Stop uranium train
OPS_admin | Dec 16, 2009 | Comments 0
Despite concerns that the plan could be a figurative train wreck, a train load of depleted uranium is set to depart the federal Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, bound for Utah.
The DOE announced last week that the first of three train loads of the radioactive waste will soon be shipped as part of a project in which federal stimulus money is unfairly being used to clean up the Palmetto State at the Beehive State’s expense. In all, 14,800 drums containing 11,000 tons of DU, a byproduct of uranium enrichment, are earmarked for EnergySolutions’ low-level radioactive waste disposal facility at Clive in Tooele County.
But the decision to ship is premature because the verdict is still out on the best way to dispose of DU.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, while classifying DU as Class A waste suitable for disposal at Clive, has never actually studied the risks posed by burying large quantities of the material in shallow landfills like EnergySolutions’ Utah dump. That review, which is expected to take several years to complete, is still in the early stages. Plus, Utah’s Radiation Control Board is requiring EnergySolutions to write a technical report assessing the long-term safety of the site, a process that will take about a year.
Full Story Stop uranium train – Salt Lake Tribune.
Filed Under: Environment


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