December 4, 1997The Region; WASTE VOLUMES DOWN; Report questions need for new nuclear dumps
Copyright 1997 Wilmington Star-News, Inc.Compiled from staff and wire reports
A decline in the amount of low-level radioactive waste disposed of nationwide has prompted officials in several states to question the need for new nuclear waste dumps like the one proposed for North Carolina.``New disposal facilities are not needed and would not be financially viable,'' concluded a report recently submitted to the National Conference of State Legislators.
``Low-level waste'' is a category that includes the most toxic, long-lived radioactive contamination, with the exception of certain types of military waste or spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants.
According to the report, construction of new dumps would threaten the profitability of at least one of the existing dumps, which already is struggling to find enough new waste to stay in business.
The downward trend has prompted officials to withdraw or reassess their support for new dumps.
A regional compact suspended funding Monday for the one planned for Wake County in North Carolina because of a projected budget shortfall. More than $100 million has been spent in the past 10 years just on planning, and the site still isn't licensed.
The report adds a new component to the arguments by opponents of Ward Valley.
Up to now, environmentalists, politicians and Indian tribes close to the 1,000-acre site in the Mojave Desert have based their opposition on fears that the dump would poison the water table, imperil wildlife and possibly pollute the nearby Colorado River.
Proponents of the Ward Valley dump say the report is suspect because it was commissioned by Nebraska officials who are opposed to a dump in their state.
Nationwide, the volume of radioactive waste going to disposal sites now is a fraction of what it was in 1980, when the law was passed calling for states to cooperate in the construction of about a dozen new dumps.
In California, even proponents of the Ward Valley dump acknowledge that the amount of waste shipped out of state for disposal has dropped by at least 75 percent.
In addition, technological advances in incineration, compaction and recycling have reduced the sheer bulk of the radioactive waste that needs to be buried in safe places.