Nuclear Waste

NRC balks at calling depleted uranium higher-risk Salt Lake Tribune — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says classifying large amounts of depleted uranium as a hotter type of low-level radioactive waste without further study would not provide additional protections to public health, safety or the environment. The NRC's comments come in an April 9 letter to Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Edward Markey, D-Mass. The congressmen have questioned the NRC's March decision to regulate large quantities of depleted uranium as the least hazardous kind of low-level radioactive waste, known as Class A waste. click to read complete article

Gordon: Congress, Obama must act to ban foreign waste in Tenn. The Tennessean — Late last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicated it did not have the authority to prevent foreign-generated radioactive waste from being imported into Tennessee and disposed of on American soil. “The NRC confirmed in writing what it has been telling Congress informally for more than a year: that without a change in the law, it has no authority to ban the importation of foreign-generated low-level radioactive waste,” said Congressman Bart Gordon, who is the author of legislation that would effectively give the NRC this authority. “If Congress and the President fail to act — and act soon — a pending application will be approved by the NRC, allowing for 20,000 tons of Italian waste to be shipped to Tennessee and disposed of in Utah.” click to read complete article

NRC says it can't ban importation of nuclear waste Associated Press — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it doesn't have the authority to prevent foreign radioactive waste from being imported into the United States. The NRC wrote in an April 9 letter to Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., that the Atomic Energy Act doesn't distinguish between domestic and foreign waste. The NRC says that as long as the material can be imported safely and someone is willing to accept it, the commission can't keep the waste out. click to read complete article