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Environment, Energy and Transportation ProgramRadioactive Waste NewsA Quarterly Summary of Generation, Transportation, Storage and Disposal Issues July 1999 Vol. 16, No. 1In This Issue FEDERAL ACTIVITY TRU waste shipments to WIPP begin TRANSPORTATION Transportation Legislative Summary STATE/LOCAL/TRIBAL Nye County to receive DOE funds for Yucca Mountain work ON-SITE STORAGE NRC approves NAC International's multi-purpose canister LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE Nebraska withdraws from compact INTEREST GROUPS NGA reaffirms support for compact system
FEDERAL ACTIVITY TRU waste shipments to WIPP beginSecretary of Energy Bill Richardson hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony at WIPP on April 17. In April and May several shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste were moved from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The total LANL waste shipment-102 standard waste boxes-will be moved in 15 shipments, approximately one per week. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) began shipping its TRU waste to WIPP on April 27. The drums designated for the shipment contained only TRU waste, no mixed hazardous and radioactive waste. (The New Mexico Department of Environment was provided with U.S. Department of Energy documentation that the shipment did not contain any hazardous waste components.) The first INEEL shipment of 42 drums of TRU waste met the April 30 deadline that was provided in the 1995 agreement between DOE and the state of Idaho that resolved a state lawsuit against the department regarding its waste management practices. By meeting the deadline, DOE can continue to ship spent fuel to storage facilities at INEEL. Shipments to WIPP of nuclear waste material from the Rocky Flats (Colo.) Environmental Technology Site began in mid-June. The New Mexico Department of Environment does not expect to issue a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) part B permit for the disposal of mixed (hazardous and radioactive) TRU waste until later this year. It is expected that interest groups will challenge the permit when the state does issue it. The state has withdrawn from a lawsuit that challenges the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) certification of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, based on Judge John Garrett Penn's March 22 ruling in a separate case about WIPP. New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid said that the state has little likelihood of prevailing on the merits in the EPA suit. The public interest groups who are parties to the lawsuit plan to proceed. Madrid has requested the assistance of a federal mediator to settle outstanding issues between the state and DOE prior to the issuance of the RCRA Part B permit. DOE, utilities discuss spent fuel statusSecretary of Energy Bill Richardson met with ten nuclear utilities' representatives on April 28 to discuss the new proposal to allow DOE to "take title" to commercial spent fuel without moving the fuel from the power plants until a permanent repository is available. Some of the utility officials responded that the plan falls short of solving their unique on-site storage problems. Some utilities prefer the interim storage facility proposed in HR 45, while others are concerned that their plants have so little priority on the shipping schedule that it will be years until their waste moves to any DOE facility, permanent or interim. Utilities attending the meeting included Commonwealth Edison; PECO Energy, Wisconsin Energy Corp.; Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co.; Public Service Electric and Gas; Maine Yankee; Yankee Atomic Electric; Northern States Power; and First Energy. U.S. court refuses NSP expense requestThe U.S. Court of Claims has found that Northern States Power Co. (NSP) must pursue damage claims related to spent fuel storage through the administrative remedies established in the standard contract with the Department of Energy, and therefore granted the government's motion to dismiss. NSP has decided to appeal the court's decision. Claims court Judge John Wiese rejected NSP's request for $1 billion in damages that NSP claimed it suffered from DOE's failure to begin accepting spent fuel for storage and disposal beginning Jan. 30, 1998. This ruling contradicts an earlier ruling by claims court Judge James Merow, who ruled that three utilities with shut down reactors can collect damages from DOE if they suffer from the delay in accepting fuel. Damage totals have not yet been decided in those cases. According to Marc Johnston, DOE deputy general counsel for litigation, the remedies clause in the contract provides for utilities to file a claim with the DOE contracting officer, who would decide what the compensation should be (e.g., reduced payments into the Nuclear Waste Fund). Utilities have rejected the approach on the grounds that their ratepayers would be paying twice for their own compensation. Johnston interprets the Merow decision as affecting only utilities with shut down reactors whose ratepayers are not making payments into the Nuclear Waste Fund. DOE to reorganize field officesSecretary of Energy Bill Richardson has announced a reorganization of operations and field offices and which headquarters program offices they will report to in the future. The Albuquerque and Nevada operations offices will report to the Office of Defense Programs; Oakland, Chicago and Oak Ridge operations offices will report to the Office of Science; the Idaho, Savannah River and Richland operations office, the Ohio and Rocky Flats field offices and the Office of River Protection (Richland, Wash.) will report to the Office of Environmental Management. T.J. Glauthier, deputy secretary of the Department of Energy will chair a field management council that will implement DOE policies regarding environment, safety and health, safeguards and security and business management. The management review report that discusses these changes is available on the internet at www.ma.doe.gov. DOE proposes Hanford wildlife preserveDOE has announced it wants to preserve 90,000 acres of the Wahluke, or North Slope, at the Hanford (Wash.) Reservation as a wildlife preserve. The agency has formally proposed designating the land as a preserve to be managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The area was a security buffer for the reservation; much of the land has been untouched for decades and is considered to be in near pristine condition. Currently, one-third of the slope is managed as a federal wildlife refuge, while the other two-thirds is managed by the state as a recreation area. Governor Gary Locke (Wash.) supports the designation of all the land as a federal refuge. The area is home to more than 2,000 species of birds and more than 40 rare animals and plants. The slope also is a buffer for the Columbia River spawning grounds of the Hanford Reach Chinook salmon. The area's congressional representative, Doc Hastings (Wash.), had proposed studying the land for development, recreation and other uses. Farm advocates wanted to irrigate the area and plant crops on 20,000 acres to 30,000 acres. Once designated as a refuge, the land would be protected from future development or agricultural uses. See related story on p. 13 about attempting to protect the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River. In a related development, the U.S. Park Service is interested in buffer land around the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site in New Mexico for use as a national environmental park featuring desert ecosytems. DOE contracts to fabricate MOX from surplus plutoniumThe Department of Energy (DOE) in March signed a $130 million contract with the Cogema-Duke-Stone & Webster team to fabricate mixed oxide (MOX) fuel as a means of disposing of 33 metric tons of weapons-grade surplus plutonium. Under the contract the team will design, construct and manage a fuel fabrication facility; the MOX fuel will be burned in nuclear power reactors owned by Duke Power and Virginia Electric Power Company. After the design phase, other steps that must be taken include submitting a licensing application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the MOX fabrication plant; analysis of reactors; design of reactor plant modifications; and preparation of license amendments for reactors. According to a DOE synopsis of an "environmental critique," building and operating a MOX fuel plant and burning the MOX in six commercial reactors will have no impact on the environment. This mirrors the conclusion DOE arrived at last July in a draft environmental impact assessment (EIS). Since that conclusion, DOE has signed a contract with an international consortium to carry out the department's MOX mission. The critique concludes that there would be "no major impacts to the environment" that surrounds the reactor sites based on normal operations. It also notes that, for certain extremely rare, beyond-basic-design-basis accidents, there could be more radioactive releases that could possibly lead to more prompt and latent cancer deaths as a result of using MOX instead of standard fuel. The Nuclear Control Institute (NCI), a nonproliferation group that opposes all MOX use, released a report in January that charges that using MOX significantly increases cancer risk if a serious accident occurs. NCI wants DOE to abandon its plans to burn MOX made from excess weapons-grade plutonium and instead immobilize the excess plutonium and bury it. DOE and NRC have informally reviewed the NCI report; neither agency has done a complete analysis. DOE concluded that the difference in accident consequences for reactors using MOX fuel versus standard fuel "is generally very small." For the complete text of the "Environmental Synopsis of Information Provided in Response to the Request for Proposals for MOX Fuel Fabrication and Reactor Irradiation Services" look at DOE's Office of Fissile Materials Disposition web site located at http://twilight.saic.com/md/. Richardson awards development grantSecretary of Energy Bill Richardson has awarded a $1 million grant to stimulate development of the Los Alamos Research Park. The park is designed to attract to the area high-technology businesses that can draw upon the resources of the national laboratory. The grant will be used by the Regional Development Corporation to leverage private financing. The corporation was to begin construction of the technology park shortly. Ultimately, the park will support a full-service technology incubator to support laboratory technology spin-offs. Meanwhile, the Oak Ridge, Tenn., ED-1 technology park, near the East Tennessee Technology Park, has its first tenant. Proceeds from leasing DOE land and equipment will be used to fund cleanup of the radioactive and hazardous waste contamination at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Theragenics Corp., an Atlanta-based company, wants to use DOE facilities and knowledge to further develop its TheraSeed product for treating localized prostate cancer. The key component of TheraSeed is palladium-103, a radioactive isotope. ED-1 is part of DOE's efforts to lure new, non-weapons-oriented businesses to Oak Ridge. The East Tennessee Technology Park is located at the former K-25 plant at the laboratory; its 22 tenants have provided more than 800 private sector jobs. Income from the technology park has saved DOE more than $824 million in cleanup costs. Agencies agree on Hanford spent fuel removalThe Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology have signed an enforceable schedule for the removal of spent nuclear fuel from Hanford's K Basin. The removal will begin in November 2000 and be completed by December 2003. The entire project-removal of fuel, sludge, debris, deactivation waste and 2.6 million gallons of contaminated water-is scheduled to be completed by July 2007. For more information contact Larry Gadbois, Environmental Protection Agency, (509) 376-9884. Richardson delays decision on Fast Flux Test FacilitySecretary of Energy Bill Richardson has postponed for a few more months a decision about whether to shut down the Fast Flux Test Facility at the Hanford (Wash.) Reservation. DOE instead will conduct a program scoping plan by August, which will be used to decide the course for phase two-whether to keep the facility open and initiate an environmental impact statement to do so, or deactivate the facility. NWTRB: More Yucca Mountain study neededThe Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board has recommended that DOE conduct additional scientific and engineering studies at Yucca Mountain, Nev., to improve the technical foundation for evaluating the site and preparing for a repository license application. Suggestions included evaluating alternative repository designs and scientific studies that would reduce uncertainties about how the repository would perform thousands of years in the future. Other recommendations included looking at designs that would result in lower waste package surface temperature to lower the thermal effects in the repository after the waste is emplaced. Copies of the comments can be found either at the NWTRB web site (www.nwtrb.gov) or in the board's Report to the U.S. Congress and the Secretary of Energy (January to December 1998). Copies are available from the board, 2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 1300, Arlington, Va. 22201, (703) 235-4473, fax (703) 235-4495. NRC drops troubled plant "watch list"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has dropped its "watch list" of the country's most troubled nuclear power plants. The list-published semiannually since 1986-will be replaced by an annual announcement of plants that need "agency focus" and "regional focus." Agency focus would require the involvement of the NRC executive director for operations and the commission itself and would be due to more serious problems. Plants with lesser problems would receive the attention of the NRC regional administrator. All other plants would require only routine oversight. Five the nation's 103 nuclear power plants are on the watch list (Millstone [Conn.] 2 and 3; LaSalle [Ill.] 1 and 2 and Clinton, Ill.); this is the shortest list since the system was instituted in 1986. NRC sweeping plants for millenium bugsThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) began April 1 to review year 2000 (Y2K) computer programs at all 103 operating nuclear power plants to verify that the plants will be able to function safely on Jan. 1, 2000. The NRC audits began last fall; the first 12 audits did not reveal any problems that directly affect the functioning of safety systems in nuclear power plants. Inspection procedures and the Y2K review checklist on available on the NRC web page at www.nrc/gov/NRC/NEWS/year2000.html. The NRC also will post results of the reviews upon completion. GAO asked to study costs of DOE waste facilitiesSenator Bob Smith (N.H.), chair of the Senate Armed Service Strategic Forces Subcommittee, has asked the General Accounting Office to study the cost to taxpayers of the Department of Energy operating its own low-level radioactive and mixed (hazardous and radioactive) waste disposal facilities. Smith wants GAO to specifically consider the potential cost for DOE sites to use on-site disposal, even if commercial disposal options are available; the potential cost to the federal government for long-term monitoring and maintenance of DOE disposal facilities; the effect of DOE order 5800 that would allow fair and open competition for DOE disposal contracts; and the validity of DOE criteria to determine which wastes should be disposed on site and which require off-site disposal. Smith also wants a total life-cycle cost comparison of on-site and off-site low-level radioactive waste disposal options. GAO-which has received a similar request from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee-plans to complete the report in late July. LegislationSenator Pete Domenici (N.M.) may offer an amendment to authorize a new Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research within DOE to examine transmutation of spent fuel (rather than disposing of the fuel in its current state in a repository). S 683 (Reid, Nev. and Bryan, Nev.)-Pays nuclear power utilities to store spent fuel on site at the plants where it was generated until a repository is operating. Companion to HR 1309. S 896 (Grams, Minn.; Abraham, Mich.; Kyl, Ariz.)-Abolishes the Department of Energy and assign its missions to other federal departments. Companion to HR 1649. S 608 (Murkowski, Alaska)-Significant revision of bill to require DOE to take title to spent fuel at nuclear power plants; no longer requires a centralized interim storage facility. S 715, HR 1314 and HR 1759 (Murray, Wash.; Dicks, Wash.; Hastings, Wash.)-Designate the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River as a Wild and Scenic River. The designation will affect a 51-mile section of the river that flows through the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Reservation by preserving the reach in its free-flowing state and protecting critical salmon spawning grounds. (See related story on p. 3) HR 45-A House Commerce subcommittee approved a revised version of the bill on Apr. 14, by a vote of 25-0. The substitute bill would: • Move the Nuclear Waste Fund (consisting of deposits made into a special account in the U.S. Treasury) "off-budget" and would allow additional funds to be appropriated and spent on both interim storage and the repository program without violating discretionary spending caps that were established in the 1997 balanced budget agreement. The fee paid by ratepayers would remain the same. • Enable the Department of Energy to take title to spent fuel stored on site at nuclear power plants without moving the waste from its current locations. Utilities would have the option of accepting DOE's taking title to the waste or seeking financial compensation through the court of claims for DOE's failure to begin accepting spent fuel for disposal by Jan. 31, 1998-the date established in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. The bill would not affect existing lawsuits. • Hold DOE not liable for any deadlines it misses in the future. • Require a utility's acceptance of title transfer to waive its right to further legal action against the agency. • Allow DOE to pay for on-site storage from the Nuclear Waste Fund for the spent fuel to which the department has taken title. • Retain the 2003 date for establishing a centralized interim storage facility at the Nevada Test Site. • Give DOE discretion to select the most efficient transportation mode to move the waste. The Clinton administration has reiterated its pledge that it would veto any bill that would site an interim storage facility in Nevada before DOE knows whether the proposed repository site at Yucca Mountain is technically sound. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (Ill.) has agreed to work with representatives Tom Bliley (Va.) and John Kasich (Ohio) to resolve concerns about the funding mechanisms for a centralized interim storage facility. As the bill is currently drafted, the Nuclear Waste Fund would be moved off-budget; Kasich, chair of the House Budget Committee, opposes such a move and has demanded jurisdiction over the bill to hold hearings on the funding provision. HR 617 (DeGette, Colo., and Norwood, Ga.)-The Federal Facility Superfund Compliance Act of 1999, requires federal agencies to comply with the same environmental cleanup standards that businesses must adhere to. Extends Superfund liability to federal agencies, including DOD and DOE sites (currently, many federal facilities-including Base Realignment and Closures [BRAC] sites-are transferred to communities while they are still contaminated with hazardous materials). HR 646 (Pascrell, N.J.)-Requires renewal of motor carrier permits for hazardous materials transporters to be tied to yearly safety checks, regardless of the carrier's safety record. Transporters with unfavorable safety reviews could not be granted an operating permit until changes were made. HR 1309 (Cook, Utah)-Allows nuclear utilities to retain the Nuclear Waste Fund fee and place the money in an escrow account. Any interest earned in excess of the U.S. treasury rate could be used by the utilities to pay for on-site storage of spent fuel until a permanent facility is ready. HR 1348 (Ryun, Kan., and 23 co-sponsors)-imposes a moratorium on the foreign visitor program at the Los Alamos (N.M.), Lawrence Livermore (Calif.) and Sandia (N.M.) national laboratories and requires the establishment of a counterintelligence program at each of the labs. HR 1559 (Cannon, Utah)-Would provide funding for the removal of 10.5 million tons of uranium mill tailings and cleanup of off-site contamination at the old Atlas uranium mill site along the Colorado River near Moab, Utah. Atlas Corp. declared bankruptcy and only has $6 million available for the cleanup work; the capping remedy is expected to cost $16 million to $19 million, while removal of all the mill tailings wastes would require $150 million. There is concern that the nearby Colorado River could become contaminated from mill tailings seepage and threaten four species of endangered fish. The bill also transfers responsibility for the project from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the Department of Energy. The NRC has approved the capping remedy suggested by Atlas and has concluded that the risks involved with mitigating ground water contamination are unreasonably costly when compared to the benefits. In proposing the transfer of responsibility, Cannon cited the need to protect both the Colorado River and Arches National Park from potential contamination. Representative George Miller (Calif.) had proposed a related bill (HR 393) but now supports the Cannon bill. HR 1649 (Tiahrt, Kan. and 23 co-sponsors)-Abolishes the Department of Energy and assigns the missions to other departments. Companion to S 896. PersonnelCarolyn Huntoon, the nominee for assistant secretary of energy for the office of environmental management, was approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on March 25. Her nomination is on hold pending resolution of differences between DOE and Sen. Jim Bunning (Ken.). Keith Klein has been named manger of the Richland (Wash.) DOE Operations Office. Klein was the acting manager of the Carlsbad (N.M.) Area Office and former deputy manager of the Rocky Flats site. Ines Triay will replace Klein as the manager of the Carlsbad office, which oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Triay has been a group leader at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Richard French, former general manager and president of Kaiser Engineers Hanford will head the new DOE Office of River Protection at the Hanford (Wash.) Reservation. The new office will be responsible for managing all aspects of the Hanford tank waste project to protect the Columbia River from future tank waste leaks. Kathleen Carlson has been named the new manager of the Nevada Operations Office, replacing Gerald Johnson, who will retire July 31. Carlson is an area manager for the Kirtland (N.M.) area office; she oversaw operations of the Sandia (N.M.) National Laboratory. Mark Mazur has been appointed to direct DOE's Office of Policy, providing analyses of energy and energy technology policy issues to the secretary of energy, the deputy secretary of energy and the undersecretary of energy. Mazur's primary responsibility will be the formulation and development of the national energy policy. Mike Espy, former secretary of agriculture and congressman from Mississippi, was appointed to the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board by Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson on March 11. Espy currently practices law in Jackson, Miss. Other appointees include Gilberto Ocañas, and Andrew Athy as SEAB chairman. Ocanas is the chief executive officer of the Ocañas Group, an Austin, Texas, firm that specializes in Hispanic affairs and firm development. Athy previously was counsel to the House Commerce subcommittee on Energy and Power. Senator Richard Bryan (Nev.) is threatening to place a hold on the Clinton administration's nominee to replace Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Shirley Jackson; Jackson, whose term expires June 30, will become president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Richard Meserve, an attorney with Covington and Burling, is a potential candidate for the NRC position. Meserve has served on the secretary of energy's advisory board and has chaired several National Academy of Sciences study committees. Bryan is seeking greater responsiveness from the NRC to Nevada state and local officials' concerns. Greta Dicus, a current NRC commissioner, has been nominated to become the NRC chair.
TRANSPORTATION Transportation Legislative SummaryAs most state legislative sessions came to a close in April, May and June, several bills and resolutions were enacted that pertain to the regulation of radioactive materials transportation. These are summarized below. Also included are pending bills and significant bills that did not become law. Enacted Bills Colorado HJR 1015-(Adopted by both houses) Resolves that the secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy be urged to begin immediately shipment of nonmixed transuranic waste from the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site to the Waste Isolation Pilot Project, such shipments being in the best interest of the residents of Colorado. Further resolves that the Colorado attorney general be urged to pursue all legal remedies against the parties who, by their actions, cause or continue the storage of transuranic waste at the Rocky Flats site, thereby endangering the health, safety and property of the residents of Colorado. Indiana SB 154-(Signed by governor on May 5, 1999) Addresses the transportation of high level radioactive waste. Requires a person who wishes to transport high level radioactive waste in Indiana to submit to the director of the state emergency management agency (SEMA) a notice that includes the highway or railway route, date and time of the shipment of high level radioactive waste and certain other information required under federal law; and a transportation fee of $1,000 for each total shipment of nuclear waste. The law specifies that transportation fees are to be deposited in the nuclear response fund to provide appropriate education, training, and equipment to local emergency management agency personnel in counties that will be affected by the transportation of high level radioactive waste. It requires the director of SEMA to consult with numerous state, federal and local authorities and agencies to prepare a plan for emergency response to a high level radioactive waste transportation accident in Indiana. SB 154 allows the director of SEMA to require preferred highway routes for transporting high- level radioactive waste in Indiana under certain circumstances; it also requires the director of SEMA to prepare, before July 1, 2000, the initial plan for emergency response to a high-level radioactive waste transportation accident in Indiana. Maryland SB 44-(Signed by governor, April 13, 1999) Repeals a prohibition against transporting non-bulk flammable liquids in certain size tractor trailer combination vehicles but maintains the ban on use of combination vehicles for the transport of radioactive materials, explosives, poison gas, bulk flammable liquids and solids, and uranium hexafloride. Nevada SB 167-(Passed both houses) This bill revises the requirements for the transportation of hazardous materials by motor carriers and revises the authority of the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety to administer and enforce those requirements. It also provides for the imposition of an assessment upon certain motor carriers and changes the requirements for the reporting of accidents and incidents involving a hazardous material. The imposition of civil penalties is authorized for certain violations. The bill prohibits the political subdivisions of this state from regulating the transportation of hazardous materials. It makes various changes regarding the amount and disposition of certain fees for permits and revises the method for funding the state emergency response commission. Essentially, this bill enacts the major provisions of the uniform state program for registering and permitting motor carriers of hazardous materials as recommended by the Alliance for Uniform Hazmat Transportation Procedures. SJR 4 (Senate concurred in Assembly amendments) Urges Congress not to enact HR 45, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1999. Utah SB 167-(Signed by governor March 18, 1999) Designates approximately 60 miles of dirt roads in Tooele County as "statewide public safety interest highways" and places them under state jurisdiction. (Intent is to prevent construction of a rail spur across county roads to the proposed spent fuel storage facility under development by Private Fuel Storage Inc. Similar intent is expressed in a resolution passed by the Utah Transportation Commission on February 11, 1999.) SB 177-(Signed by governor March 18, 1999) Denies limited liability for organizations involved in the transfer or storage of high-level nuclear waste or greater-than-class-C radioactive waste in the state. Requires that certain requests by these organizations regarding transportation-such as grade crossings, easements, and eminent domain-may not be granted without the approval of the governor. Pending Bills Louisiana SB 126-(Passed both houses) Prohibits motor carriers from transporting hazardous materials within 300 yards of certain schools in certain areas and designates certain routes for the transportation of hazardous materials in certain areas and increases penalties for violation of such restrictions. Michigan HR 40-(Reported to the House floor on May 20, 1999) A resolution to memorialize the Congress of the United States to enact HR 45, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1999, creating an interim nuclear waste storage site while constructing the permanent repository in the Nevada desert. New Hampshire HB 263-(Passed House) This bill repeals the Northern New England Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact. The compact was enacted in 1986 in response to the possibility that the federal government might choose New England as a site for storing nuclear waste. Since New England was not subsequently chosen as a nuclear waste site, therefore, the general court intends to repeal this law. The prohibition on a utility transporting any low-level or high-level radioactive waste for disposal in New Hampshire is retained, deleting reference to definitions found in the repealed act. Nevada SJR 6-Expresses support for and desire to cooperate with the federal government in its research of safety requirements for transmutation and storage of high-level nuclear waste in a proposed nuclear repository in the state of Nevada. New Jersey AB 1537-Prohibits motor carriers from compensating conveyors of hazardous materials on a time-based "pay for performance" basis. New York AB 1828-Directs the commissioner of transportation to adopt rules and regulations providing for the annual inspection of trucks transporting hazardous materials; directs the commissioner to annually inspect any truck transporting hazardous materials where such truck is duly registered in another state. SB 543-Provides that the Department of Health shall be responsible for the supervision, coordination and approval of highway routing designations for the transportation of hazardous materials in the event that the governor fails to designate an such agency. Rhode Island HB 5348-Provides regulations and penalty for violations in the transportation of hazardous materials through the Scituate Reservoir Watershed in accordance with prevailing federal standards. Washington SB 5059-(Passed Senate April 26, 1999) Allows counties to assess impact fees to cover the costs associated with the transport of radioactive waste over their roadways. Counties affected by the transportation of low- level radioactive waste-classified as 11e(2) waste under the Atomic Energy Act-are authorized to recover reasonable fees to plan for and respond to the movement of such waste. A county may assess impact fees to cover the costs reasonably necessary for the county to prepare for and respond to the movement of 11e(2) low-level radioactive waste. Impact fees may be assessed only after the county conducts a hearing on the potential transportation and safety impacts and the extent to which the state plan for authorizing transportation addresses the effects on the county. Background: The site of the uranium milling operation next to the Spokane Indian Reservation in Stevens County is being reclaimed. The Department of Health has the authority to direct reclamation of uranium and thorium mills. In 1995 the state approved a closure plan for the mill and authorized the importation of low-level radioactive waste to use as fill material on the site. The state permit is due to expire at the end of January 1999. Millions of cubic feet of material will be required to fill the impoundment. Concerns have been raised about the county's need for additional funds to pay for planning, road repairs, and accident response associated with the transportation of this amount of fill. Not Enacted Georgia HB 998-(Died in committee) Amends Georgia law relating to transportation of hazardous materials, to provide for comprehensive regulation by the Public Service Commission of the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste for the protection of elderly Georgians; and for other purposes. (Nearly identical to Tennessee bills SB 745 and HB 561, see below.) Indiana SR 7-(Died in committee) Urges the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives not to order the transportation of spent nuclear fuel rods from commercial power plants through the state of Indiana prior to the cessation of commercial nuclear power generation in the United States and the formal designation by the president of a suitable storage site or sites for such high-level nuclear wastes. Kansas HB 2179-(Died in committee) Establishes guidelines related to the shipment of high-level radioactive waste, including irradiated reactor fuel, in the state of Kansas. Before a person could ship high level radioactive waste through Kansas, HB 2179 would require the following to be provided to the adjutant general: 1) A notice including the route, date and time of the shipment and other information required under federal regulations. 2) A fee of $1,000 for each vehicle and $2,000 for each railroad car used to transport high level radioactive waste through Kansas. The bill establishes the Nuclear Response Fund to which all fees related to this bill would be transferred. Expenditures from this fund could be made only to provide appropriate education, training, and equipment to local emergency management personnel in affected counties. Additionally, HB 2179 would require the adjutant general to prepare an emergency response plan for the shipment of radioactive waste through the state, including plans for evacuation and cleanup. The adjutant general would be required to consult with several state and federal regulatory agencies. Each year the adjutant general would be required to provide to the Legislature the status of this plan and the state's overall preparedness. The bill also outlines the adjutant general's responsibilities in altering transportation routes for vehicles carrying high level radioactive waste. Maine LD 1517-(Unfavorably reported to full Senate) This bill requires that a person shipping high-level radioactive waste out of the state have a permit issued by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP commissioner shall issue a permit to an applicant if the commissioner finds that the transportation of the material will be accomplished in a manner that adequately protects the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Maine. If necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare, the commissioner may require changes in dates, routes or times for transporting the radioactive substance. The commissioner may consult with the Commissioner of Public Safety; the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, Maine Emergency Management Agency; the Commissioner of Human Resources; or any other entity in evaluating an application or issuing a permit under this section. Whenever the commissioner grants a permit, the commissioner shall notify the Commissioner of Public Safety, who shall take any steps necessary to ensure compliance with the terms of the permit. Tennessee SB 745 and HB 561-(Died in committee) These identical bills would create a regulatory and permitting process related to the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste on public roads and rails into, out of, or through Tennessee. No transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste covered under this bill would take place without a permit issued by the Department of Safety (or its designee). The department could require changes in proposed dates, times, routes, detention, holding or storage of these materials as necessary for maximum protection of public health, safety, welfare or the environment. The permit would be carried in each vehicle or combination of vehicles or train to which it refers and would be open to inspection by any law enforcement officer or department of safety employee with enforcement authority. The department of safety would be able, for just cause, to refuse to issue, cancel, suspend or revoke the permit of an applicant or permittee. Each permit application and permit would include documentation of the carrier's federal safety rating, proof of all liability insurance and a nuclear prevention plan and clean-up plan acceptable to the department. Each application and permit would specify the route to be followed for each shipment covered by the permit, consistent with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. Further, each permit application would list the number of casks of spent nuclear fuel or high-level nuclear waste to be shipped under such permit and shall identify the type and quantity of material contained in each cask, the destination of each cask, and the identifying serial number of each cask. Permitted material would be transported in convoys of not less than five cask-bearing trucks, escorted by emergency response personnel provided by the carrier or shipper, unless the department, in writing, for reasonable cause shown, and in the interests of safety, waives such convoy requirements. Every permit issued for the rail transportation of spent nuclear fuel or high-level nuclear waste would require that such material be transported in a train dedicated solely to such shipment. All carriers of spent nuclear fuel or high-level nuclear waste would notify the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency 24 hours prior to the transportation of spent nuclear fuel or high-level nuclear waste within Tennessee and identify the permit issued and the origin, destination and place and approximate time of entry into and exit from the state as appropriate. Designated personnel would inspect all vehicles and trains that carry spent nuclear fuel or high-level nuclear waste at the point of entry weigh station nearest the point at which the shipment enters the state or at a location ordered by the department of safety. The Department of Safety would develop rules and regulations to cover packaging, marketing, labeling, handling, loading, unloading, storing, detaining, transporting and monitoring of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste. For shipments of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste, the department would charge an annual permit fee of $500. However, there would be an additional fee of $2,000 per cask to be shipped under annual permit, to be paid by the owner of the shipment for the purposes of defraying the expenses of this state incurred in inspection, regulation and management involving such shipments. The department would require applicants for permits for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel or high-level nuclear waste, to obtain a bond or indemnity insurance of at least $25 million before granting such permit. The Department of Safety could make exceptions or exemptions for kinds, quantities, types, or shipments of spent nuclear fuel or high-level nuclear waste covered by this bill as deemed appropriate and consistent with protecting public health, safety, and welfare. Texas HB 3747-(Died in committee) Provides that no trucks or trailers carrying hazardous materials shall travel through any city of more than 500,000 population during peak transportation hours. Each city shall establish their peak transportation hours. West Virginia HB 2099-(Died in committee) Prohibits vehicles transporting hazardous materials from parking within 1,000 feet of educational or health care facilities. Transportation News Foreign spent fuel on way to Savannah River SiteA shipment is underway of foreign research reactor spent fuel from Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines. The shipment will arrive at the Charleston (S.C.) Naval Weapons Station and will be shipped by rail to the Savannah River (S.C.) Site later this spring. NRC: Move of spent fuel no danger to Clark CountyThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission's draft generic environmental impact statement for license renewal of nuclear plants estimates that the cumulative radiological and accident risks of transporting spent nuclear fuel to the proposed geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., pose no significant health threats to Clark County (Las Vegas), Nev., residents. The report states the risks are within regulatory limits and small. In addition, the exposure to persons living more than one-half mile away from the shipping route are "negligible." The NRC data in the report, however, suggest that transporting spent fuel through the Las Vegas metropolitan area by rail rather than by truck to reduce the number of shipments, the possibility of an accident and related human health and environmental risks. The NRC estimates in the report that, if every nuclear power plant in the United States renewed its license to operate for an additional 20 years, there would be 75,278 truck shipments of spent fuel routed through the Las Vegas are during a 40-year to 60-year time span. Radiation emitted from the shipping casks would be below the regulatory limit of 10-millirem per hour at a 6.6-foot distance from the truck or container. Transportation workers are in the highest risk group, but the risk would be spread among all the truck crew members.
STATE/LOCAL/TRIBAL Nye County to receive DOE funds for Yucca Mountain workNye County, Nev., will receive $10 million annual payments-equal-to-taxes from the Department of Energy for the next four years. These payments-equal-to-taxes are for DOE activities related to the potential repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. The county plans to use the money to develop the infrastructure necessary to transport spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste to the repository. Plans include development of a north-south rail line across Nevada to move spent fuel and the construction of facilities to fabricate waste packages that would be used in a repository. The rail line also can be used for other economic purposes within the county. Nevada proposes followup to fallout reviewNye County, Nev., and the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects are proposing a followup to studies that were completed 20 years ago that tracked leukemia cases and thyroid disease in residents exposed to radioactive fallout. The new studies would examine the current health of people who live downwind from the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and the Yucca Mountain potential repository site to determine if there are lingering effects from aboveground nuclear testing at NTS and to serve as a measure for future health problems should a nuclear waste repository be constructed at Yucca Mountain. Health studies that are related to past DOE activities have been completed at a number of sites within the United States. Research indicates above-average rates of thyroid cancer among children in Arizona, Nevada and Utah-most probably the result of radioactive iodine fallout that was incorporated into the food chain through milk consumption (thyroid cancer is the result of radioactive iodine collected in the thyroid gland). Nye County and the state agency will apply for federal grants to survey Nye and Lincoln county residents. New Hampshire to make available anti-radiation pillsNew Hampshire emergency officials are asking pharmacies to stock potassium iodide pills used to counter the effects of radiation exposure. Federal regulators recommended last summer that states stockpile the pills and have offered to supply them free of charge. Some states currently store pills near nuclear reactors-in New Hampshire, 100,000 people live near the Seabrook nuclear reactor, and another 10,000 live near the Vermont Yankee plant. A state advisory group formed by Governor Jeanne Sheheen recommended that Granite State residents be allowed to buy and keep the pills at home. The eventual goal is to make the pills available to the general public, said Office of Emergency Management spokesman James Van Dongen. LegislationMaine LD 1516 (Treat and five co-sponsors)-Establishes a permit requirement for disposal in Maine of decommissioning materials from a nuclear power plant. The bill also requires notice to any municipality in which decommissioning materials are proposed to be disposed of. (Passed both houses.) Nebraska LB 530 (Dierks)-Removes Nebraska from the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact. See related story in Low-Level Waste section (Governor signed May 12, effective August 29). South Carolina H 3586 (J. Smith)-companion bill to S 298 sponsored by Senator Phil Leventis. Provides for South Carolina to rejoin the Southeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact (in committee). H 3245 (Sheheen)-prohibits disposal of out-of-state waste in South Carolina (in committee). HB 3869 (J. Smith)-Establishes the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Assistance Fund to be administered by the Department of Health and Environmental Control to assist South Carolina generators in defraying the cost of storing, transporting and disposing of this waste. Also provides that the tax must be imposed on each curie rather than on each cubic foot. Establishes the tax of $450 per curie. Provides $1.2 million annually must be credited to the Education Finance Act.. Allocates $2.5 million to Barnwell County. Credits 5 percent to the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Assistance Fund, and 95 percent to the Children's Education Endowment (in committee). Texas H 1910 (Chisum)-Provides the option of assured isolation (interim storage) as well as the disposal of low-level radioactive waste for the Texas-Maine-Vermont regional compact. Changes the name of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority to the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority. Allows the siting of either an assured isolation or disposal facility in areas of the state other than Hudspeth County, but establishes a 62-mile exclusion zone along the border with Mexico and does not allow any facility to be sited in an area that receives more than 26 inches of rainfall annually. The Texas Department of Health will have sole responsibility for licensing an assured isolation facility. Directs the authority to take title and liability to low-level radioactive waste upon receipt at a facility. Establishes a volunteer country process with preference given to counties that have passed a referendum that favors siting a facility. (Passed House, referred to the Senate Natural Resources Committee). The Senate Natural Resources Committee passed a substitute for H 1910 offered by Senator J.E. Buster Brown. Though both versions would allow a private company to build and operate the disposal facility, the Brown version eliminates the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority, which would both hold the license for the facility and oversee the private company operating it under the Chisum bill. There is concern from observers that, without state oversight, the facility operators would accept waste from both commercial generators and the Department of Energy. The Brown bill also deletes a "local option" that would allow area residents to vote on whether they wish to host the disposal facility in their county. Incentive payments to the host county also are deleted. The Brown bill has the support of Waste Control Specialists, an Andrews County, Texas, company that is seeking to operate both the commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal facility and a site for the disposal of Department of Energy-generated low-level radioactive waste. Another waste company, Envirocare of Texas, supports the Chisum bill. (Died at end of session). PersonnelPaul Cunningham will serve as the science advisor to Governor Gary Johnson (N.M.). Cunningham is the former manager of the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Nuclear Materials and Stockpile Management Programs; he will remain a LANL employee. Senator Dick Hall (Miss.) was appointed in April to the Mississippi Transportation Committee by Governor Kirk Fordice. He will complete the unexpired term of Commissioner Wayne Burkes, who has accepted a federal position. Senator Hall will seek election to the transportation committee in November 1999. Hall has served as the chair of the NCSL High-Level Radioactive Waste Working Group as well as several other positions within NCSL.
ON-SITE STORAGE NRC approves NAC International's multi-purpose canisterNAC International's canister-based spent fuel storage and transport system has received a transportation certificate of compliance and a draft safety evaluation report (SER) from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The NAC-MPC will be used by Yankee Atomic Electric Company to meet its decommissioning needs. Approvals of spent fuel storage casks are subject to NRC rulemaking; NRC anticipates completion of rulemaking and approval of the NAC-MPC for storage by February 2000. NAC also expects NRC to issue a draft SEP and draft approval for storage for its other canister-based system, the UMS. The UMS "can accommodate virtually all (types of) U.S. and international commercial light water reactor spent fuel," according to NAC. Vendors seek customers for dual-purpose casksNot long ago, vendors were scrambling to get transportable spent fuel storage casks on the market. Now that dual purpose systems are getting Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approval, the focus has switched to attracting customers. So far, seven designs have been submitted to NRC. These include a combination of horizontal- and vertical-load designs as well as all-metal or part-concrete fabrication designs. No clear trend has emerged for the new generation of casks. According to Eric Leeds, chief of the NRC spent fuel licensing section, "all the casks are a little different." The vendors are attempting to distinguish their casks by quality and ability to customize the canister-based systems to their clients' needs. In September 1998, Transnuclear West's (TN-West) MP-187 was the first cask to receive NRC certification for a transportable storage canister for light water reactor fuel. The TN-West transportation component was designed to be compatible with the NUHOMS storage module. Thus far, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)-which has 22 NUHOMS storage modules at the shuttered Rancho Seco station-is the only customer. Transnuclear Inc. also has the TN-68, a metal spent fuel storage system designed for boiling water reactor fuel assemblies. The system is expected to receive a draft safety evaluation report and certificate of compliance (COC) for storage from the NRC this summer. Potential customers for the TN-68 include PECO Energy (interested in using the system at its Peach Bottom plant) and Commonwealth Edison (for use at its shut down Dresden-1 plant). Holtec International has the Hi-Star 100, a steel-engineered transport system that can accept boiling water reactor and certain damaged fuel. In late March 1999 the Hi-Star received its transportation certification. Approval for storage is scheduled for completion in August 1999. Southern Nuclear has ordered four Hi-Star systems for its Hatch plant. The Hi-Star overpacks are compatible with Holtec's Hi-Storm concrete and metal storage module. The Hi-Storm is in the midst of a first round of requests for additional information with the NRC. The Hi-Storm will likely be popular because the concrete makes the system less expensive than the all-metal Hi-Star and offers lower radiation dose rates. Another option for customers who chose this system is to either rent or buy the transportation component and then continue storing the fuel in the Hi-Storm system at the final destination. In late May the New York Power Authority signed a long-term contract for use of the Hi-Storm system at FitzPatrick, which in the absence of additional storage capacity will lose full-core offload capability in 2003. DOE selects multi-purpose canisters to store, transport spent fuelIn an April 27 record of decision (ROD), the Department of Energy (DOE) has decided to use multi-purpose canisters (MPCs) for storing and transporting spent fuel at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Exempted fuels are those that may be processed-such as sodium-bonded fuel-and a small fraction of spent fuel that may be suitable for shipment in existing transportation casks. The ROD is the end result of a 1991 lawsuit in which the state of Idaho charged that DOE violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by not conducting a thorough analysis of the environmental impacts associated with spent fuel storage and transportation. In October 1995, the Navy and the state of Idaho signed an agreement that settled the litigation. (The Navy sends spent nuclear fuel from its ships to Idaho for storage.) The settlement required DOE and the Navy to use MPCs or comparable systems to prepare spent fuel for shipment and disposal outside of Idaho. The settlement agreement also required that DOE complete the ROD by April 30, 1999. Skull Valley EIS spurs questionsAt a public hearing on April 20, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received comments on the scope of an environmental impact statement for the proposed Skull Valley, Utah, interim spent fuel storage facility. Opponents of the temporary storage facility raised questions about earthquakes that might derail nuclear waste-laden trains heading to the facility and contaminate the pristine desert environment. The Skull Valley site would store spent fuel from a consortium of utilities led by Northern States Power until the federal government opens a permanent repository. Governor Mike Leavitt (Utah) signed a bill (SB 177) on March 18 that prohibits the state from assuming any liability for the facility and requires the governor and Legislature to explicitly authorize any right-of-way or transportation system for high-level or greater-than-class-C waste within the state. The budget for the state Department of Environmental Quality includes a $50,000 line item to cover legal expenses for a band of the Goshute Indian tribe that opposes their leaders' efforts to locate a spent fuel storage facility on reservation lands. Utah also is appealing a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) decision to deny the state's request to be involved in the lease approval process for the proposed site of the storage facility. The Goshutes and the Private Fuel Storage Consortium signed a lease in 1997. BIA maintains Utah will have a role in the final lease approval by participating in the NRC's environmental impact statement process. (See related story in legislation section, p. 2) Some of the most serious concerns raised at the meeting centered on two fault lines that were identified by project developer Private Fuel Storage. The fault lines cross the path of the proposed rail line, which would run through public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Opponents argued that the faults would represent a potential hazard should either fault move as waste was being transported to the facility. Local ranchers were concerned that the proposed rail line would run across land they lease from the government for cattle grazing. State officials were concerned about the proximity of the site to a wilderness area and the potential effect on state trust land. Others expressed concern about environmental effects of the proposed leasing agreement between the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes and the utilities that may not have been addressed by the NRC's initial review. Utah department drafts oversight rulesThe Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is in the process of writing rules that would enforce a statute enacted last year that grants the state the authority to regulate the storage and transportation of radioactive waste. The statute allows Utah to require a $2 billion bond to cover liability in the event anything were to happen during the storage and transportation of radioactive waste. The DEQ expects to publish the rules by the end of June. NRC issues license to move Three Mile Island wasteThe NRC issued a license on March 19 to the Department of Energy for an independent spent fuel storage facility at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory that will allow DOE to move the spent fuel and core debris from the Three Mile Island (Pa.) Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor into dry storage. The fuel will be dried and loaded into dry storage canisters that will be welded closed in shielded transfer casks and transported 20 miles from the storage pool to the new storage facility. The first shipment of spent fuel was moved to dry cask storage the last week in March. Under an agreement with Idaho, all of the TMI-2 spent fuel and debris must be in dry storage by June 30, 2001. The installation eventually will hold 344 containers of spent fuel and core debris. Each canister will hold up to 12 containers; there will be 29 concrete horizontal storage modules for storage. An extra module will remain empty for standby use. The storage facility has a 20-year license and DOE can request renewals. The license is the first issued by the NRC to the DOE.
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE Nebraska withdraws from compactOn May 12, 1999, Governor Mike Johanns (Neb.) signed LB 530, which calls for the state of Nebraska to leave the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact. The new law will take effect on Aug. 29, 1999, at which time Governor Johanns may write to the governors of the compact's other member states to notify them of Nebraska's withdrawal. If no action is taken by the other member states, the withdrawal will take effect five years after the notification letters are sent. U.S. court enjoins Nebraska site hearingThe U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska on April 15 issued a preliminary injunction against Nebraska in a suit that challenges the state's actions in reviewing the US Ecology license application for a Boyd County, Neb., low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. The injunction extends the temporary restraining order granted by the court on March 8 and restrains the state (and its employees) from holding a contested hearing about the state's decision to deny the license application or attempting to collect any funds, including federal rebate money, from regional utilities, the central compact or US Ecology. The judge issued the injunction on the basis that the state took eight years to deny the license application; in the process the plaintiff utilities spent more than $74 million on the project, the majority of which went directly to the state. The court noted that the state now wants more money from the plaintiffs to defend the lawsuit and to pay for the administrative hearing on the appeal. The judge directed the state to pay for its own defense and stayed the administrative hearing until the fundamental question can be answered of whether the state exercised good faith when dealing with the waste disposal application. Southeast Compact believes that N.C. has not met obligationsThe Southeast Compact Commission has notified Governor Jim Hunt (N.C.) of its opinion that the state of North Carolina has not met its legal obligations as the compact's host state for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. The compact is seeking a written plan and schedule for returning to compliance with compact law and, ultimately, providing for disposal. Development of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in North Carolina has been delayed since December 1997 when the authority began a shutdown of the project after a funding dispute with the Southeast Compact Commission. Generators and the commission have provided approximately $80 million for site development over the past 11 years; North Carolina has spent an additional $32 million in state funds on the disposal project. The North Carolina Low-Level Radioactive Waste Authority has requested that the Legislature approve the development of a hybrid "decay in storage" and disposal complex. Under this strategy, the authority and its contractors would build a long-term decay in storage facility. Revenues from operating this facility would finance the construction of a smaller disposal facility at the same site. The authority also is seeking a $10 million appropriation from the legislature to cover a funding shortfall in completing its licensing work plan that will be submitted with the authority's license application for the disposal facility. The authority estimates a decay in storage facility could be completed in 38 months; however, it estimates 24 months would be required for the rulemaking process that would precede the licensing of the facility by state regulators. The authority is seeking legislative intervention to expedite the regulatory process. The estimated cost of a decay in storage facility is substantially less than a permanent disposal facility. The authority also is recommending that the legislature require the following commitments from the compact commission: • All member states will not withdraw from the compact before construction is started on the decay in storage facility; • That the compact commission commit unreserved funds to the decay in storage licensing efforts; and • That the compact commission adopt rules to disallow the export of waste for storage or disposal or give the host state veto power over export after the decay in storage facility has opened. South Carolina to study alternatives to Barnwell disposalOn June 10, Governor Jim Hodges (S.C.) announced the creation of a Nuclear Task Force that will develop a plan for ending the state's "role as the nation's nuclear dumping ground...(while) ensuring the future disposal needs of South Carolina's low-level radioactive generators are met." A final report and recommendations on an alternative approach are to be completed by November 1. Governor Hodges also created a South Carolina Compact Delegation that will serve as a subcommittee of the task force. The delegation will meet with regional compact personnel and other officials to determine whether the state's interests can be served through affiliation with a regional compact. Findings will be submitted to the task force by September 15. Ward Valley UpdateThe Green Party of California has urged Governor Gray Davis (Calif.) to end state efforts to operate a low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal facility in Ward Valley. The California and US Ecology federal lawsuit that seeks the transfer of the Ward Valley, Calif., site from the U.S. Department of Interior to the plaintiffs was denied by the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 31. The land is held by the Bureau of Land Management; US Ecology has paid the department for use of the land. Former Bush administration Secretary of Interior Manuel Lujan had attempted to complete the land transfer, but the Clinton administration has delayed the transfer for a number of reasons. A separate lawsuit in which the state and US Ecology are seeking financial relief for breach of contract claims related to the land transfer remains pending before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. American Ecology, the parent company of US Ecology, has not decided whether to appeal the decision. Don Wolmendorf, executive director of the Southwest Compact Commission, has stated that, "Ward Valley is dead." The California Radioactive Materials Management (Cal Rad) Forum has taken the position that the court decision does not abrogate California's legal obligation to provide disposal capacity to compact generators. Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt has indicated in past correspondence that he would prefer finding an alternative to the Ward Valley site to host the low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. In a March 12 letter, Babbitt stated, "I believe it would be in the best interest of the state and federal governments, the public, the biotechnology industry, and US Ecology to explore alternatives to the proposed land transfer which would resolve the situation and potentially settle the pending legislation." On June 2, 1999, Governor Davis announced that the state would not appeal the U.S. District Court decision regarding the transfer of federal land in Ward Valley. Governor Davis has asked Richard Atkinson, president of the University of California, to chair an advisory group that will examine alternatives for LLRW disposal in California. Texas Legislature restructures low-level radioactive waste projectsIn late-session activity, the Texas Legislature allowed to sunset the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority and left largely unchanged all existing legislation regarding low-level radioactive waste. The authority's legal duties, personnel, equipment and funding were transferred to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), effective Sept. 1, 1999. TNRCC is the state's licensing agency for below-ground disposal. It has not yet been determined how TNRCC will try to implement its new legal duties for the Texas-Maine-Vermont Compact. Comprehensive design and economic studies of an alternative management approach ("assured isolation") are nearly complete and indicate that assured isolation is feasible and can be cost-competitive. (Assured isolation is an above-ground concrete vault system in which waste could be inspected and retrieved indefinitely.) A separate state agency, the Texas Department of Health, would be the licensing agency for an assured isolation facility. Additionally, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn has determined that pursuing an assured isolation approach fulfills Texas' current obligation under the compact to manage and provide for the disposal of the compact's low-level radioactive waste. State officials have expressed a preference for establishing an assured isolation facility in place of a traditional below-ground disposal facility. WCS signs Texas disposal contractsWaste Control Specialists (WCS) has signed two 40-year, low-level radioactive waste disposal contracts with Texas Utilities and STP Nuclear Operating Co. to guarantee disposal capacity for the companies at an approximate cost of $50 per cubic foot. Disposal is dependent upon the state legislature changing state law that restricts to Hudspeth County a future low-level radioactive waste disposal facility and limits the operation of the facility to the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Authority. (See related story on p. 12 ) STP believes the contract could save the company $1 million annually in low-level radioactive waste disposal costs; the company currently spends $666 per cubic foot to dispose of waste at the Barnwell, S.C., facility. Texas Utilities estimates it could save $500,000 per year under the WCS contract. Illinois proposes storage for Central Midwest Compact generatorsThe Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety (IDNS) is proposing to open a centralized interim storage facility for generators in the Central Midwest Compact should the Barnwell, S.C., low-level radioactive waste disposal facility be closed to generators outside the Southeast Compact member states. IDNS director Thomas Ortciger believes that a temporary disposal facility would need to comply only with normal siting standards for radioactive materials licensees, not with state siting requirements. Components of a proposed temporary facility would include a waste receipt and inspection facility, temporary storage for waste pending shipment for processing, longer-term storage for waste pending disposal and facilities to store waste for decay to background. Waste volumes in the compact member states of Illinois and Kentucky range from 230,000 cubic feet per year to 350,000 cubic feet per year. IDNS would need 30 acres to 40 acres of land for the facility. One benefit of the proposed facility would be preventing generators from having to develop and build (and license) 80 to 100 on-site waste storage facilities across Illinois. Former Utah bureau director faces federal trialLarry Anderson, former director of the Utah Bureau of Radiation Control, was indicted and faced trial June 21 on six federal charges of extortion, mail fraud, tax evasion and fraud for allegedly using his position to obtain $600,000 in a Swiss bank account and other property from Khosrow Semnani, the president of Envirocare of Utah. At the time Semnani made the payments, Envirocare had a radioactive waste disposal license application pending before the state agency. The bribery scheme came to light after Anderson sued Semnani for additional payments. Semnani has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of helping Anderson file false tax returns and was fined $100,000 by the U.S. District Court in 1998. Conviction of Anderson on all counts would result in a prison sentence and fines. National Research Council proposes to study waste trendsThe National Research Council's Board on Radioactive Waste Management is proposing a study of the likely future trends in low-level radioactive waste generation, treatment and disposal and an assessment of potential technical and policy challenges in future decades. The study will provide recommendations about future good management practices and methods to improve waste treatment and reduce waste generation. For more information about the study contact Kevin Crowley, NRC, 2101 Constitution Ave., Washington, D. C. 20418, (202) 334-3066, fax (202) 334-3077. NCSL LLRW Summit meeting notes availableNotes from the NCSL low-level radioactive waste summit meeting held April 9 are available via NCSLnet (www.ncsl.org) or by contacting Jeff Dale or Cheryl Runyon (303) 364-7700.
INTEREST GROUPS NGA reaffirms support for compact systemThe National Governors' Association (NGA) decided during its annual winter meeting in February to reaffirm its support of the low-level radioactive waste compact system. Due to the compacts' lack of success in siting and licensing disposal facilities, however, the governors attached a one-year "sunset clause" to their position statement, agreeing to review their position again at the winter 2000 meeting to determine whether the compact system is the correct method. NGA also called upon Congress to "exercise restraint" in imposing its view on the compact process. In addition, NGA seeks the prompt transfer of the Ward Valley, Calif., land from the Bureau of Land Management to the state of California. For a copy of the resolution, contact Tom Curtis, NGA (202) 624-5300, Utilities form management companyNorthern States Power Co., Wisconsin Electric Power Co. and Wisconsin Public Service have formed a nuclear management company to operate the nuclear units owned by the companies (Monticello, Prairie Island, Point Beach, and Kewaunee). The management company will focus on long-term safety, increasing reliability and improving operational performance of the plants. Alliant Energy, which operates the Duane nuclear power plant in Iowa, is seeking to join the company. The utilities will continue to own their own plants and be entitled to the electricity generated at them, while retaining financial responsibility for operation, maintenance and decommissioning. New England utilities considered spent fuel exportThree New England nuclear power plants (Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee and Connecticut Yankee) considered-but later discarded-the idea of shipping spent fuel to Sellafield, England, for storage or reprocessing rather than waiting several decades for a federal repository to open. Four of nine nuclear power plants in New England are decommissioning their reactors. To complete the decommissioning process and terminate the operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the spent fuel must be removed from each of the sites. The utilities have sued the Department of Energy (DOE) for the cost of storing the spent fuel; a federal claims court has agreed the DOE must pay the utilities. (See related story on p. 2) The companies approached British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., about exporting the spent fuel to Britain as a new idea for resolving the disposal dilemma. Although DOE was not part of the discussions, it has warned U.S. utilities that any exports of spent fuel would have to satisfy federal concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation. Should the spent fuel be reprocessed, plutonium-a key ingredient in nuclear weapons-would be produced as a byproduct. AmerGen purchasing reactorsAmerGen Energy Co. has agreed to buy the Clinton, Ill., nuclear power plant from Illinois Power for $20 million, plus immediate assumption of operating costs. The plant has been closed since September 1996, but AmerGen expects to reopen the plant soon. Illinois Power will buy 80 percent of the electricity produced by the plant during the remainder of 1999. AmerGen is a joint venture between PECO Energy and British Energy. PECO-one of the two owners of AmerGen-has managed the plant for the last year under a contract with Illinois Power. The Illinois General Assembly included language in SB 24 to resolve the issue of who will pay for decommissioning the plant. AmerGen Energy also is considering the purchase of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vt. AmerGen has the exclusive right to negotiate a possible agreement to purchase Vermont Yankee's assets from the group of 13 New England utilities that owns the plant. AmerGen also has offered to purchase the Three Mile Island Unit 1, near Harrisburg, Pa., from GPU Inc.; the purchase is pending approval. GPU is planning to leave the electricity generation business to concentrate on transmission and distribution under utility restructuring legislation passed in Pennsylvania. GPU also is considering the sale of its Oyster Creek, N.J., nuclear power plant. AmerGen also is interested in New York's Nine Mile Point plant. Another nuclear power plant, Boston Edison's Pilgrim, is under sale discussions with Entergy Nuclear. Three corporate teams interested in INEEL contractThree teams, led by TRW Inc., Morrison Knudsen Corp. and Bechtel National Inc., are interested in bidding for the management and operations contract at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. The five-year contract is estimated to be worth $3 billion; the DOE contract also has a five-year options period. Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company had decided not to seek a renewal of its five-year contract. Connecticut: Millstone has harmed fish populationsEric Smith, assistant director for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's fisheries division, testified in a lawsuit brought against Northeast Utilities by Fish Unlimited that for years the utility's Millstone 2 nuclear power plant has had a negative effect on the winter flounder population. The fish conservation group brought the lawsuit in an effort to prevent the restart of the plant unless and until harm to fish and Long Island Sound is reduced. The utility has responded that Millstone's effect on the fish population has been minimal. The company had planned to restart the plant in late April; restart requires the approval of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. According to state research, the winter flounder population in the Niantic River has dropped from a high of 200,000 in 1981 to an estimated 4,000 in 1993. The drop mirrored a decline in southern New England waters but was more severe in the Niantic River, near the power plant complex. The department has determined that the population was reduced by both fishing and the destruction of hundreds of millions of newly hatched flounder that were drawn into the Millstone complex's cooling water. Northern Utilities estimates the current flounder population to be 7,400. ASME, SME exploring mergerThe American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers are exploring a potential merger. For more information contact Jane Scangarello, ASME, (212) 591-7880.
Department of Energy: Accelerated Closure of Rocky Flats: Status and Obstacles (RCED-99-100), April 1999. Department of Energy: Key Factors Underlying Security Problems at DOE Facilities (T-RCED-99-159), April 1999. Nuclear Regulation: Better Oversight Needed to Ensure Accumulation of Funds to Decommission Nuclear Power Plants (GAO/RCED-99-75), May 1999. Nuclear Waste: Corps of Engineers' Progress in Cleaning up 22 Nuclear Sites (GAO/RCED-99-48), February 1999. Vehicle Safety: Effectiveness of Motor Carriers Office Hampered by Data Problems and Slow Progress on Implementing Safety Initiatives (T-RCED-99-122), March 1999. Weapons of Mass Destruction: Effort to Reduce Russian Arsenals May Cost More, Achieve Less Than Planned (GAO/NSIAD-99-76), April 1999. The first copy of each GAO report and testimony is free; additional copies are $2 each. To request copies of these reports, contact the General Accounting Office, P.O. Box 6015, Gaithersburg, Md. 20884-6015, (202) 512-6000, or fax your order to (301) 258-4066. GAO reports also are available on the Internet at www.gao.gov.
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