Feds and U. to discuss radioactive waste control

The University is scheduled to meet tomorrow with representatives of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to discuss ways to improve the control and storage of radioactive waste. The meeting is part of a routine review of local institutions, University officials said yesterday. "This is not the result of any infraction," Mark Selikson, University director of radiation safety, said Friday. "There's a national review by NRC." Selikson said the three national facilities which receive the University's radioactive waste will be closed in January 1993 and it is unclear what will happen to the waste until another option becomes available. Currently, the University packages and labels the waste in a campus facility. A licensed commercial hauler then takes the waste to a facility where it may be supercompacted to reduce the volume. It is subsequently brought to a waste site in either Nevada, North Carolina or Washington state. The NRC wants to review the holding facilities of many institutions since it is unclear what will happen to the waste when the sites close next year. "It's up in the air for everybody now," Selikson said. "That is why the NRC is reviewing policies and procedures -- it's going to be a much larger issue than it was in the past." NRC spokesperson Karl Abraham cautioned Friday that this review is not due to any leakage or problem. He declined to comment further. "We'll develop a consensus of what the standard facility should look like," Selikson said. "Hopefully, the University of Pennsylvania is not far from it -- we'll know what everybody in the industry should look like." Matt Finucane, director of the environmental health and safety office, said Friday he believes the meeting with the NRC will show the University's facilites are fine. "We're pretty confident of the program that we have in place now," Selikson said. "We'll see whether some modifications are appropriate." The University produces radioactive waste in the thousands of cubic feet, Selikson said, noting that that is usual for an institution the size of the University. Much of the University's waste comes from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, the Medical School, the Dental School and the Chemistry department.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.