Chattanooga Pulse

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, about two hours from Chattanooga, is home to the fourth-largest employer in the state: The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation, consisting of a National Laboratory, Technology Park, and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

From the Department of Energy’s web site: “With a federal and contractor workforce of 13,000 people, the Department of Energy is committed to continuing its strong ties to the communities in East Tennessee. The support of our local communities has enabled the Oak Ridge Office to undertake some of the most complex work in the Department. And there is more to come as the Oak Ridge Office advances in public and private sector growth the areas of science, manufacturing, national security and reindustrialization.”

EnergySolutions is a company that operates low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities, vaults, and landfills on the reservation. It is the only private radioactive waste disposal company in the country. Ninety percent of the national waste is processed and “disposed” of in facilities in Utah, South Carolina, and Tennessee. An in-depth investigation of this situation, conducted by journalist Demetria Kalodimos of Nashville’s Channel 4/WSMV, led to some less-than-welcome results. The report inspired by this investigation identified the Tennessee State Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and Tennessee as having the highest rate of releasing nuclear waste out of control. TDEC licenses companies to import nuclear waste into the state for “processing.”

All of the waste generated by nuclear weapons manufacturing has to go somewhere. The Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) has records of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) release of radioactive materials to landfills which, in turn, unknowingly allow the materials to be recycled and resold. These materials can find their way into a number of products, including toys, furniture, cars, zippers, or building materials. Schools, playgrounds, and roads are more commonly being created from what was once nuclear waste. The DOE is able to sell these contaminated materials at auctions or through exchanges, or they can also release the materials to processors. At that stage, the materials are detached from the regulations related to their proper disposal. Despite a ban set by the Secretary of Energy in 2000 to eliminate recycling of radioactive metals, all kinds of potentially hazardous materials find their way into public waste.

The NIRS’s report entitled, “Out of Control on Purpose: DOE’s Dispersal of Radioactive Waste into Landfills and Consumer Products,” outlined the DOE’s plan for a mandatory clean up of 114 sites across the country. The professed goal of this venture: to take responsibility for the environmental impact being made by the nation’s nuclear weapons program and nuclear energy research. At the same time, DOE has been campaigning for the release of control of radioactivity, so there will be fewer restrictions on the allocation of nuclear waste.

NIRS investigated seven different sites during its investigation, including Oak Ridge. In the report, Tennessee is designated as “the main funnel that pours nuclear weapon and power waste from around the country into landfills and recycling facilities without public knowledge.” Radioactive scraps are mixed in with common landfill trash and could prove very harmful to those who live near these sites. Most of the people who are being exposed are probably unaware of their proximity to these dangers. Either the DOE or the brokers and processors they authorize are directly responsible for the presence of these harmful substances.

As other nations see the U.S. dispose of its dangerous waste in the backyards of its citizens, they suspect it might be a good place for their waste also. EnergySolutions, the company that is affiliated with disposal at Oak Ridge, has applied for a license in Tennessee to process nuclear waste from Italy. That’s right: Nuclear waste shipped from Italy to find its resting place in the rolling hills and valleys of Tennessee. Bart Gordon, Chair of the House Committee on Science and Technology, took a stand for his state in February of last year. He pleaded with the Northwest Interstate Compact of Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management to withhold the kind of licensing which would put our country in danger of being known as “the world’s nuclear waste garbage dump.” Deals like the one proposed by EnergySolutions are only adding to the weight of this momentous pile of trouble.

If you are interested in battling the growth of the radioactive trash pile accumulating about 120 miles away, a good first step is to contact our governor, state representatives and senators and congressmen and senators and share your desire that they oppose legislation allowing the importation of international nuclear waste. To learn more, visit www.nirs.org

Victoria Hurst is a proud resident of the Appalachian Mountains. She has recently graduated from Warren Wilson College with a B.A. in English: Creative Writing.