S.C. ASKS ABOUT CLASSIFICATION OF FUTURE PU SHIPMENTS

South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control is asking for the Department of Energy to make a waste status determination before additional plutonium is sent to the site. Last month the Obama Administration announced plans for the U.S. to receive plutonium from Japan and European countries, and that is expected to go to the Savannah River Site, though DOE has not confirmed it. “DHEC is aware that SRS may be the intended receiving facility for future quantities of plutonium and, because the MOX facility may not be completed, these materials may ultimately be disposed,” states a April 7 letter from DHEC Director Catherine Templeton to DOE. “DHEC believes that DOE should make a waste status determination on any such materials intended for SRS prior to receipt at SRS. Should any potential plutonium shipment meet the definition of a mixed waste, regulatory and permit requirements would apply.”

 

DHEC has not yet received a response from DOE on a letter sent last month on the status in light of the MOX suspension of plutonium already at Savannah River. It says the state requires DOE to fulfill all regulatory requirements before receiving additional hazardous or mixed waste from an off-site source. “Therefore, DOE should evaluate whether potential plutonium shipments would meet the mixed waste definition prior to receipt at SRS and, if applicable, meet all mixed waste regulatory and permit requirements,” the letter states.