SC to return to SE LLRW Compact?? (another newspaper article)

[Arminc01@aol.com]

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Published Friday, December 18, 1998, in The State.

Bill seeks S.C. return to waste compact

By ANDREW MEADOWS, Staff Writer

State Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, filed a bill Thursday to have South
Carolina rejoin the Southeast Compact, a seven-state organization formed to
dispose of the region's low-level nuclear waste.

The move agrees with the policy of Democratic Gov.-elect Jim Hodges whose
office earlier in the week said Hodges supported rejoining the compact
which the state pulled out of in 1995.

Leventis said he hopes the bill will re-energize efforts in North Carolina
to establish a low-level nuclear waste landfill that will replace the
controversial facility in Barnwell.

He said he expects the Barnwell landfill to close within five years.

"I'm trying to recreate a situation that was most favorable to us from a
situation that was least favorable," Leventis said.

As part of the seven-state system, Barnwell, which opened in the early
1970s, was supposed to close at the end of 1995.

The compact system's next landfill would open in North Carolina.

But after just a few months in office, Republican Gov. David Beasley called
for a different course because North Carolina had fallen behind on finding
a new landfill site.

South Carolina withdrew from the regional partnership, banned North
Carolina from using Barnwell and opened the dump to all the other states.

A provision in Leventis' bill that would allow North Carolina to once again
ship its waste to Barnwell was well received by Duke Energy and Carolina
Power & Light, the state's two largest electric utilities.

"We would certainly not oppose that plan," said Mike Hughes, a spokesman
for CP&L. "We support it."

Duke and CP&L's combined six nuclear reactors in South Carolina, which ship
a significant portion of electricity to North Carolina, were allowed to
transport waste to Barnwell during the ban.

The companies' three reactors in North Carolina, however, were not. Those
facilities have been storing the low-level waste on-site.

Leventis said his bill does not remove the $235 per cubic foot of waste
assessed to generators. Those fees have been put toward education. However,
instead of the $140 million Beasley predicted would be generated annually,
Barnwell revenue has averaged $67 million a year, including $39 million in
1998.

To avoid the facility's higher fees, electric utilities have looked to
generate less waste. They also have stored waste on site at reactors.
Radioactive tools, clothing and reactor parts constitute low-level waste.

To kick start rejoining the compact, the bill calls for a committee to
negotiate with compact members about South Carolina's re-entry.

The committee will be comprised of two members appointed by the Speaker of
the House, two members appointed by the head of the Senate, two members
appointed by the governor and the chief of the Bureau of Radiological
Health

The bill bans states outside the compact from using Barnwell, Leventis
said.

He said he realizes the prospect of a smaller customer base may cause
Barnwell's operator, Chem-Nuclear, to leave.

Management of the site could be put up for bid or handled by the state,
Leventis said.

"I'm not adverse to the state operating it," he said. "Chem-Nuclear has
made out like banditos."

Representatives from Chem-Nuclear, which operates the Barnwell facility,
couldn't be reached for comment.

Leventis' bill is in sharp contrast to Hodges' advisers' recommendation
earlier this week that South Carolina should forget the compact.

Rep. Bob Sheheen, D-Camden one of Hodges advisers, said he still intends to
file a bill in 1999 to close Barnwell to the nation as quickly as possible.
He said he has no idea whether the bill will go anywhere.

A similar bill filed by Sheheen in 1998 stalled in a subcommittee.

____________________________________________________________________
Charles Smith
arminc01@aol.com
http://armnet.com/armonline
803.926.8558
Next Radioactive Material Transport and Disposal Seminar 
Las Vegas April 12-16, 1999
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