SMUD to Weigh Dumps for Dismantled Rancho Seco Innards

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District board will vote next week on whether to loosen its policy regarding where it sends low-level radioactive waste from the decommissioned Rancho Seco nuclear plant. Last week, the Sierra Club wrote the SMUD board members to inform them about the ramifications of a staff proposal it fears could result in radioactive wastes being sent to a municipal garbage dump. "SMUD's reputation in our community for having an environmental conscience is now at risk, because SMUD staff plans to allow radioactive waste to be shipped to landfills and other facilities not currently licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission," states the late-August letter to the board from Sierra Club conservation chair Vickie Lee. According to letter coauthor Dan Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, SMUD staff are "trying to save money" by sending the nuke debris to a site that would not pass muster in California. "We don't like strontium 90, cesium 137 and plutonium 239 dumped with cabbages and diapers," he added. California prohibits dumping low-level radioactive water in municipal landfills. Jim Shetler, SMUD assistant general manager for energy supplies, said that the bids to dispose of the radioactive interior concrete of the reactor were rejected. The muni is looking to dispose of 35 million pounds of waste, according to the muni spokesperson, Dace Udris. The vast majority of that material - 95 percent - is "not contaminated," Shetler said. Next week, the board will vote on where to send the waste. One option is a facility in Utah, formerly called Envirocare, renamed Energy Solutions. However, it accepts only the lowest of low-level radioactive waste.

Over 11K Stories!

| Independently Powered Energy News

SMUD to Weigh Dumps for Dismantled Rancho Seco Innards

vdharadmin

Related Posts

Energy Commission Okays $24 M in Clean Energy Grants

Bills to Remove Barriers to California’s Clean Grid Goal Advance

SMUD Adds 100 MW of Geothermal to its Power Portfolio

JUICE Giving Props to Prop. 87