US affirms new interpretation for high-level nuclear waste

By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Biden administration has affirmed a Trump administration interpretation of high-level radioactive waste that is based on the waste’s radioactivity rather than how it was produced. The U.S. Department of Energy announcement last week means some radioactive waste from nuclear weapons production stored for decades in Idaho, Washington and South Carolina could be reclassified and moved for permanent storage elsewhere. The agency also last week issued documents based on the new interpretation to move some contaminated equipment from the South Carolina site. The nation has no permanent storage for high-level radioactive waste. But there are commercial facilities for storing waste deemed less radioactive.