s Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant near Veracruz for
incineration, and continue through March 31, 2017.

The company applied for a second application to export the resulting
ash back to Mexico, and said no waste would be imported from Mexico
until that country had approved a permit to import the resulting
ash…..
A similar license was issued last year to Salt Lake City-based
EnergySolutions to import low-level waste from a nuclear power plant
in Germany for treatment and return the byproduct.

Radioactive materials are best managed as close to the site of
generation as possible, said Tom Clements of the Alliance for Nuclear
Accountability.

Ideally, Mexico should deal with its own nuclear waste and not send it
to the U.S. for processing, he said.

“Importation of foreign radioactive waste into the U.S. sets a bad
precedent and may well serve to discourage other countries from
developing safe techniques to manage their own waste,” he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/us-company-applies-to-import-radioactive-waste-from-mexico-incinerate-it-and-return-the-ash/2012/05/02/gIQA1uT9wT_story.html

May 3, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes