The New Mexico Environment Department Tuesday turned down a Department of Energy request to allow remote-handled (RH) waste to be disposed of in shielded drums alongside regular transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Currently, the more highly radioactive RH waste must be processed separately, using remote handling equipment, and it must be disposed of in boreholes drilled into WIPP’s salt walls, separate from the stacks of contact-handled (CH) drums. Arguing that some of the waste could be safely handled in lead-lined 55-gallon drums and treated just like CH, the DOE asked the state for a permit modification. In its denial, the state argued that more information was needed, and that the DOE should have asked for a “Class 3” permit modification, which would have created the chance for public hearings on the request.
Jobs