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Posted: 9:25 PM- The nation's nuclear industry has a problem. And it sees a partial fix in Utah, at the mile-square patch of Tooele County that is operated as a radioactive waste landfill by EnergySolutions Inc.

Beginning Tuesday, commercial nuclear facilities in 36 states won't have disposal for their hottest low-level radioactive waste, known as Class B&C waste. After years of talking about it, South Carolina will reserve the remaining capacity in its Barnwell County landfill for just three states starting July 1.

EnergySolutions' site cannot accept that orphaned B&C waste. The state banned B&C waste three years ago.

But, in the industry's latest effort to reduce the amount of B&C waste that would require expensive storage until new disposal is found, it has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reconsider its low-level waste categories.

If successful, nuclear plants and other waste generators will be able to mix B&C waste with untainted or mildly contaminated waste to meet Utah's Class A radioactivity limits - which means it can be buried in EnergySolutions' Utah landfill.

Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions says it is not pushing the idea, just accommodating regulators and industry clients in a jam.

In 2005, the company backed the move by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and the Legislature to ban B&C waste even though EnergySolutions' predecessor, Envirocare of Utah, had spent years and millions of dollars trying to get a state license to dispose of it.

"We've got the slogan thing," said company spokesman John Ward. "We are part of the solution."

In addition, the company has its own problem: a sharp decline in waste for disposal that would make additional waste welcome.

The company was on hand last week when industry groups met with the NRC to discuss blending, which has been restricted.

The Electric Power Research Institute and the Nuclear Energy Institute, two key industry associations, said easing blending could cut orphaned B&C waste by as much as two-thirds without sacrificing safety.

"That's our focus - what's the safety impact, if any," said NRC's Jim Kennedy, who pointed out the current waste-blending guidelines are nearly 30 years old.

He said no decisions have been made yet. Nothing will be finalized without public review. "We want to get all the different views," he said.

Diane D'Arrigo, of the Nuclear Information and Research Service, described last week's meeting as a brainstorming session on how the nuclear industry can "get their waste into the Utah dump."

"They've got a few different physical and mathematical tricks" to make it happen, she said. "Utah should pay very close attention and not assume it's low-risk."

But Paul Genoa, director of policy development at NEI, disagreed. He said any waste that does not meet the state's safety and radioactivity standards would not be able to go to the EnergySolutions site.

"The question is: is that safe, is that practical? The answer is yes," he said.

Bill Sinclair, deputy director for the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, praised the industry for reducing its low-level waste (up to 60 percent at some reactors, according to EPRI). But he noted that any changes in classifications would "raise perception and policy issues," warranting state review.

"There has to be a good reason," he said. "If we're only changing [the policy] to provide access [for the orphaned waste], that might not be appropriate."

The NRC said the new blending policy won't be ready for public review until next year.

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