Ward Valley
A letter (Nov. 23) contained inaccurate statements about the “low-level” radioactive waste facility planned for Ward Valley, 22 miles from Needles.
1. Trans-uranic waste (uranium and plutonium) from nuclear reactors will be shipped to Ward Valley if its concentration is below a set amount. And there is no limit to the total amount of uranium and plutonium which can be shipped. Although it is unlikely to be enough for a nuclear bomb, no one knows whether this will become the target of a deranged mind.
2. Waste sent to Ward Valley from nuclear power reactors will be much more, not less, radioactive than biomedical waste (10 times based on shipments in 1989).
3. Since nuclear power accounts for 73% of the radioactive waste sent to low-level sites, it is more realistic to contend that biomedical waste helps bring down the expense of nuclear power waste disposal, rather than vice versa.
4. No other state is at all close to approving a nuclear waste dump. The three existing facilities are scheduled to stop accepting waste from other states next December. It is very likely that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would be forced to exercise its authority to grant other states emergency access if California builds the only new site.
Gov. Pete Wilson would be prudent to hold off granting a license to build this dump until all aspects of the proposal are fully explored.
EARL BUDIN MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Radiological Sciences, UCLA Medical Center
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