EnergySolutions study gives Clive OK for DU
by Tim Gillie
Jun 21, 2011 | 300 views | 0 | 2 | |

An aerial view of EnergySolutions shows the Clive facility in November 2010. The hazardous waste company determined from a performance assessment that the site is suitable to store depleted uranium for 10,000 years.
Computer modeling shows west desert facility can withstand all threats for next 10,000 years

EnergySolutions has produced a performance assessment that concludes the company’s Clive facility is a suitable repository for depleted uranium for the next 10,000 years.

“The performance assessment confirmed what we have always stated, that the Clive disposal facility is suitable for the long-term storage of depleted uranium,” said Mark Walker, EnergySolutions vice president for marketing and media relations. “We appreciate the work done in preparing the performance assessment and look forward to answering questions from interested parties regarding the report.”

The performance assessment is an analysis that uses computer modeling to look at data concerning the physical characteristics of the site, possible future events such as earthquakes, meteors and ice ages, ongoing environmental processes, and the engineering of the site to determine if safety can be assured in the near and long-term future.

The assessment includes over 870 pages of written material along with a copy of the computer model developed for EnergySolutions by Neptune and Company, a Los Alamos, N.M.,-based environmental consulting company.

The performance assessment concludes that EnergySolutions can safely store 11,000 tons of DU that the Department of Energy wants to send to Clive, including 5,400 barrels already at Clive in temporary storage. The study also concludes that Clive can handle the 700,000 tons of DU the Department of Energy is expected to discard over the next 25 years.

DU, while classified as low-level class A radioactive waste by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is different from other class A waste because over time it increases in radioactivity and takes a longer time to decay to a safe level. It also produces radon gas during its decay cycle. Peak radioactivity associated with radon production from DU occurs at about 2.1 million years, according to the performance assessment.

Clive currently has 10,000 tons of DU in permanent storage.

The state Division of Radiation Control will now begin the process of reviewing the report, its data and conclusions. That process will involve time for public comment and a public hearing before a final decision on the acceptance of the report and its conclusions is issued, said Rusty Lundberg, the division’s director. Lundberg anticipates the state will hire outside expert consultants to help the division digest the report.

However, some observers are already skeptical of the report’s conclusion.

“We think the Clive site is a poor choice for disposing of 700,000 tons of radioactive depleted uranium,” says Matt Pacenza, policy director for HEAL Utah, a non-profit environmental group that tracks nuclear power and waste issues. “The study uses a complicated model and we will have to take a look at it and see where it fell short.”

The Radiation Control Board policy required EnergySolutions to look 10,000 years into the future and consider factors including potential flooding by the Great Salt Lake. The study’s conclusion quotes Nuclear Regulatory Commission performance assessment guidelines that state some future climate changes, such as shoreline advances, would cause the human population to leave an area, resulting in no individual living close enough to receive a meaningful dose of radiation.

EnergySolutions and the Radiation Control Board began the process that lead to the June 1 submission of the performance assessment in 2009.

In September 2009, the Radiation Control Board voted against imposing a temporary moratorium on the disposal of DU by EnergySolutions while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission began a process to revise rules for the controversial substance.

In December 2009, faced with 14,800 barrels of DU headed to Clive in three train shipments from a federal cleanup project in Savannah River, S.C., Gov. Gary Herbert negotiated with the Department of Energy to stop the second and third trains and to allow temporary storage at Clive for the 5,400 barrels on the first train.

The agreement was made to give state regulators time to formulate their own rules on DU storage.

At its April 2009 meeting, the Radiation Control Board adopted a rule requiring a site-specific performance assessment before the disposal of depleted uranium. With that performance assessment now in hand, EnergySolutions anticipates the modification of its license by the Division of Radiation Control to include the disposal of DU.

“Once the Division of Radiation accepts the performance assessment, it is EnergySolutions’ intention to go ahead and pursue the storage of depleted uranium at Clive,” said Walker.

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com

Read more: Tooele Transcript Bulletin - EnergySolutions study gives Clive OK for DU