\*v jr the di\ so trigj ^56 \ *'**’ Number 8 pronou; ch as duj julimics ,000 to sitting 34 t know V ey feel tl many n they id keep 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.