nuclear-news

Major impediments to re-opening New Mexico nuclear waste dump

Energy Dept. faces major hurdles to reopen New Mexico nuclear dump LA Times, By RALPH VARTABEDIAN 18 SEPT 14, The Energy Department has identified 7,000 steps needed to reopen its badly damaged nuclear waste dump in New Mexico, but cannot say how long it will take or how much it will cost.

The agency was expected to release a written recovery plan Thursday, but instead provided a few details about the plan, which awaits formal approval by the department.

Outside experts say that the dump will probably not reopen until well after the start of 2016 and that the cost of the accident will approach $1 billion. Although they didn’t talk about the cost, Energy Department officials reiterated at a briefing in Carlsbad, N.M., on Thursday that there was “strong support” in Congress for putting up the unspecified amount of money required to restart the plant. A Senate aide declined a request by the Los Angeles Times earlier this month for details about the cost negotiations……..

Don Hancock, nuclear waste program director at the Southwest Research Institute, a watchdog group, said the system of isolating the waste by spraying water on the salt is unproven.

Hancock said the Energy Department has repeatedly told state regulators that the dump would not reopen before early 2016, but he said that estimate is highly optimistic because so much remains unknown about the recovery.

Even if the dump reopens by then, the two-year shutdown would have consumed two years’ worth of the annual budget for the operation, amounting to about $400 million, and at least another $300 million of additional appropriations that have been discussed for repairs.

But that is unlikely to cover the full cost of the repairs, Hancock said. In addition, tons of waste are backing up across the nation, forcing laboratories and other cleanup sites to store radioactive material longer, at an unspecified cost…..http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nuclear-waste-dump-20140919-story.html

September 20, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA