ECA requests from Congress DOE evaluation on classification of certain defense nuclear wastes
ECA Staff | 2/26/2019
The section requests that the Secretary of Energy "conduct an evaluation of the feasibility, costs, and cost savings of classifying covered defense nuclear waste as other than high-level radioactive waste, without decreasing environmental, health, or public safety requirements."
In October 2018, DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) published a request for public comment on its interpretation of the statutory definition for high-level radioactive waste (HLW). Under its proposal, DOE would
interpret that some reprocessing wastes may be classified as non-HLW and may be disposed based on their radiological characteristics, rather than their origin. ECA expects that DOE’s proposed HLW interpretation could provide significant benefits:
- Reduce years of DOE operations and risks to current host communities;
- Accelerate Hanford, Idaho, West Valley and Savannah River tank retrievals and closures;
- Decrease the number, size and duration of storage facilities pending availability of a permanent deep geologic HLW repository; and
- Save taxpayers an estimated $40 billion or more on DOE’s Office of Environmental Management program’s remaining lifecycle costs.
As DOE reviews the public comments received and considers implementation of its proposed HLW Interpretation, it is important that DOE provide data on feasibility, potential impacts, costs, estimated timelines and regulatory implications to all impacted sites. The report to Congress required under Section 3139 of the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2018 would help provide this much needed information and inform next
steps.
CONTRACTING & ACQUISITION
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
NUCLEAR SAFETY
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