Scientists critical of waste removal efforts

BOISE – The U.S. Department of Energy is making good progress removing highly radioactive waste from storage tanks at the Idaho National Laboratory, but an independent panel of scientists reported to Congress onTuesday they have “serious reservations” about similar cleanup efforts at Savannah River in South Carolina and Hanford in Washington state.

The government-sponsored study found DOE has cleaned out only 2 of the 246 radioactive waste storage tanks at the three federal nuclear compounds and none has been permanently sealed.

The agency has been studying ways to immobilize the liquefied radioactive waste stored in underground tanks and surface silos at the three sites for 50 years. In 2004 Congress directed the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academies of Science, to assess the program.

Nuclear cleanup watchdogs praised the findings and said DOE cannot be trusted to properly remove the waste.