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Solving Nuclear Waste Problem

by D»vtd K. Moorf MORRISTOWN - If you think the placement of a hazardous waste treatment facility can raise a ruckus among its prospective neighbors, ponder the emotions to be unleashed when a depository for - nuclear waste is proposed We are on the leading edge of that 1 kind of situation somewhere in the northeast, conceivably in New Jersey, and it's time bureaucracy got its act together to keep worries a t

a minimum. Our delegated public servants should let us all in on the process before irreversible decisions are made. At last word, I am happy to say, itappears that this will be the case. I’M TALKING ABOUT low-level nuclear wastes, not the intensely radioactive spent fuels from nuclear reactors or byproducts of atomic and hydrogen bomb manufacturing. Few realize that enormous

quantities nuclear

of low-level waste are

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generated by industry and medical facilities each year. Some of it can be made relatively harmless, some of it is stronger, but it all needs to be kept from contaminating our en-

vironment.

Therefore, in 1980, Congress pafced a law delegating the various states to take care of their own low-level nuclear waste disposal problems. That law encourages states to band together to attack the problem regionally. NEW JERSEY BELONGS to a multistate group under the auspices of the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG), which is quietly moving ahead to formulate an agreement for longterm accommodation of such low-level wastes, of which the northeast produces 40 percent of the country’s total. Two representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection are members of the CONEG group, and recently Governor Kean named Assemblyman John Bennett of Monmouth County to be New Jersey’s third member. The CONEG study is stiU in the formative stage, and will have to be approved by the legislatures of each of th6 11 participating states. Before its shell gets too firmly cemented, you should know that: DESPITE ITS RELATIVELY low radiation compared with spent nuclear fuel, there's a lot of thfe stuff, and if it's put into one place, its potential impacts will be great. Also that the federal government shrugs off jurisdiction for its safe, permanent disposal. You should know also that CONEG is contemplating setting up one or more repositories within one or more of its 11 states. So far, it looks as if this ‘ critical siting decision might be made by a simple two-thirds vote of the 11member commission the agreement would

10 Officesmroughout Cape May County

establish, without any chance for public input. What is badly needed is a public advisory group, with at least several members from each of the involved states, to assist in-* the deliberation process. Medical, environmental, transportation, emergency response, local government and industrial interests should all be represented. This body should also guarantee full access by the general public to the deliberation process. Public meetings could gather opinions before any formal public hearings were held. THIS IS THE WISE procedure adopted by the DEP for a variety of important subjects, one current example being the adoption of criteria to be used later on in the selection of sites for hazardous waste facilities. The important thing is to provide unbiased information to the public as to exactly what kind of radioactive materials are involved, the degree of radiation and the degree of perpetual care a depository will require to guarantee public health and safety. The stuff in question includes numerous radioactive tracers from medical ana industrial activities, and even things like gloves, utensils,^ clothing and other things which have become radioactive. Some of this material will remain radioactive for 300 years or more, so it’s likely to lead to tough decision-making process-

es.

You can make your interest known to Assemblyman Bennett at 31 W. Main St., Freehold 07728, or to DEP representative Steven Kuhrtz, Director, Division of Environmental Quality, Box CN-027, Trenton 08625. You can also request mailings of material related to this process hy contracting KuhrU. t David V. Moore is executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. y

March For Peace

Set Saturday

CAPE MAY - Fr. Richard McSorley S.J., professor of theology at Georgetown University, will be the main speaker &t the 2nd Annual Peace March and Rally here, sponsored by the Jersey Cape Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament. Fr. McSorely is director of a Washington based center for Peace Study and has written several books on peace. Also speaking will be Rev. Dr. Kenheth Carpenter of the First Baptist Church in Wild-

wood.

The march will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, in commemoration of the bombing qf Hiroshima. Marchers will assemble at the Lafayette Street School, proceeding through town, down the boardwalk,

and up through the Victorian Mall. A rally will be held at the Bandstand Park directly behind the Mall immediately following the march, at approximately, 3:30 p.m. Music will be - provided by Jim Maher, as well as dramatic readings by a local group. The two major objectives of the march and rally are to draw attention to November’s ballot question concerning a freeze as well as to demonstrate local grass-root support for this international cause. In case ot rain, a rally will be held at the United Methodist Church on Washington Ave. For further information contact Joanne Newell at 398-

House OKs Safeguards

WASHINGTON. D. C. - The House of Represen tatives has overwhelmingly passed legislation sponsored by Congressman Bill Hughes (D-NJ) to strengthen the nation’s laws governing the security of nuclear materials. "With the tremendous scientific advances of recent years, the technology for making nuclear weapons can often be found in the average college library,” Hughes said. "Accordingly, it is more important than even before to keep the

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materials for such weapons under the strictest possible controls.” THE LEGISLATION, approved by a vote of 385 to 9, makes it a Federal of fense to divert, use or threaten to use, nuclear materials for illegal purposes such as blackmail or extortion. The bill also allows Department of Defense personnel to lend their expertise in protecting the security of nuclear materials, and enforcing other provisions of the measure. "Over the past 10 years, there have been 50 threats involving nuclear materials, but fortunately all but one.turned out to be a complete hbax," Hughes said. "Nevertheless, we must make every possible effort to make sure that nuclear matlrials do, not fall intoAjhe hands of criminals^V radicals, a lunatic or #en a terrorist organization. Under an amendment offered by * Hughes and approved in the House Judiciary Committee, an individual could receive up to life imprisonment for a violation that resulted in serious bodily injury or death

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