Energy Northwest approved to resume radioactive waste shipments

Energy Northwest’s disposal permit for low level radioactive waste was reinstated by the Washington State Department of Health on Thursday.

It had temporarily been barred by state regulators from sending waste to the US Ecology site on leased Hanford nuclear reservation land after a Nov. 9 shipment was more radioactive than claimed on a shipping manifest.

The shipment was made from the Columbia Generating Station, the Pacific Northwest’s only commercial nuclear power plant. The plant also is on leased Hanford land and is about 10 miles from the disposal site for low-level commercial waste from organizations such as hospitals, universities and utilities.

The restriction by the state Department of Health was lifted just after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission released initial findings this week from its investigation of the November incident.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Energy Northwest approved to resume radioactive waste shipments."