Radioactive Waste Sites Proposed

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

Friday December 10 5:42 AM ET 

Radioactive Waste Sites Proposed  

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - The Energy Department plans to designate 
Washington's Hanford nuclear reservation and the Nevada Test Site as 
primary permanent disposal sites for low-level and mixed low-level 
radioactive wastes.  

The decision, which the Energy Department planned to announce today, 
would not be final for another month.  

The designations would make formal a situation that has existed for 
several years, said Guy Schein, an Energy Department spokesman at 
Hanford.  

Both the Hanford site in south-central Washington and the Nevada 
facility 65 miles north of Las Vegas already dispose of low-level and 
mixed low-level wastes generated on-site or shipped from other Energy 
Department operations. Those wastes typically include such items as 
old lab equipment, used protective clothing and contaminated soil.  

``This is a continuation of a practice that's been going on for 
years,'' Schein said Thursday.  

An Energy Department review concluded the Hanford and Nevada sites 
continue to be the best locations for disposal in terms of cost and 
environmental considerations, Schein said.  

Some Energy Department sites, including those at Los Alamos, N.M.; 
Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Savannah River, S.C., would continue to dispose 
of as much of their own low-level waste as practical.  

The Hanford nuclear site made plutonium for the nation's nuclear 
arsenal until the 1980s and is now being cleaned up as the most 
contaminated nuclear site in the nation.  

Schein said he did not know if Hanford's designation is likely to  
increase the amount of DOE wastes shipped to the site.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/scperle
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html