Key Issues
Disposal of Low-Level Radioactive Waste
<< Previous
Site Access Becoming More Restricted
The Beatty, Nev., site closed to low-level waste in January 1993. The Richland, Wash., site ac-cepts waste from only the Northwest and Rocky Mountain Compacts.
In July 1994, the Barnwell, S.C., site stopped accepting waste generated outside the Southeast Compact. The site was scheduled to close to all states at the end of 1995, but South Carolina passed legislation in 1995 that kept Barnwell open to all waste generators except those in North Carolina (which ceased siting efforts on behalf of the Southeast Compact). The legislation also withdrew South Carolina from the Southeast Compact. During the year that Barnwell was closed to everyone outside the Southeast Compact, generators from 31 states outside the Northwest, Rocky Mountain and Southeast Compacts were forced to store their waste on their own premises.
Some of these generators—including hospitals, clinics, biomedical research facilities and manufac-turers of consumer products—were forced to curtail products or services to the public. Some gen-erators reduced or discontinued the use of radioactive materials, resulting in higher costs for their services and/or a negative effect on the quality of their services. Some medical institutions, unable to continue diagnostic procedures, had to refer patients to other facilities. Other companies and in-stitutions were forced to eliminate jobs.
In 2000, South Carolina joined the Northeast Interstate Low-Level Waste Compact, which in-cludes Connecticut and New Jersey, to form a new Atlantic Compact. Under the arrangement, the Barnwell facility will accept waste from non-compact states through June 2008, with total waste volumes for the facility to decrease each year.
Under existing South Carolina law, nuclear power plants and all other institutions and industries using radioactive material outside the Atlantic Compact states of South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut would be excluded from the Barnwell facility as of July 2008. The 11 states within the Northwest Interstate Compact and the Rocky Mountain Compact currently dispose of low-level waste at the facility in Richland, Wash., and will not be affected by this change.
All other states will be unable to dispose of Class B and C low-level waste until other disposal op-tions become available. However, nuclear power plants will continue to operate safely because they have demonstrated the capacity—and appropriate regulatory authorization and oversight—to safely contain and store low-level waste produced by plant operations at the plant site for many years.
Site Access Becoming More Restricted
The Beatty, Nev., site closed to low-level waste in January 1993. The Richland, Wash., site ac-cepts waste from only the Northwest and Rocky Mountain Compacts.
In July 1994, the Barnwell, S.C., site stopped accepting waste generated outside the Southeast Compact. The site was scheduled to close to all states at the end of 1995, but South Carolina passed legislation in 1995 that kept Barnwell open to all waste generators except those in North Carolina (which ceased siting efforts on behalf of the Southeast Compact). The legislation also withdrew South Carolina from the Southeast Compact. During the year that Barnwell was closed to everyone outside the Southeast Compact, generators from 31 states outside the Northwest, Rocky Mountain and Southeast Compacts were forced to store their waste on their own premises.
Some of these generators—including hospitals, clinics, biomedical research facilities and manufac-turers of consumer products—were forced to curtail products or services to the public. Some gen-erators reduced or discontinued the use of radioactive materials, resulting in higher costs for their services and/or a negative effect on the quality of their services. Some medical institutions, unable to continue diagnostic procedures, had to refer patients to other facilities. Other companies and in-stitutions were forced to eliminate jobs.
In 2000, South Carolina joined the Northeast Interstate Low-Level Waste Compact, which in-cludes Connecticut and New Jersey, to form a new Atlantic Compact. Under the arrangement, the Barnwell facility will accept waste from non-compact states through June 2008, with total waste volumes for the facility to decrease each year.
Under existing South Carolina law, nuclear power plants and all other institutions and industries using radioactive material outside the Atlantic Compact states of South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut would be excluded from the Barnwell facility as of July 2008. The 11 states within the Northwest Interstate Compact and the Rocky Mountain Compact currently dispose of low-level waste at the facility in Richland, Wash., and will not be affected by this change.
All other states will be unable to dispose of Class B and C low-level waste until other disposal op-tions become available. However, nuclear power plants will continue to operate safely because they have demonstrated the capacity—and appropriate regulatory authorization and oversight—to safely contain and store low-level waste produced by plant operations at the plant site for many years.
Next Page: "Safe Waste Disposal for Tomorrow" >>
