Cost to taxpayers to clean up nuclear waste jumps $100 billion in a year
NBC News | 1/29/2019
The estimated cost of cleaning up America's nuclear waste has jumped more than $100 billion in just one year, according to a DOE report — and a watchdog warns the cost may climb still higher.
The Energy Department's projected cost for cleanup jumped from $383.78 billion in 2017 to $493.96 billion in a financial report issued in December 2018.
A government watchdog and DOE expert said the new total may still underestimate the full cost of cleanup, which is expected to last another 50 years. "We believe the number is growing and we believe the number is understated," said David Trimble, director of the Government Accountability Office's Natural Resources and Environment team.
ECA Sends Letter to Senators McConnell and Schumer on Yucca Mountain Funding
ECA Staff | 1/29/2019
In early January, ECA learned that there was a possible bubbling up of support in the Senate for funding for Yucca Mountain and high-level nuclear waste management. In response, ECA staff quickly pulled together a letter in support of providing Yucca Mountain funding and support for high-level nuclear waste management efforts. The letter reiterates ECA’s long-standing position that we should move
forward with the licensing process for Yucca Mountain – follow the law – while pursuing interim storage and alternative solutions in parallel.
ECA notes, “Our members are concerned that funding for the country’s only deep geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste is threatened, once again, regardless of it being “the law of the land,” and regardless of the lack of any alternative to dispose of the country’s legacy defense high-level nuclear waste stored in our communities. A geologic repository – whether at Yucca Mountain or elsewhere – is essential to the final disposal of the country’s high-level waste. Congress should
provide funding to finish the licensing process in pursuit of confirming it is safe or even lessons learned, but ultimately to fulfill its commitment to our communities that have long supported the nation’s national security mission.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.
AFORR Opposes New Oak Ridge Disposal Facility
ECA Staff | 1/29/2019
This month, the president of Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation (AFORR) penned a guest column detailing the group's opposition to a new disposal facility at Oak Ridge. AFORR is a local nonprofit organization that
supports "preservation of natural resources of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation for the long-term benefit of DOE, the local community, and national and international interests."
Among AFORR's concerns include adding to the inventory of contaminated land; mismanagement of existing landfill space; suitability of candidate sites; proximity to residential areas; and misapplication of CERCLA. The organization also claimed DOE has not provided sufficient information regarding waste acceptance criteria and comparative analysis of costs for onsite and offsite
alternatives.
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Learn more about DOE's cleanup sites with ECA's new DOE Site Profiles
ECA's new site profiles detail DOE's 13 active Environmental Management cleanup sites and national laboratories, highlighting their history, missions, and priorities. The profiles are a key source for media, DOE stakeholders, and other parties who may be interested in learning more about DOE site activities, contractors, advisory boards, and their surrounding local
governments.
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