Fees push Texas users away

It’s cheaper for firms to send low-level waste out of state, such as to Utah.

It took about 10 years for Texas’ low-level radioactive waste repository to get government approval. The facility was billed as a site that could meet all of Texas’ radioactive waste disposal needs.

But just a few months after it opened, the private operator is charging rates that make it economical to dispose only the “hottest” low-level waste there. That means some Texas companies and governments — many of which supported construction of the facility — are shipping their less-radioactive waste outside the state, where rates are cheaper.

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Com- pact Commission will consider the issue at a meeting Friday at the State Capitol. The commission, which includes six Texas members appointed by the governor and two Vermont members, will review applications from companies outside the original two states permitted to ship waste to the West Texas facility, operated by Waste Control Specialists.

The commission also will review export applications from companies seeking relief from high disposal prices, among other reasons, at the Texas facility. In addition, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will speak about the capacity of the facility and prices for disposal.

There are three categories of low-level radioactive waste: A, B and C. Class A waste is the least radioactive (low curie count) and most voluminous. The University of Texas Med-