THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 16, 1994 TAG: 9407160276
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHIL MURRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Hampton Roads residents will get their first chance Monday to comment on a series of options for handling spent nuclear fuel, including a proposal to store used fuel rods from Navy ships at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for up to 40 years.
Two public hearings on the issue are scheduled - from 2 to 5 p.m. at Willett Hall, 3701 Willett Drive in Portsmouth; and from 7 to 11 p.m. at Ferguson High School, 11 Shoe Lane in Newport News. Those who want to speak can sign up at the meetings.
In a draft environmental impact statement released last month, the Department of Energy outlined a number of alternatives for dealing with radioactive waste created by nuclear reactors.
Among those was the prospect of using the Portsmouth yard and three other Navy yards as ``medium-term'' storage areas for spent fuel rods from nuclear warships and submarines. The waste stored here would be from Navy vessels whose fuel rods had been removed or replaced at the Portsmouth yard or Newport News Shipbuilding.
Other options include shipping the Navy waste to other storage sites until a permanent solution is found.
The Energy Department has not stated any preference for dealing with the problem. But the Navy wants the fuel rods shipped to an existing facility in Idaho.
That practice ceased last summer when a lawsuit brought by Idaho blocked further shipments, at least temporarily. Since then some spent fuel has been stored at the Navy shipyard here.
Environmentalists argue that storing the radioactive material in a highly populated area such as Hampton Roads is too risky.
A public comment period runs through Sept. 30.
The Energy Department is to issue a final recommendation on April 30, 1995.
KEYWORDS: NUCLEAR WASTE HAZARDOUS WASTE RADIOACTIVE WASTE by CNB