Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2013
ANDREWS, Texas — A privately-owned West Texas dump site accepted radioactive waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the first time June 6, marking a significant expansion of the first low-level nuclear waste facility to open in the US in 30 years. Owned by Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, the dump now accepts all three classes of so-called “low-level” radioactive waste (A, B, & C) from commercial reactors and medical facilities in 36 states. Now it also takes waste from federal facilities run by the DOE, including Hanford and Los Alamos. Environmentalists and others remain concerned about the site’s proximity to groundwater and the likelihood that Texas will be liable for long-term cleanup, the cost of which has been projected at up to $5 billion.
— AP, June 6; Texas Observer, July 3, 2013
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