Nuclear disposal site stalled

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Friday July 10 11:17 AM EDT 

Nuclear disposal site stalled

WISCASSET, Maine, July 10 (UPI) - Maine Yankee's plans to ship 
radioactive waste from its nuclear power plant to Texas is
temporarily stalled. 

A Texan court has declared the proposed 477-acre site 5 miles 
southeast of the town of Sierra Blanca in West Texas to be
unsuitable because it lies on a fault line. 

The court noted the risk of an earthquake. It also said such a 
facility could have a negative impact on the region that already
accepts sewage sludge from New York City. 

Earlier, voters in Maine, Vermont and Texas approved a three-state 
compact to dispose of waste from Maine Yankee's
Wiscasset nuclear plant to West Texas beginning next year. 

Maine Yankee produces about 95 percent of the state's low-level 
radoactive waste. Hospitals, laboratories and the Portsmouth
Naval Shipyard in Kittery account for the rest. 

The Wiscasset plant is currently shipping some 800 cubic feet of 
low level waste annually to a site in Barnwell, S.C. It also has
access to a second site in Utah. 

But beginning next year Maine Yankee's needs will be greater as it 
begins to dismantle its nuclear plant. The process is expected
to take six years and will yield more than 200,000 cubic feet of 
waste material. 

The proposed Texas site appeals to Maine Yankee because rates 
would be cheaper - $100 per square foot, compared to $400 in
South Carolina. 

Maine Yankee would also lease some of the Texan facility to other 
producers of low-level waste to help recoup its costs. 

The Texan Natural Resource Conservation Commission has final 
authority on licensing the site and is expected to come up with a
decision this fall. 

The general manager of the Texan waste disposal authority Rick 
Jacobi is optimistic that Maine Yankee will get its Texan site. 

Jocobi says, ``I believe this is a bump on the road. It might cost us 
a few weeks or months, but we will receive our license.'' 


------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
ICN Plaza
3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax:    (714) 668-3111
  
sandyfl@earthlink.net
sperle@icnpharm.com

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