As the leaders of the eight most industrialized countries gather at Sea Island on the coast of Georgia this week, about 150 miles inland at the Savannah River Nuclear Site much of America's most radioactive waste sits in huge tanks, several of which are leaking. Some of that high-level waste will remain in the tanks instead of being enclosed in glass and buried in an underground repository, if a measure passed by the U.S. Senate last week becomes law.
On Thursday, senators approved language as part of the 2005 Defense Department budget that allows the U.S. Energy Department to reclassify millions of gallons of high-level wastes as "incidental" thereby lowering the standard for cleanup. The reclassification would give the department the authority to leave the waste on site, a move opposed by environmentalists and Senate critics as irresponsible and unsafe.
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"Ninety-nine percent of the waste would be removed from the tanks and turned into glass logs for eventual shipment to the permanent long-term storage site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada," said Graham.
"Some residual waste, less than two inches deep, will remain in the tank and be mixed with concrete and grout. Removal of this material is impractical and poses dangers to worker safety. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control would be given veto power over residual waste left in the tank and would determine when the tank is clean enough to be closed," Graham explained.
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http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/87745/1/Zell, alone among the Dems, thought this was a good idea.
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