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iclear Waste May
Disposed Of
hSLT Mars Hill
Serving the Mars Hill College Community Since 1926 Wednesday,February ie, i986
Loud Heckling
Greets Briefing on
Repository
ing, buliiANN
PERSON
self-loath.
ing Editor
irexics ra
self-stai.
n It,
is a large amount of fear
understanding associated
_ . clear waste and energy.
i patiq^ don’t think that it will
dual to 1 .... , .
.. em until it is too late to do
usually . January 30
, , e Auditorium, there was a
.^.’(North Carolina Depart-
e Resourses & Com-
., severe Qgvelopment) Informa-
Jzen In-put Meeting regar-
mia. F. j 1
, he proposed nuclear
ices the . ,
, ory near here. Most
' ignored it or didn’t know
amp going on. As a United
„ . itizen, you should know
Routine i, . . •
happening because this is
^.^nly area of the country af-
n. The u
isturbed of the Nuclear Waste
dd*^ Act of 1982, a 105 square
■ :a occupying part of Bun-
Haywood, and Madison
^ of North Carolina is one
result i
'e candidate areas in seven
. .at is a proposed potentially
iir and i,
^ ale site for a crystalline
y waste repository.
. his act, the U.S. Depart-
es an p(^j. £jjg,.gy (doE) was
nutntioB “provide for the siting,
iv affect
^ u deep, mined geologic
• ries for the disposal of
n ^ radioactive waste and
^ '"iclear fuel.” The site here,
would be the second
physica^j waste repository to open
patient g would open in
behi
uch as . jg nuclear WASTE?
yperactni ^ and permanent disposal
xcrcisc I
’ aactive nuclear wastes was
pills,
axative i
Some
s of 15
who ha^
) pills a d
en also In
hat a yo»IPBELL
of la)'
eived to be a problem dur
ing the development of nuclear
power in the 1950s and 1960s. The
U.S. has only recently attempted
to deal with this problem. This has
led to increased research into the
properties of the waste.
The spent fuel burned in nuclear
reactors may be stored in that form
or reprocessed fuel is different in
form and radioactive make-up
from the spent fuel and thus pose
different storage problems. The
wastes from spent and reprocessed
fuel have half-lives that range from
a few days to thousands or millions
of years. So whatever is done to
store this waste, must be long
term.
At the end of 1980, about 6,700
metric tons of spent fuel had been
generated and stored at various
sites across the U.S. that may or
may not be “safe”. There is ex
pected to be about 72,000 metric
tons accumulated by the turn of
the century. Most of this waste is
from commercial nuclear power
plants.
The waste can be mixed with a
matrix material in granular form.
The prime candidates for this
matrix material are glass and
ceramics. Of the two, the ceramics
matrix material works better but
there is continued research for bet
ter ways to contain the waste. The
waste is then containerized and
shipped to a temporary storage
area.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
OF A REPOSITORY
The purpose of a repository is to
provide long-term isolation of
high-level nuclear wastes. Protec
tion is ensured primarily by the
“geologic and hydrologic
characteristics of the site.” Addi
tional protection is from the
design, construction, and opera
tion of the repository; the handling
PROJECTED DATES
FOR THE MILESTONES OF THE REPOSITORY
Issue final area recommendation report
July 1986
Identify potentially acceptable sites
July 1986
Issue final area characterization plan
December 1986
Begin area phase field investigitions
December 1986
Complete area phase field investigations
January 1990
Issue final environment assessments
September 1991
Nominate and recommend sites for characterization
October 1991
President approves site
December 1991
Issue initial site characterization plan
January 1993
Request congressional approval for construction
March 1993
President recommends second repository site to congress
March 1998
Submit license application to the nuclear regulatory commission May 1998
Receive construction authorization from NRC and begin
construction
August 2000
Begin waste emplacement
June 2006
(total elapsed time~20 years)
and packaging of the waste; and
backfilling of the site.
The surface facilities will occupy
about 400 acres, and the
underground facilities may occupy
up to 2,200 acres. A controlled
area will surround the facilities.
This area will be marked by
momuments and extend horizon
tally a maximum of 3 miles in any
direction from the outer boundary
of the underground facility. The
size and shape will depend on the
ground-water flow and other site
characteristics.
CONCLUSION
The problem of nuclear waste
storage is pressing. Something
must be done now to protect the
public from the dangers of the
waste. However, scientists really
do not know if the suggestions for
disposal that are available today
will work. Research is continuing
but nothing can be promised.
The amount of waste that is
around today and is expected to
have accumulated by the turn of
the century is enormous. Not all of
it can be stored in one respository
safely. The continuous accumula
tion of nuclear waste will call for
the continuous construction of
repositories until a better answer
may be found. So this problem af
fects everyone.
Now is when you need to take
action to ensure your safety. Once
the waste is in place and the
repository is sealed, it stays there
for thousands and millions of
years. No one can predict the
results of such action. Write
newspapers and your con
gressmen, and attend meetings
where you can voice your opinion.
The opinions and comments of the
public will be taken into considera
tion by the DOE before the deci
sion is made.
Most local residents are against
the proposal. Groups such as the
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League are citing specific reasons
against a site selection in this area.
Some of these reasons are:
1. dangerous roads, limited ac
cess
2. rivers and streams in this area
reach to the Mississippi and the
east coast; contamination of theses
waters would affect the entire
southeast
3. there have been 4 minor earth
quakes in 10 years-the land is not
stable
Get involved!
This is your future too.
[The quotes and most of the
research is from the DRAFT
AREA RECOMMENDATION
REPORT FOR THE
CRYSTALLINE REPOSITORY
PROJECT OVERVIEW released
by the DOE in January of
1986;DOE/CH-15(0).]
G. DALE
NEAL
Contributing Writer
Western North Carolinians by
the threat of underground nuclear
waste storage in their backyards
heckled U.S. Department of
Energy officials and pummeled
them with pointed questions
Thursday at a briefing in the
Asheville Civic Center.
More than 1,800 people cramm
ed into Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
to hear DOE officials describe
plans to store the nation’s nuclear
waste in rock formations deep in
the earth of Buncombe, Haywood
and Madison counties for 10,000
years.
“We’re still in a very early stage
of the site selection for the
repository,’’ DOE geologist
Robert Levich said over the
widespread heckling from the
crowd.
In the question-and-answer
period after the presentation,
residents vented their frustration
and anger at the proposal. Some 20
police officers strolled along the
aisles, but despite the loud heckl
ing, there were no disturbances,
according the Maj. Jay Breedlove
of the Asheville Police Depart
ment.
Asheville. After the comment
period ends April 16, the depart
ment will prepare a response to
each question raised, then issul' a
recommendation of study sites
sometime this summer. State of
ficials say they believe it is unlikely
North Carolina will be scratched
from the nuclear waste list at that
time.
“We’ll be very receptive to all
persons who submit comments and
information,” said Ralph Stein,
engineering director for the DOE
Office of Civilian Radioactive
Waste Management, in a press
conference before the public brief
ing. “I can’t emphasize more
strongly that the department will
respond to each and every com
ment. It’s not likely that every
comment will be agreed upon.”
In the early phased of the
search, DOE will consider each site
soley on the local rock formation’s
sutiability as a host for nuclear
waste. The information so far has
been compiled from existing
technical literature such as
geologic surveys, Stein said.
Field tests on the potential sites
won’t begin until 1987, followed
by studies of the impact of a
repository on local economies and
the environment, Stein said.
“We do not plan to change the
methodology we used.” Levich
GRAPHIC By JOHN ANDERSON
He Receives $210,000 In Gifts
Advisor
anorexia
ice that p
Anordpjjjj College has received
during the last part of
Protests^d early 1986. The funds
varies Qjj, donors according
psychde,] officials, three philan-
functiol foundations and one
arvation wishes to remain
ay ‘’e "|ous.
urished the gifts, totaling
y, are payments on pledges
erapy y foundations to help
is pr®ege meet its goal in the
anti-depuhallenge Gift. This gift,
tive in j^^t fall by the college,
drugs *^350,000 from the Andrew
: in the ^Foundation of New York,
le college must match two-
researc resulting $1 million-
cnesses, jjg yjgj jjy ^jars Hill for
may band curriculm develop-
road.
ibout A\jjgjyjg jj fQj. rjjg founda-
it whethi award $50,(XX) for each
better,) increment the college
College president. Dr. Fred
ey, noted in announcing
gifts that Mars Hill has
$150,000 by early 1986
and is rapidly approaching the half
-way mark. The foundation has
stipulated that funds must be rais
ed during a three year period.
Commenting that “Mars Hill Col
lege is fortunate to have friends
such as these,” Dr. Bentley noted
that the first programs developed
under the Mellon grant are ex
pected to be institued during the
1986-87 academic year.
Honeywell Fund, which was
established in 1958 by Honeywell,
Inc., to support higher education,
cultural programs, and youth
agencies in communities where the
company operations. Micro-
Switch, a switch manufacturing
plant in Mars Hill, is a division of
Honeywell.
The college also received its first
gift from the J.M. Tull Founda-
(('
The final contribution was for
$150,000 from a giver who wishes to re
main anonymous.”
The new gifts received included
$25,(XX) from the Broyhill Founda
tion of Lenoir. Begun in 1945 by
the well-known furniture manufac
turer J. E. Broyhill and his family,
the foundation’s original purpose
was to assist deserving under
privileged children in obtaining a
college education.
The Honeywell Foundation con
tributed $10,000. This is the first
gift made to Mars Hill by the
tion of Atlanta. This philanthropic
organization, which contributed
$25,000 to Mars Hill, was begun in
1952 by J.M. Tull and Tull Metal
and Supply'Company, Inc. The
gift was considered significant by
the college since the foundation
usually limits its activities to
Georgia and Florida educational
institutions and arts activities in
those two states.
The final contribution was for
$150,000 from a giver who wishes
to remain anonymous. The gift
will be used to replace the lighting
controls and rigging in the
college’s Moore Auditorium. The
1,800 seat auditorium located in
the Fine Arts Building, was com
pleted in 1961 and has a large,
professional-sized stage to accom
modate large groups, a large or
chestra pit, and an Aeolian-
Skinner pipe organ. For many
years the auditorium was home to
the college’s drama productions
and continues to be used for con
certs, lectures, visiting artists pro
ductions and the college’s official
functions such as chapel, honors
day and graduation.
The lighting equipment in the
auditorium was installed when the
building was constructed 25 years
ago. With the rapid change in elec
tronics however, technicians are
having problems finding replace
ment parts for the auditorium’s
controls. The new funds will be us
ed to purchase a new lighting con
trol board as well as some of the
rigging used to “fly” or hang
lights, backdrops, and curtains on
the stage.
“they have not yet built a canister that
will hold.. .waste for.. .1,000 years.”
‘IIIH SJ*!
IjUIJSd
fd
S'n
l!|0Jd-U‘
d%. ^
Lent Sitnick of Asheville ques
tioned whether a second repository
is actually needed since no new
nuclear power plants are going on
line to generate more waste. Sit
nick said it is unwise business to
search 20 years for a facility that
will be closed after 25 years after
spending billions of dollars.
“This is theater. It gives people
a chance to blow off steam and
.embarrass the DOE,” said Paul
Gallimore of the Longbranch En
vironmental Education Center in
Sandy Mush. “It’s at the April 4
public hearing that we’ll have to be
cerebral and ask the calm ques
tions.”
The Elk River rock complex
underlying a 105-square mile sec
tion of the three WNC counties
was cited in a Jan. 16 report as one
of 12 potenial locations for the na
tion’s second nuclear repository.
DOE also named an area east of
Raleigh as a suitable site.
DOE envisions drilling shafts up
to 3,000 feet deep in the granite
rock, then'^storing spent fuel rods
and high-level radioactive wastes
from nuclear power plants and the
defense industry underground for
10,(XX) years.
DOE officials conceded they
have not yet built a canister that
will hold radioactive waste for at
least 1,000 years. Decaying
radioactive material can heat the
surface of a container up to 200
degrees.
DOE will take official comments
at a public hearing April 4 in
said in the press conference. “We
dealt with millions of pieces of in
formation. If any were incorrect,
we will relook at the data base.”
Stein said North Carolina’s
referendum on locating nuclear
repositories in the state will have
little effect at this phase of DOE’s
search for a dump site. “Without a
doubt, it’s an expression of the
sense of the people. We have to be
considerate of the sense of the peo
ple as we get further in the
process.”
Stein said a state nominated for
the repository will have the oppor
tunity to veto DOE’s plan. That
veto, however, can be overridden)
by Congress.
DOE already has the go-ahead
from Congress to build a nuclear
waste repository in the Western
United States in the early 1990’s.
The sites have been narrowed to
the Hanford Nuclear Reservation
in Washington, Yucca Mountain
nuclear test site in Nevada and a
salt formation in Deaf Smith
County, Texas. The sites not
chosen for the first repository
could still be considered for a se
cond repository.
Congress, however, will have to
authorize construction of the na
tion’s second storage facility when
DOE cuts its list to three can
didates in 1989.
The HILLTOP was given per
mission to reprint this article from
February 21, 1986 issue of the
Asheville Citizen Times.