Washington State opposes Trump administration’s plan to reclassify large amount of Hanford nuclear waste as ‘low level’

Trump administration wants to reclassify leaking nuclear waste to avoid cleaning it up, say officials

‘This is unacceptable, and we will not stand by while this administration plans to abandon its responsibility to clean up their mess’, Independent UK Josh GabbatissScience Correspondent @josh_gabbatiss ( AP ) 13 Jan 19,

Donald Trump‘s administration has been accused of trying to downplay the danger of nuclear waste so it can “abandon its responsibility to clean up their mess”.

A federal government plan to reclassify this waste as less dangerous has been fiercely criticised by officials in Washington state, who said the move would allow it to walk away from its responsibility to clean up millions of gallons of toxic, radioactive material.

The state is home to the Hanford nuclear site which houses the nation’s largest collection of nuclear waste, left over from atomic bomb production. There are the 177 ageing underground tanks stored at the site containing the most dangerous material – some of which are leaking.

Amid fears much of the waste will be left in the ground, earlier this week, Washington state filed its objections to the US Department of Energy. These were accompanied by a letter from the state’s Governor Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

The US Department of Energy is seeking to reclassify a large percentage of the waste as lower-level waste. That would allow treatment and disposal options that would not guarantee long-term protections.

At present the government is obliged to keep the waste safely in a “deep geological repository”, but if it was reclassified there would be no such obligation. Critics are concerned this could mean that the was allowed to reside in areas in which it posed a threat.

“This dangerous idea will only serve to silence the voices of tribal leaders, Hanford workers, public safety officials, and surrounding communities in these important conversations,” said Mr Inslee, a Democrat who is considering a presidential run in 2020. “This is unacceptable, and we will not stand by while this administration plans to abandon its responsibility to clean up their mess.” ……..

The proposed measure would also cover other waste disposal facilities in places like South Carolina and Idaho, and could be implemented without the approval of Congress. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nuclear-waste-trump-radioactive-washington-state-hanford-atomic-bombs-a8719021.html

1.This month

This page has a very useful “SEARCH” function. If you scroll way, way, down to the bottom of the right side panel you can use the “Search” slot. Type in a name or a place or topic on this slot, and it’s easy to find a related post. The categories can be useful, too.

For international news go to https://nuclear-news.net/

Should the Australia Day Date be Changed? – Behind the News (2017)

NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP (Moss Media) in last years senate hearing when Sarah Hanson Young asked the question regarding the 4 times land value deal that landowners now can name their own price for their land. As a tax payer, I was pretty uncomfortable with that revelation. – Mark Simpkin , Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA

A Good News Story: Winds of change for Golden Plains as huge wind farm gets go-ahead https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/climate-change/winds-of-change-for-golden-plains-as-huge-wind-farm-gets-go-ahead-20190111-p50qv6.html , By Bianca Hall & Adam Carey, 11 January 2019, A massive 170 square kilometre wind farm has passed the final Victorian planning hurdle, and could be powering in four years if the federal government approves the project.

The $1.5 billion wind farm, sprawling over 17,000 hectares near the small town of Rokewood south of Ballarat, passed environmental approvals last month.

Acting Planning Minister Lily D’Ambrosio will on Saturday announce the Victorian government has granted a planning permit for the project in the Golden Plains Shire.

All that remains is for the federal government to sign off on it.

EVENTS

26 January:

Meanjin (Brisbane) Invasion Day 2019

Narrm (Melbourne) Invasion Day 2019

Perth Invasion Day Rally

Sydney Invasion Day 2019

12 February. Tuesday – Canberra– RALLY! StopAdani – Climate Action Now!

Why it’s time to think about human extinction | Dr David Suzuki

No Arctic Sea-Ice; Greenland Exposed; Coast is Toast; Jet Streams Kaput

Arctic Summer Temperatures to Skyrocket like a “Bat out of Hell”: Part 3

********************************************************************************************************

The Senate Inquiry on Selection process for a national radioactive waste management facility in South Australia. has now 112 submissions published

Read the brief summaries of submissions – 55 anti-nuclear, 41 pro nuclear (13 confidential) , with links to each full submission published on this Antinuclear website.

See our page: Submissions on Radioactive Waste Code 2018/ Submissions published by ARPANSA are overwhelmingly critical, and in opposition to the Federal nuclear dump plan for rural South Australia. [not to be confused with the current SENATE INQUIRY Selection process for a national radioactive waste management facility in South Australia.]

************************************************************************

PETITIONS

Online Open letter requesting ACTION to enforce South Australia’s law against nuclear waste dumping. http://petition.dyndns.org/

Say no to the federal plan to dump and store nuclear waste in SA.

Don’t Let Frydenberg approve Yeelirrie uranium mine or extinction!

No Nuclear Bundabunda at Brewarrina – bad poison [SIGN THE PETITION]

Pages

Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items