Barnwell Closure

[cincinnatinuke]

I was wondering if Barnwell's upcoming closure, in 08 I believe, is having an effect on any of you folks out there.  We dispose of Rad Waste as Class B and C waste to SC and because we belong to NO compacts our disposal path is going to become limited.....that should read gone.  I keep hearing of a new site in TX that will take B and C waste but I have not seen or heard anything in regards to its availabillity.  Wiill the TX site require membership in a compact??  Does anyone have any contact info with these folks?

I would really like to set up some contacts or references on this.  Our company is really limited on solutions.........in fact it was proposed to move our disposal business to SC so as to establish a presence within a compact state.  I wouldnt mind that especially if would consider Myrtle Beach and 4 day work weeks so as to partake on all the golf and such.

[alphadude]

barnwell has been going to close for years.  things will change- like when the compacts fell apart. work smarter-generate less...

[Phurst]

We (Envirocare Utah) gave up on B&C. I don't know quite where Texas stands but most likely years away and B&C further unless they jump now. I hope Barnwell closes to all waste except B&C and we'll take all the A.

[shovelheadred]

The site in Texas you are talking about is called,,Waste Control Specialist, it is located in extreme west Texas....in Andrews,Texas....I was there in 99'...along with Steve and Lydia Jacobs..Jake was the HP manager for a time but has since moved on........WCS handles Mixed waste,,or did in 99,,and had applied for a B & C license,,,,they have a website,,,Envirocare bought land across from WCS in Andrews, but failed to research the land as far as permeability,,and therefore they were burying household waste at the Envirocare, Texas site,,,,,

[cincinnatinuke]

Form what I hear, Barnwell only will take A waste in the future and get out of the B an C business all together.  Alot of the business minded folks here at our company see this as foolish.....i.e. Why give up a source of revenue especialy when there is no alternative?  But to me and my colleagues it is more and more a reality.  My only hope is that when 08 comes along that an alternative has arrived with it.  Because I know that our disposal business wont stop, we'll probably end up stockpiling which the thought of makes me cringe.  Well let me get off my whining box..........

Cincinuke

[cincinnatinuke]

I got an email today from a little "birdie" that the state of SC has intorduced legislation to consider taking out of compact waste after July 2008.  Would anyone else care to comment or "gossip" with me?  Since I posted the original question alot has changed, especially now that Energy Solutions owns both the SC and UT sites.  I am hoping something fortuante will happen to out of compact waste generators. 

BTW the email provided a link www.truthaboutbarnwell.com

[Dave Warren]

I think if you look at all the activity by Energy Solutions, one could assume that all the long-term waste disposition, is going to fall into their lap.

They were awarded all of the GNEP (Global Nuclear Energy Partnership) contracts.

When you talk about spent fuel, radioactive waste, etc., we will get used to hearing Energy Solutions in conjunction with those.

Take at look at their website, and see how they have acquired all these different companies, and been awarded all these different contracts. You will probably agree that South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, Tennessee, New mexico, and Texas will be ruled by E.S.

I would be more inclined to believe that Barnwell would stay open and E.S. would just upgrade the facility. Then again, they may get rid of it and consolidate in another state already set up to accommodate the waste.

[Camella Black]

Hey from Snelling, SC home of the famed burial ground that so many people are seeming to talk about, again. The bill in question is not whether to keep the site open , but whether to accept waste from outside the compact.




Here's a link so you can read some more:http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/politics/16708943.htm

[Mike McFarlin]

SC needs Barnwell to stay open but is trying to regulate where the waste comes from because they (SC) generate so much.

[MrHazmat]

This is all SC BS. They keep saying they are going to cut every one off and then at the last minute they give in and say OK but it's going to cost you more. SC makes BIG buck off of Chem Nuc. Great way to charge more and look good doing it.

[Marlin]

In 79 not to long after I got out of the Navy I was working on a shipment of RW out of VY. Being new to the commercial industry I was asking a lot of questions. When I asked where the drums went I was told they were headed to Barnwell in South Carolina but not for much longer as the state was trying to shut it down. I tend to agree with MrHazmat, but who knows.

[Camella Black]

This is all SC BS. They keep saying they are going to cut every one off and then at the last minute they give in and say OK but it's going to cost you more. SC makes BIG buck off of Chem Nuc. Great way to charge more and look good doing it.

You got this right. Tell you what's wrong... the state looks around and realizes that they are cutting their own throats by closing to everyone but the compact. Can you imagine the impact that this would have on our schools and our taxes?

I think that anyone not directly affected by the burial ground and that would be outside of Barnwell County needs to keep out of it and allow us to live in peace and the burial site to operate in the manner it was intended to.

[SloGlo]

yeah, i tink rdtroja bailed outa der da furst time it wuz gonna close. 

[RDTroja]

yeah, i tink rdtroja bailed outa der da furst time it wuz gonna close. 

Not me. Never worked Barnwell. Did work for a Radwaste shipping company in 1974/75, but just local Maryland/DC. But it was closing then, too. Any day. Trust me.

[cincinnatinuke]

I hear SC is really dependant upon this large source of revenue and I have heard from many OLD timers that this isnt the first time this has been discussed (closure all together and/or to out of compact).

I think Energy Solutions is smart to have acquired and consoldated the way they did.  Heck even the basketball arena in Salt Lake City is named after them......"Radium Stadium"   But I do worry about folks out of the compact having no disposal outlet or the price shooting way up unexpectedly on them.

Until then what are you gonna do?  I guess talk about it.

[MrHazmat]

Just wondering, when I started at ChemNuc, DAW waste was $3.25 A ft³

Anyone know what it is now??

[cincinnatinuke]

To be honest I dont know the current price.  We typically prepare our waste and have someone broker its shipment to SC.  These shipments are sealed sources in drums, so again out of the realm for what you are asking for in that it is not DAW.  Since we deal with sealed sources having them unsealed is a big "oh shoot".  It happens but we bring in someone to deal with that too for expertise and manpower issues.  I want to say we pay 4.25 a pound and all the waste is taken away, segregated, and whatever is left to go to SC they deal with.  I am certain we pay a premium and unfortunately I dont know what the final cost is.  Sorry it took me a paragraph to tell me that.

[atomicarcheologist]

The last rumor I heard was that it was ~$700/ft³.

[Camella Black]

Here's the lastest news from our local paper:

Nuke disposal bill polarizes S.C. legislators

by Kirsten Singleton/ Morris News Service
Wednesday, February 28, 2007 12:03 PM EST



COLUMBIA - Rep. Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway, thinks of the Barnwell nuclear site and envisions millions of dollars heading to the county and the state, mostly to educational programs.

"That's a lot of money, and so it's helped a lot of people," Witherspoon said.

Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, thinks of the site and envisions a stream of nuclear waste leaking into the Savannah River and wrecking the environment from Barnwell on down to the Atlantic Ocean.

"I'm defending a way of life," Herbkersman said.

Two men. Two visions. And one big battle about to brew at the Statehouse.

Open since 1971, the Barnwell site stores low-level nuclear waste from South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut. But the agreement allowing the site to take waste from other states is set to expire next year.

Earlier this month, however, Witherspoon introduced a bill to extend the agreement for another 15 years, allowing Barnwell to accept 40,000 cubic feet of waste annually through 2023.

The landfill, which places casks of nuclear waste in unlined trenches, stretches across 235 acres.

Extending the three-state agreement would allow the facility to use the remaining 20 acres, said Tim Dangerfield, senior vice president for South Carolina at EnergySolutions, which has owned the site since last year.

"We're not asking to expand the footprint of the facility," Dangerfield said, adding, "We're asking that the other states be allowed to bring in their wastes until 2023."

But for Herbkersman, it's a simple equation: More waste means a greater chance of a nuclear accident.

The facility once leaked radioactive tritium onto nearby property, although Dangerfield said the leak was "caught in time" and that the facility itself notified the Department of Health and Environmental Control about the leak.

Herbkersman said he's taking a state and local perspective.

As a state, South Carolina doesn't need to be the "dumping ground" for New Jersey's and Connecticut's nuclear waste, he said.

"Their reluctance to have this stuff in their own state is an indication of how bad it is," he said.

And as a local representative, he noted that Barnwell and Jasper counties are "downhill, downwind and downstream" from the site.

Witherspoon counters that the site has an excellent environmental history, brings jobs to the region and, each year, provides about $10 million to the state, most of which goes to education and scholarship programs.

Barnwell County also gets $2 million each year to house the waste.

"Why not keep it open?" Witherspoon asked.

Thirty representatives already have signed on to co-sponsor Witherspoon's legislation, including Rep. Lonnie Hosey, D-Barnwell.

Barnwell County's other House member - Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Denmark - is not a co-sponsor. Nor is Rep. Kit Spires, R-Pelion, the only House member in the Aiken County delegation not to sign on.

Herbkersman said he, too, is amassing his own group of supporters, though he declined to name them until they are officially onboard.

He's already begun the battle, though. On Tuesday, he tried to use parliamentary procedure to put the bill under the control of the Beaufort delegation - which he said would have killed the legislation - but Witherspoon thwarted the attempt.

But Herbkersman said he will continue fighting the bill at every level, from its upcoming subcommittee meeting on, for as long as it takes to defeat the measure.

Witherspoon is chair of the Agriculture, Natural Resources & Environmental Affairs Committee, which is charged with reviewing the bill.

As for Gov. Mark Sanford, his office said the governor has not seen a "compelling reason" to keep the Barnwell site open to out-of-state waste after 2008.

[SloGlo]

Not me. Never worked Barnwell. Did work for a Radwaste shipping company in 1974/75, but just local Maryland/DC. But it was closing then, too. Any day. Trust me.

my bad, my bad!!!  sew sari.  den agin, iffen it's below da mason-dixon line.......................

costs for washington/south carolina.  appendix b got per item costs.

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1307/r11/sr1307r11.pdf

[MrHazmat]

This is "heresay"  so I do not have any proof, but,  The state was keeping a fund to run the site for 100 years after closing. It grew into a great big fund and someone finally got there hands on some of it and it was slowly depleted. Now they are trying to find a way to put the money back into the fund, and closing the site is not going to help them acomplish this. I feel it's a safe bet they will stay open for a while longer. 

[cincinnatinuke]

Hearsay probably, but I have heard the same thing about the State dipping into these "funds" to finance its annual budgets.  Perhaps that is why you see articles attesting to the impact, both locally and statewide, on things like education.  Perhaps Camella can comment more on this, since she is local?  I cant say first hand how much funding is tied to Barnwell, but if I had to guess........

[Camella Black]

This is "heresay"  so I do not have any proof, but,  The state was keeping a fund to run the site for 100 years after closing. It grew into a great big fund and someone finally got there hands on some of it and it was slowly depleted. Now they are trying to find a way to put the money back into the fund, and closing the site is not going to help them acomplish this. I feel it's a safe bet they will stay open for a while longer. 

Mr. Hazmat, thought you were from this area? Come on now if you are then you must know that between 2001 and 2005 more than 79 million dollars was drawn from this fund by the state to offset their budget.

I really don't care why the state wants to keep it open, I just want it to stay open. We need it here, not only for income but for the industry. I do however wish they'd keep their fingers outta of the cookie jar.

[Nuke Lifer]

Latest news:
Feb 1st - 15 members of the 18 member South Carolina House Agriculture, Natural resources & Environmental Affairs Committee toured the site in Barnwell, along with ES folks, media and members of the Sierra Club and SC Conservation Voters.

Long story short; Besides some enduring rethortic from the SCCV, & Sierra club, the tour was very productive in presenting the truths, and dispelling the myths of the Barnwell site to South Carolina law makers. They felt fortunate to have the opportunity to research the upcoming issue and having first hand knowledge with a diverse group in attendance. Quote, "It would be wonderful if we could learn about more issues like this before having to vote on them"
Another legislator indicated that he was impressed by the turnout of local government. Anytime members of a community take time out of thier day to support a company (The site is owned by SC, operated by EnergySolutions) in thier community it makes an impression on him.

To sum it up, I think SC wants the $ for a balanced budget. Numerous efforts and bills have been put forth and defeated time and time again for a state lottery or gambling to take up the slack of Barnwell closing. They haven't gotten any replacement funding and since the local people WANT the site to remain open, the hopes are high that keeping Barnwell open will happen this year.
With no other place accepting commercially produced B & C waste, the state of South Carolina stands to make a big profit if the bill passes. The surge in nuclear growth NEEDS a safe repository for B/C waste and Barnwell is the most likely and immediate candidate.

Texas is 50/50 right now, at best, and if it DOES get licensed, will likely be limited to Texas generated class A waste only. This is how most Texas politicians see it right now.

[Marlin]

Texas is 50/50 right now, at best, and if it DOES get licensed, will likely be limited to Texas generated class A waste only. This is how most Texas politicians see it right now.

To bad, they looked like a much cheaper option to E-Care.

[MrHazmat]

Mr. Hazmat, thought you were from this area? Come on now if you are then you must know that between 2001 and 2005 more than 79 million dollars was drawn from this fund by the state to offset their budget.

I really don't care why the state wants to keep it open, I just want it to stay open. We need it here, not only for income but for the industry. I do however wish they'd keep their fingers outta of the cookie jar.

Yea I am from Barnwell, just could not remember all the facts. darn getting old and got CRS.

[alphadude]

and SC is still not a shinning example of a well run state.. use to be "thank god for Mississippi" now i think its the other way around..thank god for SC.

[Camella Black]

Well I'd smite you but I don't have the heart; after all if you can't see your own (our you own states) faults then you can't make changes.

[Mike McFarlin]

Pray for rain. Remember?

[Camella Black]

Chem-Nuclear bill dies in House committee

COLUMBIA - The nuclear waste facility in Barnwell County will close to all but three states, after a S.C. House committee voted 16-0 against a plan to keep the site open to the rest of the country.

The overwhelming vote came despite the fact the bill was sponsored by Rep. Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway, who chairs the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee, which voted on the proposal.

From the People Sentinel, Barwell SC

[MrHazmat]

I bet it will not happen unless "Uncle Sam" wants it to happen.

[Mike McFarlin]

What Sam wants, Sam gets!

[Carolina Jethro]

and SC is still not a shinning example of a well run state.. use to be "thank god for Mississippi" now i think its the other way around..thank god for SC.

naw... we say "thank god for tennessee" now!