January-February – On January 9, 2019, the three-month public comment period for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed interpretation of the statutory term high-level radioactive waste (HLW) closed.
In its submission, the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) states, “a renewed sense of urgency and a willingness to consider technically defensible alternatives based on science is necessary and paramount. ECA believes DOE’s proposal on the interpretation of HLW could present such an alternative.”
ECA published an FAQ on DOE’s interpretation of HLW in the October/November 2018 bulletin.
ECA noted strong support from its local government and community members for DOE’s efforts to move forward with its proposed interpretation of the definition of the statutory term “high-level radioactive waste” (HLW) as set forth in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. By shifting to base disposal decisions on actual radiological characteristics and risk to human health arising from the waste, rather than artificial former policy standards that base waste classification on origin, ECA expects DOE could: Link to bulletin excerpt
