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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Will Texas Be Allowed To Dispose Of Out-Of-Compact Radioactive Wastes?

In the U.S., the states are responsibles for low level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal.  Historically, no state wanted to be the nation's dumping ground for all of the LLRW.  However, due to interstate commerce laws existing at the time, no state could prevent interstate commerce of such wastes.   This dilemma led to the existing compact system under the LLRW Policy Act of 1980 (amended in 1985). 

Under the Act, states are allowed to form smaller groups of states (compacts) wherein those states would agree on LLRW disposal site arrangements and could legally exclude non-compact states.  Ironically, today, Texas wants to open its compact's (which only includes Vermont in addition to Texas) disposal site to non-compact states in order to generate more revenue.

Read more here.

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