Vote for Radioactive Waste Plan Averts Dump Closures

Congress, in the last hours before adjourning for the year, passed legislation ending a threat by three states to begin shutting down the nation’s only dumps for radioactive garbage.

The House, without dissent, agreed shortly after 7 p.m. to tougher Senate language to force the other 47 states to come up with new regional disposal facilities of their own by 1993.

“It isn’t everything we wanted but they had some strong ideas in the other body,” said Rep. Morris K. Udall (D-Ariz.), the chief House architect of the legislation.

In exchange, the Senate two hours later backed down in demanding that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have primary responsibility for a small category of so-called “mixed wastes” that are both slightly radioactive and hazardous chemically.

‘Regional Compacts’

The legislative package also includes congressional approval of seven so-called “regional compacts” involving 37 states. Under the compacts, several states join together and agree to share a regional disposal facility.

The bill was considered “must-pass” legislation to head off a threat by the governors of South Carolina, Nevada and Washington to begin closing the nation’s only three currently operating dumps for the slightly radioactive wastes next month.

The three states have been complaining since the late 1970s of being the only dumping grounds for the some 2.5 million cubic yards of the wastes from hospitals, atomic power plants, college laboratories and radiopharmaceutical companies throughout the country.

No Sites Chosen

Under a 1980 law, the new dumps were to have been in operation by next month. However, none of the sites has been chosen for them yet and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimates it will be at least into the early 1990s before any of the facilities are completed.

While the new 1993 deadline is maintained in the legislation approved Thursday, the package includes a “window” that would allow a state or group of states until 1996 to get their new facility operating.

But in order to have continued access to any dump outside their own region, the generators of the wastes would have to begin paying surcharge penalties totaling up to six times the current average disposal fee of $20 per cubic foot.