EnergySolutions proposal to deposit Canadian radioactive waste in Tooele County gets initial OK

SALT LAKE CITY — A proposal to ship radioactive waste from Canada for disposal in Utah got the green light Friday from a body that monitors such activity.

The decision by the NorthWest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management is one of the first steps in EnergySolutions‘ efforts to get the varied permits and approvals needed to move forward with the plans. The Salt Lake City-based firm’s proposal calls for the importation of as much as 1.31 million cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste from Ontario, Canada, for disposal at its Clive facility in Tooele County.

“We appreciate the thorough and thoughtful discussions conducted over the past five meetings by (compact members) prior to today’s vote,” EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker said in a statement. “The waste approved for disposal is the same type of class A low-level radioactive waste that the Clive facility has safely and responsibly managed and disposed of for more than 30 years.”

Two organizations opposed to the plans, including the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, issued a statement blasting the action. The groups said if the plans proceed, it would be the first time radioactive waste from outside the United States could be disposed of in the country.

“Utah should not be the permanent dumping ground for the world’s radioactive waste,” said Lexi Tuddenham, executive director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, an environmental group. The proposal “moves forward despite unanswered questions about transportation, transparency and tribal consultation, and it asks Utah communities to shoulder international radioactive risks without clear accountability for the businesses profiting from this proposal.”

Diane D’Arrigo, radioactive waste director for the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, also criticized the action, coming at a compact meeting in Tumwater, Washington. Her group calls for “a nuclear-free, carbon-free world.” “Low-level is not low risk and can give significant doses of radiation. Dubbing it as such probably even deceived some of the NorthWest Compact commissioners who voted on it,” she said.

The compact represents eight Western states, including Utah, and helps manage the disposal of low-level radioactive waste.

The Canadian waste would come from nuclear power generators in the province of Ontario, and Walker stressed EnergySolutions’ years of experience disposing of such material.

“For more than three decades, EnergySolutions has worked closely with U.S. commercial utilities, state and federal regulators and communities across the country to ensure the safe, secure and fully compliant management and disposal of class A low-level radioactive nuclear waste at its Utah facility. This decision reflects our long-standing record of safety,” he said. The vote was 7-0 with one abstention, according to the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service.

Going forward, EnergySolutions would need authorization from Canadian officials to ship the radioactive waste to Utah and approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The critics worry there will be limited opportunities for the public to sound off on the plans.

“The NRC process has always approved requests and does not allow for public hearings unless a party legally intervenes against the proposal, requesting an expensive adjudicatory process,” reads the statement from the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service.

The two organizations were among 88 environmental groups in the United States and Canada issuing a statement Wednesday opposing the plans. The groups issued a series of questions on the plans, and the statement Friday from the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah and Nuclear Information and Resource Service say the queries still haven’t been fully answered.

“Serious questions remain about the true nature of this waste, its long-term risks and whether commitments made today will be enforceable once export and import approvals are granted,” the two groups said in Friday’s statement.