Nuclear Waste
Both the headline and the premise of “Wilson Seeks Nuclear Waste Shipment Ban” (June 6) are completely wrong. Gov. Pete Wilson has never sought a ban on the exportation of radioactive waste from California. Nor did the Department of Health Services official you quoted ever advocate a ban. What was described as a “ban” was simply a proposal by this official that the Southwestern Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission, which governs radioactive waste exports, exercise some discretion prior to granting export permits. This is because the indiscriminate exportation by large generators of waste which can be safely stored could later result in exorbitantly high disposal fees for small generators.
It was never suggested that all export permits should be denied, or that waste which presents a potential threat to public health and safety should not be exported.
S. KIMBERLY BELSHE
Director, Department of Health Services, Sacramento
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