Earth Week ’10 – Should EnergySolutions be allowed to accept all classes of radioactive waste at their Clive, Utah facility?

written by Jack French ’11, who took a pro-industry role in a spring 2010 class project

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EnergySolutions is a nuclear energy fuel cycle company in Utah that focuses on environment and nuclear waste recycling, nuclear waste disposal, and nuclear power solutions. It is an industry known well as landfills that collect class a radioactive material and store it in very safe and secure methods. The landfill in Clive, Utah, provides widespread knowledge on how radioactive material can be safely disposed of without costing much and without becoming a future problem in the field of safety or space. Many companies currently focusing on cost-reduction measures are looking to recycle or dispose of their radioactive material in order to remove the need for costly monitoring, measuring and wipe testing. Acting now will avoid cost increases, recently independently estimated at 9% per annum. Energy Solutions continues to increase the range of material we can recycle. As I visited the landfill right in the middle of the dessert, I realized the simplicity of the dessert and how it seems to be the only plausible location for a landfill. If liquids with radioactive material flow underground, they won’t cause groundwater pollution. In addition, the desert is provided as a source of empty land not used for agriculture or housing. The landfill is acres of land some used and some not for disposing of radioactive material, along with 89 stations to test ground water, and other stations that measure air and other pollutants.

Safety steps are very important in keeping the workers and Utah citizens’ safe and away from radiation poisoning. Too much radiation, even at class a levels, can cause severe cancer leading to death or other illness that can persist. For those unfamiliar to the area as well as the workers, they make sure to mark off any areas that could in fact have radiation. Employees of the landfill with the appropriate equipment and suits should only enter these areas. Each worker must follow strict rules when entering a radiated area: No eating or chewing gum, only drink water out of disposable plastic bottles, after entering the radiated zone, before leaving each worker must test themselves for radiation to prevent any further spread and many more. Speaking of workers, Energy Solutions provides many jobs for a wide variety of candidates. From those who have master’s degrees to the few who only have a GED or high school diploma. They don’t segregate those with less education then others. As long as the job gets done, they feel the worker is smart enough to fill the position.

EnergySolutions is committed to making the environment more green and safe for all citizens. They are overcautious when it comes to the methods of recycling radioactive waste. In the case that they have to store large radioactive materials, they box them in a metal case filled with cement that is then buried in a landfill with the intent to stay. And if for some reason EnergySolutions shuts down, the material that is recycled won’t need to be disposed somewhere else. The land in Clive won’t become a super fund site that will in turn dig up all the radioactive material and store it somewhere else. They have a plan to solve the dilemmas involving recycling. EnergySolutions is not only a friend to the environment, but also a friend to everyone in it.

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Related Links:

• Earth Week '10 - Earth Week 2010 at Judge Memorial
• Earth Week '10 - Monday: The EnergySolutions Debate, Part I
• Earth Week '10 - Tuesday: The EnergySolutions Debate, Part II
• Earth Week '10 - Wednesday: The EnergySolutions Debate, Part III
• Earth Week '10 - Thursday: One Student's Efforts
• Earth Week '10 - Friday: Five Simple Tips