Oregon officials oppose adding radioactive waste at Hanford

Aug 27 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Annette Cary Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.

The state of Oregon opposes a Department of Energy proposal to send more radioactive waste to Hanford for permanent disposal.

Residents from Washington and Oregon have a chance to comment at public hearings today and Tuesday. In all, there are hearings planned in nine cities across the nation, including tonight in Troutdale, Ore., and in Pasco on Tuesday.

The Pasco meeting will be held at the Red Lion Inn, beginning at 6 p.m.

DOE announced last month that it planned to conduct an environmental impact study looking at options for disposing of 7,280 cubic yards of radioactive waste. It plans to consider Hanford as a disposal site, among about nine other sites.

A little less than half of the waste is from commercial operations, such as decommissioning nuclear power plants, sterilizing medical equipment and irradiating food.

The remainder of the waste was generated by the Department of Energy in nonweapons work.

Together the waste includes an estimated 130 million curies of radiation, according to the state of Oregon. In comparison, 2,100 tons of uranium would have 14,000 curies of radiation.

While transuranic waste from Hanford -- typically debris contaminated with plutonium -- is sent to a national geological repository in New Mexico. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant now does not accept nonweapons waste.

DOE is considering whether the 7,280 cubic yards of radioactive waste should be disposed of at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and Yucca Mountain -- deep geological repositories -- or at another site, such as Hanford.

If Hanford is selected, the waste might be deposited in a bore hole drilled deep into the ground. In a second alternative being considered for Hanford, the waste might be buried nearer the ground's surface in engineer trenches or vaults.

They would offer better containment that a lined landfill such as the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, which was built to hold 12 million cubic yards of low level radioactive waste from Hanford cleanup.

Added features might include deeper depth, barriers or increased waste packaging.

For more on the hearing, see Tuesday's Herald.