Видео: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=6B0PtKnr5Kc

 

-7:28

 

Meniia zovut Rod Baltzer.I'm the president of Waste Control Specialists. That's about theRodney Baltzerextent of my Russian.My name is Rod Baltzer.I'm the president of Waste Control Specialists. I'm an accountant by background, a certified public accountant.I've been working with Waste Control for the last 17 years. So most of my education and background on nuclear low-level radioactive waste disposal has been on-the-job training.

 O: May I ask you to say a little bit about the history of the installation of your company?What was the decision-making process?

R: Waste Control Specialists was recruited to Andrews County, Texas.Andrews is very popular for oil and gas drilling and they wanted to diversify their economy.So we were recruited to Andrews. We found a place that was ideal for geologic disposal of low-level radioactive waste and built a facility.This started in 1995, the facility was finally constructed and up and operating in 2012. So it was a very long process with lots of regulatory oversight and interaction with the legislative bodies in Texas.

 O: What were the challenges of this process?Who were the stakeholders?Role of the regional authorities, national regulators, and public?What was their role?

R: The process changed over time.When we began, it was not possible for a private company like WCS to apply for a license to dispose of low-level radioactive waste.That was the responsibility of the State of Texas.So we initially asked the State of Texas to change legislation and allow that private company to do it.It took several attempts and the law was finally changed in 2003.At that point we filed with an application to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).TCEQ is responsible for all the radioactive waste disposal that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of the United States has given them.They're an agreement state, so they act on behalf of the NRC.So we did not have to engage the United States, we only had to engage the State of Texas.We also engaged the local communities.The communities' support was critical.If there had been negative community support, the State would not have been in favor of this.But since the community wanted it, and was supportive, the State was also favorable.It went through a very rigorous technical review.And the result was we were authorized to dispose of waste and to begin construction.

O: What was the process?Were there any hearings about the idea with local communities?

R: Yes, when we began with the local community, there were a lot of local community meetings to explain the technology, the risks of the project, who was being involved, what this would mean for jobs and dollars and the economics for the community.When we started to change the legislation at the state, we had to have those same discussions here in Austin at the state capital.And to talk with all the representatives and senators and continue that outreach program.And that continued from Day 1 and we continue even as we operate to reach out and make sure they're not surprised, that there are no surprises, and that they understand what we're doing, why we're doing it, and that they feel safe and comfortable with us.

O: For how long will it be dangerous for the environment?

R: Yes. We were required to model for at least a 1,000 years or to peak dose.Peak dose was just when dose peaked, it was not above any kind of regulatory limit.So as we originally licensed the facility, that was 36,000 years into the future.Subsequently, we have filed to add depleted uranium from enrichment processes and that depleted uranium has a useful life of a million years.So we have licensed it and have done the performance assessment to one million years.And all is protective, we're less than 20 millirem and the regulatory limit is 500 millirem.

 O: Who provides the environmental monitoring around your facility?Is it your company or someone independent?

R: We do all of the environmental monitoring, but the State of Texas also comes out and audits our environmental monitoring program, and then they also take samples on their own and compare and confirm with our results.The State of Texas also has two resident inspectors who are on-site at all times and so they observe every waste shipment and can evaluate any part of our program that they would like to see.

 O: How much radioactive waste will you dispose of at your ste?

R: We're licensed for 2.3 mln cubic feet and 3.9 mln curies in the compact waste facility, 26 mln cubic feet and around 8 mln curies in the federal facility.

 O: In the near future the decommissioning process will begin in the nuclear power plants and it will increase the amount of the radioactive waste.

R: Yes.We built the facility to take care of all of the waste, even the decommissioning waste, for all the nuclear power plants in Texas and Vermont.The volumes are much less than what we anticipated for the operating lifecycles and we have opened it up to other states that do not have disposal capabilities.We recently filed a license amendment that will more than triple the size of our compact facility to almost 9 mln cubic feet so we will have adequate space for decommissioning of most of the NPPs in the United States.

 O: Can you estimate how much radioactive waste there will be in the U.S. with the decommissioning of 100 nuclear reactors?

R: For several of the plants that are already decommissioning, it appears that there is somewhere between, roughly, 2 mln cubic feet of waste that is produced.A lot of that waste though is very low activity, and is exempt from licensing in our compact facility and can actually go in our hazardous waste facility.It's much larger and more efficient for disposal of that kind of waste.

 O: Is it possible to import radioactive waste from another country?

R: No, we're prohibited from taking international waste.

 O: What legislation made this process possible?

R: The NRC has Part 61.55 and that regulates disposal of low-level radioactive waste.The NRC Part 61, since Texas is an agreement state, it adopted that as their own.So they have virtually identical legislation, or regulation and rules in place, that the US NRC does.So we follow the Texas rules that mirror those of the United States and follow that process.