German radioactive waste OK'd for Tennessee

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Federal authorities have approved licenses allowing up to 1,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Germany to be brought to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for incineration.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision has some environmental groups calling the plan unhealthy and a possible gateway for highly radioactive wastes to be reprocessed or recycled in East Tennessee's "Atomic City."

Don Safer, chairman of the Tennessee Environmental Council, told The Chattanooga Times Free Press that the Czech government turned away the waste and Utah did everything in its power to avoid receiving the ash left behind after incineration at Oak Ridge, forcing most of it to be shipped back to Germany.

EnergySolutions, a Utah-based multinational company that operates radioactive waste disposal facilities in Oak Ridge, said the process is safe when the proposal was introduced a few months ago.

Company officials also said EnergySolutions has treated low-level radioactive waste, such as X-ray equipment, medical waste or contaminated clothing and mops from nuclear plants, for American businesses and the government at Oak Ridge since the facility opened more than 20 years ago.

"There's more (radioactive) tritium in the atmosphere from cosmic rays from the sun than what we'd ever emit from there," EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker said last March.

Because the licenses have been approved but not yet signed, the company has not confirmed import dates for the waste, he said.

Tennessee is the only state that allows commercial burning of radioactive waste, licensing six incinerators. The state already receives 75 percent of the nation's low-level radioactive waste — about 41 million pounds per year, according to state records.

With German waste now permitted to enter the U.S. and come to Oak Ridge, Safer expects Tennessee to become "the destination for processing radioactive waste from all over the world."

[euge005]

Great, now which money loving conservative has pushed this action? That is news we could use. After all they are the ones that refuse to believe in climate change or do anything to stop pushing outdated fuels like coal and oil. Mayhbe when N.O. is under 10 feet of the glf and contaminated by the next deep water blow out, they might listen. No, the money the oilsters pay yells too loud to hear reason.

[saynotocorporateamerica]

Great idea- if you're stupid.
"Last year, EnergySolutions proposed and later abandoned controversial plans to import up to 20,000 tons of waste from Italy's shuttered nuclear power program. After processing in Tennessee, about 1,600 tons would have been disposed of at the company's disposal site about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City in Tooele County."
'EnergySolutions fined for radioactive waste breach'; http://www.standard.net/topics/business/2011/02/25/energysolutions-fined-radioactive-waste-breach

Wake Up People! http://saynotocorporateamerica.blogspot.com/

[tafhdyd]

Tell ya whut. Sounds good to me.

[erasmus111]

Can't get rid of your own radioactive waste, then don't produce it.

[HikerDan]

Soo... Germany is too good for processing it's own waste...? They have gullible Americans for that, apparently. And our corporations, for the dollar, they will lay waste to their own land - and for that they deserve to go out of business...

[incog-nito]

I knew the jobs will finally come back to America.

[eteamer]

So we are now the world's waste dump? Why not Texass.

[realtimecoffee]

Or better yet, states 51 through 57. They never complain.

[euge005]

How about Mexico. They send their unemployyed here and their deserts are not used for much except unmarked graveyards.

[Rajah88]

Leave all atomic waste at Lamar Alexander's front door.

[spaceatoms]

As an apologetic liberal, all I can say is we should take the entire worlds nuclear waste and make money, maybe we can have a world grave yard also, it might be a profitable venture......

[kevboom]

They've been burning nuclear waste in Oak Ridge for years, found traces of shipped nuclear waste along public highways leading out of O.R., and then there's the lovely coal-burning power plant in O.R. that regularly coats large parts of West Knoxville in further carcinogenic soot. I was raised in a West Knoxville neighborhood with two dogs that died of brain cancer, two parents that died prematurely of rare cancers, and countless neighbors that died prematurely of cancer. My deceased father was a scientist who used to say when three women on the same block die of rare ovarian cancer, it's a statistical aberration and something very unhealthy is going on. People can joke all they want, but the perspective from downwind is a little different. Sorry to see East TN further bear the brunt of its unfortunate nuclear ties.