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Show Grand County Site Being Studied For Radioactive Wastes An area in Grand County is among a list of sites in the United States being studied as potential burial grounds for radioactive wastes, a report issued by the U.S. Geological Survey indicated this week. Surface and subsurface mapping and study of the Salt Valley Anticline in southeast-, ern Utah is being conducted to evaluate the suitability of the salt core of the anticline for radioactive waste storage, the report indicated. A number of other sites all the way from New York and Kentucky to Nevada are also being evaluated, evalua-ted, the report stated. Despite recent reports by waste managers of underground under-ground leakage of radioactive wastes at burial sites near West Valley, N.Y., Maxey Flats, Ky., and Oak Ridge, Tenn., USGS scientists believe that safe burial grounds for solid radioactive wastes can be established. The scientists emphasize, however, that this can be done only if strict hydrogeologic criteria are rigorously rig-orously applied in the selection of all new sites and if proper attention is given to inventory and classification of the waste to be buried. Future waste disposal problems prob-lems will be compounded by an expected eightfold increase in the volume of radioactive wastes generated by government govern-ment and industry. Many of these solid radioactive wastes will not require all the extraordinary storage precautions precau-tions that are needed for high-level liquid wastes. Inadequate In-adequate burial, however, could lead to release, movement move-ment and exposure of the potentially harmful toxic waste materials, either by surface erosion or solution and transport trans-port by ground water. The report pointed out that the USGS had been working with ERDA (Atomic Energy Commission) for thirty years to come up with solutions to the waste disposal problem. This role was expanded two years ago when Congress instructed the agency to establish hydro-geologic hydro-geologic critera within five years for the selection of future sites for the disposal of solid radioactive wastes, and appropriated some $1.8 million mill-ion to carry on the work. Work to date has concentrated on the collection of data on sites already being used in Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada and Washington. Wash-ington. "These field investigations investiga-tions are expected .to have wide application because they will provide data on what has happened to radioactive wastes in six different hydro-geologic hydro-geologic environments. Other field studies are being continued contin-ued and expanded at radioactive radio-active waste disposal sites operated by ERDA on their reservations in other states. Other intensive studies have been conducted relative to the theoretical and laboratory be havior of wastes in ground water at USGS research centers in Virginia and Colorado Colo-rado and in California. The studies, according to the report, "have identified several sev-eral hydrogeologic factors that need to be assessed before proposed or existing sites can be evaluated as suitable for burying radioactive wastes." "The leakages of radioactive radio-active wastes reported to date indicate that something has not worked as planned," according to George DeBu-chananne, DeBu-chananne, USGS hydrologist and chief, Office of Radio-hydrology, Radio-hydrology, USGS National Center, Reston, Virginia. "We believe, however, that safe burial grounds for future storage of solid low-level radioactive wastes can be located and established in selected parts of the United States. But before such sites can be developed, strict hydrogeologic criteria will have to be established and rigorously applied to the selection of all new sites," he continued. Grand County, particularly the northern portion, is known to be underlain with massive salt formations. In Moab Valley, a cavity has been dissolved in a salt formation, and is currently being used for the underground storage of liquified petroleum gas. The Salt Valley anticline is approximately approxi-mately 30 miles north of Moab. |
