Doe To Move More Waste To Dry Storage

The Department of Energy on Tuesday agreed to transfer 429 more loads of highly-radioactive nuclear waste into dry storage instead of the wet storage originally authorized under a 1993 court order.

And Gov. Phil Batt, who has escaped much of the direct criticism for his Oct. 16 nuclear waste deal, immediately called the move a boon to eastern Idaho’s environment and public health.

“This agreement seeks to reduce the health and safety risks to Idaho and its citizens,” Batt said in a statement.

Although the action was detailed in the 1993 court order former Gov. Cecil Andrus secured in his campaign to limit nuclear storage at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and expedite cleanup, it appeared Batt was trying to use it to reinforce his claim that deadlines for waste cleanup and removal in his deal would be met.

His critics claim the deal is riddled with loopholes and the deadlines will never be met by the government, just as it has missed similar deadlines over the past generation.