Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden told the Hailey City Council on Monday that he will not allow spent nuclear waste to be shipped to the Idaho National Laboratory until the U.S. Department of Energy begins to process 900,000 gallons of liquid nuclear waste there in compliance with a 1995 agreement.
In January, Wasden and Gov. Butch Otter stated in a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz that they would waive part of the 1995 agreement, allowing 50 spent commercial nuclear fuel rods into Idaho for research. However, the letter stated that the DOE would have to take steps to comply with the agreement in return for the waiver.
During a council meeting in April, Mayor Fritz Haemmerle said he had invited Wasden and Gov. Butch Otter to explain their support for the proposed shipments to the site east of Arco, but he said they did not respond. This week, Wasden said he never received an invitation to appear in April. In an interview, Haemmerle acknowledged that further investigation showed that an invitation to Wasden had not been sent.
In 1995, when Gov. Phil Batt signed into law a major agreement with the DOE regarding nuclear waste storage at the INL, one of the primary mandates was the removal of nearly 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing liquid radioactive waste stored in stainless steel tanks at the main INL site, which sits atop the Snake River Aquifer.
“The ’95 Batt agreement says the state of Idaho will accept earlier shipments of waste in exchange for a speedup in the time in which you are going to process this liquid waste,” Wasden said. “Our sole remedy is to preclude them from bringing in shipments of spent nuclear fuel if they don’t comply with this agreement.”
The DOE missed a Dec. 31, 2014, cleanup deadline for that liquid waste because the vital machine that would convert the liquid to solid waste, called the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, has never been operational.
“They’ve run simulant through the machine, and they’ve had problems,” Wasden said. “It’s not up and running. The IWTU has to be up and processing liquid waste before I’m willing to allow shipments of nuclear fuel to come into the state.”
The attorney general used an example analogous to a high-schooler wanting to attend the prom.
“It’s like asking your child to clean up his room, and when they don’t, they still want you to let them go the dance,” he said.
Even though the DOE had not removed the large amount of liquid waste, it asked permission in December to bring some additional radioactive waste to INL. Wasden said the ’95 Batt agreement provides only one remedy, or tool for holding DOE accountable, and that is withholding any new shipments of spent fuel rods for research purposes.
In addition, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality threatened to fine the DOE $3,600 per day for missing the Dec. 31 cleanup deadline, which would increase to $6,000 per day on July 1. Three storage tanks for liquid waste at INL continue to store a total of about 850,000 gallons of liquid waste. The 50-year-old tanks do not meet current regulatory standards. The DOE has closed seven of the original eleven tanks, and one other has been emptied and maintained as a backup tank. Delays during construction and testing of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit prevented DOE from meeting previous deadlines to empty the remaining tanks.
Wasden showed the City Council a letter sent to Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz in February stating his problems with the failed cleanup efforts at INL and reminded the secretary that the DOE was not in compliance with the 1995 settlement.
“By this letter I am again advising DOE that I will not consider granting a conditional waiver for the spent fuel shipment until such time as the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit is operational and DOE has entered into an enforceable commitment to resolve the 1995 Settlement Agreement noncompliance issues,” Wasden wrote.
Wasden says his duty is to protect Idaho’s legal interests and the core of the 1995 agreement without casting a shadow over the future of INL and its research.
Officials at INL have said they can safely handle a proposed two shipments of 25 spent fuel rods, and that the state won’t become a nuclear waste dump.
“We don’t think it’s a gateway to bringing in large quantities of spent fuel for storage,” said Todd Allen, INL’s deputy science and technology director, in an interview.
Opponents of Wasden’s efforts say he’s limiting jobs and expansion of Idaho’s economy.
“I’ve had people tell me that you’re prohibiting $200 million of economic development from occurring in the state because you won’t let this stuff come in. The answer is all I’m doing is fulfilling my responsibility of the ’95 agreement.”
Wasden now says he’s receiving weekly reports from the DOE about progress it’s making with finding a way to eliminate the liquid radioactive waste at INL and has been given assurances that a solution will be in place by next year.
The City Council voted to digest the attorney general’s presentation before deciding on a position regarding nuclear shipments to the state.