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What is Envirocare?
Envirocare of Utah, Inc. is a private, commercial, for-profit business. It is located at Clive, Utah, and is licensed to dispose of Class A low-level radioactive wastes (LLRW). Clive is located 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. Its facilities as well as its operations are presently regulated by 13 local, state, and federal agencies.
What is low-level radioactive waste?
LLRW is ordinary industrial and research waste that has been contaminated by radioactive material. While the vast majority of LLRW is contaminated soil, it also includes debris such as paper, clothing, tools, laboratory glass, wood, and metal. It is generated by commercial nuclear power reactors, hospitals, universities, manufacturers, and the U.S. Government.
When did Envirocare begin operating and how much waste has it disposed?
Envirocare of Utah has been operating since 1990. By the end of 1999 more than 667,000 cubic yards of LLRW have been disposed of at the Clive, Utah site. It has also disposed of 1,444,500 cubic yards of uranium mill tailings and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM).
How is LLRW transported?
The greatest majority of shipments of all radioactive materials (99 percent) consist of nuclear pharmaceuticals and diagnostic devices. Less than 1 percent of these shipments are radioactive wastes.
Drivers of all vehicles carrying hazardous materials, including low-level radioactive waste, must be trained in U.S. Department of Transportation regulations and protocols. Most shipments of radioactive waste also require specific driver instruction on routing and emergency response.
In 40 years of transportation of radioactive waste, there has never been an injury due to radioactivity released, even in traffic accidents that have occurred.
How is LLRW disposed?
The wastes are disposed of in engineered landfill cells under specific operating conditions. The landfill cells are surrounded by a network of groundwater monitoring wells. The air, vegetation, and soils on and in close proximity to the site are monitored. The company must demonstrate it can comply with environmental regulations through performance assessments and a complex modeling program.
Will Envirocare dispose of hotter waste?
Envirocare had developed a detailed plan and will seek approval from the Utah Legislature and the Governor to establish a new facility at their Clive, Utah, site for the disposal of Class B and Class C low-level radioactive wastes. The volume of Class B and Class C wastes proposed to be accepted by Envirocare is about one percent of the total wastes this facility receives annually. Currently the license approval is under appeal. The appeal must be resolved prior to Envirocare seeking legislative and gubernatorial approval.
Fact sheet prepared by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality
168 N. 1950 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Phone (801) 536-4400
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