The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
November 23, 1997

Chem-Nuclear making sales pitch

By Michael Sponhour
KNIGHT-RIDDER

COLUMBIA - In the next 10 years, about 60 nuclear power plants face extinction. As they are torn down, most of the rubble will come to South Carolina.

But Chem-Nuclear Systems Inc. says its bottom line won't allow it to wait a decade or more for big utilities to shut down their aging nuclear power plants and boost the sagging business at the Barnwell low-level nuclear landfill.

That's why the company is pitching an ambitious plan to sell future disposal rights at the facility. Essentially, big utilities would pay now to reserve most of Barnwell's remaining space.

If the company can sell at least five million cubic feet of space by January, that would generate a $1 billion trust fund that South Carolina could use for school construction and scholarships. Lawmakers would have to lower the state's current charge of $235 per cubic foot to $200 for the plan to work, company officials say.

By 2018, the federal licenses for 60 nuclear power plants are scheduled to expire, forcing most to consider tearing down their 40-year-old plants.

For Barnwell, that's big business. Right now, Barnwell is the only place in the country that can take some forms of waste from decommissioned plants.

But that bonanza will be a while in coming. The big wave of closings isn't slated to begin until 2012, when 32 plants are slated to shut down in three years.

In the meantime, Chem-Nuclear is facing lean times. Because of higher charges and vigorous industry efforts to reduce the amount of waste they ship, business at Barnwell has been a fraction of what was predicted a few years ago.

Business is shrinking so rapidly that Chem-Nuclear may have to dip into its reserves to pay a state minimum tax that it agreed to this spring.

''We believe we will be in a tenuous position if we're not able to do something to strengthen our revenue stream,'' said Chem-Nuclear spokesman David Ebenhack.

But so far, the big firms that are essential to the plan's success remain noncommittal. More details will be in the hands of company officials later this month, Ebenhack said.

''We are familiar with this information but we have not had a formal proposal presented to us,'' said Joan Berger, a spokeswoman for Consolidated Edison, which owns one nuclear power plant north of New York City. ''We will base our opinion on the proposal once we receive it.''

Others wonder if Chem-Nuclear is just being impatient.

''It seems to us the shortfall is a short-term problem which would start to be remedied when plants start to do their decommissioning and send their volume to Barnwell,'' said Steve Unglesbee, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's major trade group.

The institute sponsored a conference in Charleston Wednesday at which Chem-Nuclear described its emerging plan.

Changes in the power industry also could hamper the proposal. With utilities facing deregulation, most are on a cost-cutting binge as they prepare for free-market competition.

Some might not want to make a big up-front payment to Chem-Nuclear as they cut expenses, Unglesbee said. But some might find the promise of a guaranteed price appealing, he said.

Chem-Nuclear believes that the special funds nuclear plants must establish to cover closing costs can be tapped to reserve space at Barnwell, Ebenhack said.

Chem-Nuclear's attempt to lure parts from closed nuclear power plants is an ominous sign for South Carolina's environment, some say.

H.G. Brack, who edits a newsletter on radioactive waste in Maine, said he suspects a number of power plants will try to ship entire reactors with radioactive parts included. That would not include highly radioactive fuel rods, but it could include other parts that approach the upper limits of low-level waste, he said.

Fully intact reactors include an array of radioactive components, that can pack a powerful punch when concentrated, he said. The Maine Yankee nuclear plant, for instance, is considering shipping an entire reactor filled with most of its components to a low-level waste landfill, most likely Barnwell, he said.

Brack said the Maine Yankee plant includes three components with radioactivity greater than what's normally allowed at Barnwell. This comes at a time when utilities are testing the NRC to see how much they can ship to low-level waste landfills. Brack said he suspects they'll try to ship some hotter waste as part of fully intact reactors.

''It's the new paradigm,'' he said. ''You keep the reactor vessel intact with its internal [parts] ... and send it as one package.''

Maine Yankee spokeswoman Maureen Brown said the plant won't send anything that exceeds the limits for a low-level waste landfill. Also, she said a consultant had suggested that Maine Yankee not ship a fully intact reactor to Barnwell County.

The company is now trying to decide whether to separate the parts out of the reactor, or cut up the reactor vessel for shipment. Sending the full reactor remains an option.

Henry Porter, a radioactive waste regulator with the South Carolina health department, said Barnwell does not normally allow waste more radioactive than what is considered low-level refuse.

But he said there are instances where it could happen. If it was too dangerous for workers to remove some of the hotter components, for example, the state would consider allowing disposal at Barnwell, he said.

Another question is whether Chem-Nuclear's plan would further undercut the troubled national effort for regions to build their own low-level nuclear landfills.

This week, an effort by six Midwestern states to build their own low-level landfill was formally declared dead. Instead, producers in the states including Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin will continue shipping their waste to Barnwell indefinitely.

The compact couldn't build a new facility in Ohio because there simply wasn't enough waste generated in the region to support the costly undertaking, said Greg Larson, director of the Midwest Compact. Cost-conscious utilities are careful to minimize the waste they produce and sometimes store it at the plant site to delay disposal costs, he said.

Barnwell's latest plan could sap some of the business that other compacts would need to open landfills, he said.