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By MARGARET S. KNOEPFLE

Decision time on disposal of low-level radioactive waste

SLOWLY, slowly with much jockeying about, Illinois is moving towards a decision on how to dispose of the low-level radioactive waste produced by its nuclear power plants, hospitals, research laboratories and industries. Time is running short. Currently, there are only three sites in the nation that receive such waste. They are in Barnwell, S.C.; Beatty, Nev.; and Hanford, Wash., and they are preparing to end their roles as waste dumps for the nation.

Attempting to address the situation, the federal Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act was passed by Congress in 1980. The act stipulates that each state is responsible for the disposal of the commercial low-level wastes generated within its borders and encourages states to form compacts to develop regional disposal sites. Under the act, a regional compact would have the authority to refuse to accept wastes from nonmember states after 1986. As of December 1, seven regional compacts are in the process of being formed. All of them provide for the creation of a board or commission made up or representatives from the member states, though the authority vested in these regional bodies varies from compact to compact. All of the compacts provide for membership, rules of access to the regional low-level radioactive waste facility, procedures for determining the state which will host the disposal site, regulatory rules and financial arrangements.

In September 1982 Illinois was in the majority of the states which "approved" a draft document on setting up a 16-state Midwestern Interstate Compact for the Disposal of Low-Level Radioactive Waste. The draft was not approved by Wisconsin and Minnesota. The negotiated draft document was delivered to the state governors, including Gov. James R. Thompson.

Approving the draft does not mean Illinois will join the compact. Before this can happen, the draft must be studied by the states involved, enacted by their legislatures and signed by their governors. Once three states have ratified a compact, they can set up a governing commission, but Congress must also pass consenting legislation, incorporating the text of the compact. Congressional action is needed to guarantee exclusionary authority to compact members.

According to Philip Gustafson, director of the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety, the governor plans to appoint a committee to examine the language of the draft document and make recommendations as to whether Illinois should join the compact or develop a low-level radioactive waste disposal site on its own. The committee will report to the governor and the legislature. Illinois cannot join the compact unless precise legislation is approved.

"The problem with the compact, like other state compacts, is that none says what a host state's authority and prerogatives are," said Gustafson. "Illinois, if it decides to join the compact, would demand those prerogatives."

Exactly how the state will go about studying the draft document and whether there should be public hearings on the issue has been up in the air. The state did not hold hearings when it was involved in the 18-month negotiations on drafting the compact. But any committee appointed to study the draft could ask for them, and there will certainly be legislative committee hearings if legislation is introduced.

As a major producer of low-level radioactive waste, Illinois has major problems in deciding what to do — and a major responsibility to decide to do something. If Illinois agrees to join the Midwest Compact, it becomes — regardless of geology, hydrolics or population — a prime candidate to be the host state. This is simply because Illinois generates the most waste.

If, on the other hand, Illinois decides not to join the compact, it must then be responsible for taking care of its own low-level radioactive waste. Texas is one state that has chosen this route: It is developing its own state-operated disposal site. There is, however, a constitutional question as to whether Texas has the authority to exclude waste from other states.□

January 1983 | Illinois Issues | 38