WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is committed to keeping its promises on disposal of high-level radioactive waste from Hanford and other Department of Energy weapons cleanup sites, said Ines Triay, DOE assistant secretary for environmental cleanup.
She spoke Wednesday at the first 2010 briefing for the bipartisan House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus organized by Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., to provide information on DOE environmental cleanup to members of Congress and their staff.
President Obama is terminating plans for the Yucca Mountain, Nev., repository, where Hanford's high-level radioactive waste and irradiated nuclear fuel was intended to go.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu appointed a Blue Ribbon Commission to look at options for defense waste and used commercial nuclear power fuel that would have gone to Yucca Mountain for disposal.
Triay said she was encouraged by the caliber of people appointed to the commission.
"Those kind of powerful minds can come together to designate a path forward that is going to make a future for high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel more robust," she said.
It also gives the DOE environmental cleanup program an opportunity to have new strategies and technologies for high-level waste vetted by the commission, she said.
Technology and science need to be used to come up with strategies that improve the efficiency of dealing with high-level radioactive waste, she said.
"The energy secretary feels strongly we need to make an investment in this area to do this work better," she said.
Hanford has 53 million gallons of radioactive waste in underground tanks. Plans call for emptying leak-prone tanks that date to as early as World War II and turning the waste into a stable glass form at the $12.2 billion vitrification plant under construction.
Vitrified high-level waste will have to be stored temporarily at Hanford without Yucca Mountain being available, but Tri-City leaders are concerned that the waste would remain permanently at Hanford.
The Obama administration's proposed 2011 budget for DOE environmental cleanup includes $60 million to develop tank waste technologies and $25 million to better understand how ground water contamination spreads at sites such as Hanford.
It also includes a $50 million increase in funding for the Hanford vitrification plant to help reduce risks that might prevent the plant from being ready to treat tank waste in 2019 or drive its cost above the budgeted $12.2 billion.
-- Annette Cary: 582-1533; acary@tricityherald.com; more Hanford news at hanfordnews.com
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Panel urges handling Hanford waste
Panel urges handling Hanford waste
The possibility of disposing of Hanford's high-level radioactive waste while a solution continues to be worked out for spent commercial nuclear fuel was raised Thursday at a Senate hearing.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., questioned leaders of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future on its findings at a hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. On Wednesday, Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., a candidate for governor, questioned commission leaders at a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Environment and Economy.
The commission issued its final recommendation last week, calling for the nation to look for a location "by consensus" where a new national repository for high-level defense waste and used commercial fuel will be welcome. It also called for the development of storage sites to be used in the meantime.
Temporary storage proposed for vit plant waste
Temporary storage proposed for vit plant waste
Hanford contractor officials are proposing a temporary storage system for Hanford's treated high-level radioactive waste that easily can be expanded, given uncertainties about the nation's plans for a national waste repository.
Washington River Protection Solutions formed an independent review team that is recommending a new Hanford building large enough to store as much high-level radioactive waste as the Hanford vitrification plant is expected to treat in a decade. But if needed, more vaults could be added.
The initial plans do not include a shipping facility. Given austere federal budget conditions, it makes sense to wait to add that when the nation is ready to ship the waste, said Tom Fletcher, Department of Energy acting assistant manager of the Hanford tank farms.
Nuclear Regulation Commission allows Yucca closure to continue
Nuclear Regulation Commission allows Yucca closure to continue
WASHINGTON -- A divided Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday allowed the Obama administration to continue with plans to close the Yucca Mountain, Nev., nuclear waste repository, where Hanford waste was planned to be sent.
The commission split, 2-2, on whether to uphold or reject a decision by an independent nuclear licensing board. The board voted last year to block the Department of Energy from withdrawing its application for Yucca Mountain. The licensing board said the government failed to make a scientific case for why the application should be withdrawn.
Despite the split vote, the NRC said in an order Friday that the licensing board should continue steps to close out work on Yucca Mountain by the end of the month, citing "budgetary limitations."
Blue Ribbon Commission says U.S. should start looking for Yucca alternative
Blue Ribbon Commission says U.S. should start looking for Yucca alternative
WASHINGTON -- The United States should immediately start looking for an alternative to replace the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, which cost an estimated
$15 billion but was never completed, a presidential commission said Thursday.
In its final report, the 15-member Blue Ribbon Commission recommended immediate efforts to develop at least one geologic disposal facility for long-term handling of nuclear waste. Any effort to site a disposal facility must have community support, it said.
The report also suggested building regional storage sites that would be open for up to 100 years while officials seek to complete a permanent burial site.
Get job done at Hanford, DOE undersecretary says
Get job done at Hanford, DOE undersecretary says
KENNEWICK -- The Department of Energy undersecretary newly responsible for Hanford environmental cleanup has a bias for getting the job done, he said Wednesday after his first tour of the nuclear reservation.
That's the case whether it's starting operations at the Hanford vitrification plant or reusing un-needed Hanford land, said Thomas D'Agostino, the undersecretary of nuclear security.
He was in the Tri-Cities to speak at the 2011 Integrated Safety Management Champions Workshop in Kennewick, which drew 1,200 people from DOE projects across the nation. During his three-day visit he also toured Hanford and met with DOE Hanford leadership and staff and with community members.
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