"Hot" nuclear waste could still be shipped to Hanford under proposed settlement

[ccharles000]

When Oregon and Washington's governors announced a settlement with the U.S. Department of Energy in August for cleanup of radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, they said it included a "moratorium" on shipping new radioactive waste to Hanford until a plant to treat the tank wastes was up and running.

But in fact a big chunk of radioactive waste -- including contaminated metal from decommissioned U.S. nuclear plants -- isn't included in that proposed moratorium, Oregon officials confirmed Friday.

Ken Niles, assistant director of the Oregon Department of Energy, said Oregon continues to oppose importing the waste, formally known as "Greater than Class C" or GTCC waste.

But Washington and the U.S. Department of Energy already had negotiated exempting GTCC waste from the moratorium before Oregon was brought into settlement discussions, Niles said. The settlement resolves a lawsuit that Washington filed in 2008 against the U.S. Department of Energy. Oregon joined the suit in early 2009.

The deal on GTCC "was pretty much in effect" by the time Oregon came to the table, Niles said. "We certainly don't want that waste to come to Hanford, and we will continue to oppose that."

The issue is likely to be one of the hot points in public hearings this week on the proposed tank waste settlement.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/hot_nuclear_waste_could_still.html

[Tikki]

1. Sigh...just sigh...

Meanwhile DOE Fairies and Imps dance around with the little children
out in the desert, on the lawns and by the river banks surrounding the Hanford Reservation...singing..
Come out and play, it's all OK...

The Tikkis ..."Children of the Radiant Glow"