hazardous for so much longer than the low-âlevel radioactive waste that Utah currently accepts. The waste disposed her
Depleted Uranium: Wrong For Utah What is Depleted Uranium? • • •
Nuclear waste that is left over when uranium is enriched for nuclear weapons and for nuclear reactor fuel. Most of the nation’s Depleted Uranium is held by the federal Department of Energy. Up to 700,000 tons of it stored at federal facilities in Kentucky and Ohio. Before coming to Utah, it would be de-‐converted to a more stable form and stored in steel containers.
Depleted Uranium is Different than Other Nuclear Waste •
•
It actually gets more radioactive over time -‐-‐ unlike most radioactive materials, which become less hazardous as they decay. In fact, at its peak, depleted uranium grows to be nearly 14 times as radioactive as when it is initially stored. • Depleted Uranium stays hazardous for so much longer than the low-‐level radioactive waste that Utah currently accepts. The waste disposed here now loses the vast majority of its hazard in 100 to 200 years – while Depleted Uranium grows more dangerous for several million years. The graph on the left from the NRC shows the stark difference: Typical waste becomes inert within a century or two, while Depleted Uranium will remain a threat to human health and safety for untold generations to come.
EnergySolutions wants to bring up to 700,000 tons of Depleted Uranium to Utah • •
•
•
In 2009, the company began taking shipments of the material from the Department of Energy. After Utah media and citizens found out, and raised a stink, Gov. Gary Herbert ordered the shipments suspended until a study could be done to make sure Depleted Uranium is safe. EnergySolutions hired a consultant that turned in a study in 2011 which concluded, not surprisingly, that a shallow disposal site in the West Desert was a perfectly reasonable place to dispose of nuclear waste that will grow hazardous for more than a million years. The state of Utah hired its own consultant to evaluate that study (technically referred to as the “Performance Assessment.) The consultant and the state are issuing their review of the assessment on April 13, kicking off a public comment period and hearings in May. A decision on Depleted Uranium is expected this summer.
EnergySolutions has Repeatedly Refused to Answer Critical Questions about Depleted Uranium •
•
•
The state of Utah, as it has evaluated the study, has repeatedly pressed EnergySolutions to model a wider range of scenarios and calculate doses, to give a truer picture of how Depleted Uranium might affect future generations of Utahns. The company has refused. In its review, out April 13, the state flatly states that “the EnergySolutions DU PA has not satisfied all of the Department’s concerns and the topics are not resolved at this time,” in eight separate areas. For example, in their analysis of what might happen over the next few million years, the company refused to acknowledge that DU waste could be obliterated and dispersed when water levels from the Great Salt Lake rise – as geologists assure us they will.
Utah has Plenty of Reasons to Reject Depleted Uranium •
•
EnergySolutions’ computer model was able to conclude that up to 700,000 tons in the West Desert won’t jeopardize human health -‐-‐ by ignoring every scenario that could have led to a different outcome • Nearly a decade ago, the Utah Legislature voted overwhelmingly to ban radioactive wastes that would have posed a danger for three to five hundred years. It's incomprehensible that we would now be on the verge of allowing waste that is a threat for two million. • Nuclear waste that grows increasingly dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years shouldn’t be heaped in a pile in the desert just below ground. It should be buried deeply, safely away from future civilizations. During the hundreds of thousands of years that Depleted Uranium remains dangerous, the Clive site will be destroyed, sending the material widely into our environment. That's unacceptable.
Matt Pacenza Executive Director HEAL Utah
[email protected] (801) 355-5055 (office) (801) 864-0264 (cell)
824 South 400 West Suite B111 Salt Lake City, Utah 84101