Utah OKs Continued Disposal Of Depleted Uranium

BROCK VERGAKIS

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah's Radiation Control Board Tuesday refused to block the disposal of depleted uranium in the state, clearing the way for shipments next month of the low-level radioactive waste.

The board's 8-3 decision Tuesday removes any obstacles to EnergySolutions Inc.'s plans to dispose of depleted uranium waste from the Savannah River, a former nuclear weapons complex in South Carolina, at the company's facility about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City.

The company plans to transfer the waste in 55-gallon drums, sending a total of about 15,000 of the drums to the Utah site by early 2011. The exact tonnage of the waste wasn't immediately available, but it's part of an estimated 46,000 metric tons of the material the company could to handle from several Department of Energy sites over the next five years.

An environmental group had asked the board to place a moratorium on disposing depleted uranium until the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission adopts more stringent rules for the material, which will likely be completed in 2012.

Depleted uranium, a result of the uranium enrichment process, is classified as the least dangerous type of low-level radioactive waste. However, the material is different than other such waste because it becomes more radioactive over time for up to a million years.