U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson is demanding to know what's behind a decision by federal regulators to put depleted uranium in the lowest-hazard category for radioactive waste.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's vote Wednesday sets the stage for large volumes of depleted uranium to come to Utah and be buried at the EnergySolutions Inc. radioactive waste disposal site in Tooele County. While the Salt Lake City nuclear waste company supports the decision as "sound science," critics say some depleted uranium is too dangerous for the Utah disposal site, which is licensed to accept the lowest-hazard waste, "Class A."
Along with House Energy and Environment Subcommittee chairman Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Matheson, a Utah Democrat, calls the move "unsupportable and inconsistent" with radioactive-waste law.
"This arbitrary and capricious mischaracterization of depleted uranium as Class A waste will undermine public confidence in the waste classification system [and] may increase risks to the public health and safety," said a letter the lawmakers sent to the NRC Thursday. It also "raises the possibility that additional, uncharacterized and possibly even more dangerous materials could be similarly treated in the future."
NRC spokesman David McIntyre said: "We will, of course, look at [the letter] and respond in due course."
The uranium-enrichment waste, often called "DU," can be very low in hazard, but it also can be so concentrated that it is off the scale for low-level radioactive waste. The congressmen note that NRC staff suggest some is hazardous enough to warrant deeper burial and a robust cover to prevent the release of alpha radiation, which actually increases over time.
Matheson and Markey said they expect NRC to turn over by April 2 all the documents behind the depleted-uranium decision, including communications with the U.S. Energy Department and EnergySolutions.
EnergySolutions already has accepted small amounts of depleted uranium -- some of it from a Superfund cleanup in Markey's home state of Massachusetts at a factory that made uranium-tipped bullets for the Army for nearly 30 years.
