Interior Committee in May, 1983, regarding the repository program, Williams said: “We got hold of a promotional memo which was basically very hyped up. The language indicated a very strong bias in terms of promoting the Hanford site which was not objective and not appropriate to the carrying out of a scientific investigation.” In an internal memo, Dr. Raul Deju, Director of the Basalt Waste Isolation Project run by Rockwell International, stated that BWIP employees should make every effort to get Hanford named as the repository site by January, 1985. “That director is no longer there. We didn’t go to the press and make a big noise about it,” emphasized Williams. “But I think Rockwell shaped up a little bit.” “If I were in a position of federal authority, I don’t think I would allow the same contractors to evaluate the site and build the project. There’s a credibility problem, a ton state and the DOE, the issue of liability has been the primary bone of contention. The current draft of the C&C Agreement states: The State insists that the United States be strictly and absolutely liable, without regard to fault, for any damages caused by a nuclear incident at the repository within the State of Washington or associated with the transport of radioactive material to or from such a repository, regardless of the cause of such an incident. Currently, industry liability for accidents at commercial nuclear plants is limited by the Price-Anderson Act to $585 million. The DOE has not guaranteed any liability beyond this amount, although government studies estimate that an accident at a nuclear power plant could cause more than Criticisms in the scientific world have been raised about the Hanford site in terms of the paths of underground streams that flow in the Columbia River region and hazards of groundwater contamination. temptation not to be objective,” Williams added. Rockwell International has been contracted to study the feasibility of a waste repository at Hanford since 1976 through its Basalt Waste Isolation Project and has been named by the DOE to conduct the project if Hanford is the first selected site. Rockwell has also been in charge of defense waste storage facilities and was responsible for cover-ups of leaks of radioactive liquid identified in the late 70s and early ’80s. In negotiations so far between Washing- $100 billion in damage. The amount of $585 million was initiated in Congress in 1957, but it was arbitrary and has never since been revised. The DOE has not acceded to the state’s position in these negotiations. A second issue critical to Washington’s negotiating team concerns defense waste. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 is concerned with commercial waste from nuclear power plants. However, the Hanford Reservation already holds massive amounts of defense wastes which are stored in 149 tanks. 450,000 gallons of radioactive liquid are known to have leaked A high-level waste repository threatens to contaminate natural food sources such as berries, roots, celeries, birds, waterfowl, wild game and salmon, which is not only a vital food source but a part of the religious and cultural background of Northwest Indian peoples. Clinton St. Quarterly 13
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