March 2002

New Jersey Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility Siting Board

2001 Accomplishments:

• The Board has continued to work with and monitor the activities of the Atlantic Interstate Low Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact (consisting of representation from New Jersey, Connecticut and South Carolina). Since the formation of this compact, the generators of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) in New Jersey and Connecticut now have long-term access to the disposal facility in Barnwell, South Carolina, and South Carolina is able to exclude waste not generated in New Jersey, Connecticut or South Carolina.
• The Board has also worked with the New Jersey State Legislature to amend the New Jersey Siting Act to terminate the Siting Board by June 30, 2002 since disposal facility oversight is now the responsibility of South Carolina. Bill A4031 was introduced to the New Jersey State Legislature on December 13, 2001. Required LLRW activities will be transferred to the NJDEP when and if this proposed amendment is passed.
• The Siting Board held eight public meetings in the year 2001. The September 6, 2001 meeting included representation from a number of generators of LLRW in New Jersey, the Atlantic Compact and the South Carolina Budget and Control Board.
• The Board prepared a budget to reflect the resources needed for its continuing legislative mandates. These include: monitoring the disposal alternatives in the nation for the purpose of determining the future need for a disposal facility in New Jersey, providing educational materials regarding low-level radioactive waste to the public, and supporting the activities of the Atlantic Compact. The FY-02 budget was adopted on March 8, 2001.
• Two workshops on the uses of radioactive materials, "I'm Radioactive, Are You?" were presented to 27 middle school science teachers in July in Bordentown, NJ and Montclair, NJ. NJDEP staff worked with three handpicked science teachers to facilitate the 3½ days of theory, games, demonstrations, discussions, films and handouts. NJDEP staff made presentations on the uses and safety considerations of radioactive material and radioactivity and participated in group discussions. Tours of the Wyeth-Ayerst and Hoffman La Roche research facilities, which use radioactive materials, were also included.
• NJDEP staff provided consultation on Siting Board issues at the New Jersey Science Teachers Association annual convention.
• Approximately $2 million of the fees assessed and collected from generators of LLRW in New Jersey were returned to the generators in the same proportion as each contributed to the Disposal Fund. 173 checks were sent to facilities that paid assessments.

2002 Agenda:

• The Board supports the efforts of the Legislature to dissolve the Board and transfer all necessary activities to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
• The Board will continue to interact with and support the activities of the Atlantic Compact in its role to ensure safe reliable disposal of LLRW produced in this region.
• In addition, the Board will continue to monitor the overall national developments in the management of low-level radioactive waste and to keep New Jersey generators aware of any new developments.
• The Board will continue to track the management of LLRW in New Jersey, including annual projections of the disposal volume from New Jersey generators. This will be used by the Atlantic Compact to allocate sufficient disposal volume for compact generators.
• The Board will seek to promote greater public knowledge of the management of LLRW. Although safe management technologies now exist for handling, storing, and disposing of this waste, the general public has not reached a level of understanding and confidence that this can be accomplished in a manner that protects public health and safety. To partially satisfy this goal, Board members and NJDEP staff will work with select science teachers to develop and present summer workshops. These workshops will assist middle school science teachers in the delivery of grade-level appropriate factual information about radiation and radioactive waste disposal in support of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards in Science.

Expenditures for Fiscal Year 2001 (July 1, 2000 – June 30, 2001)

Disposal Facility Siting Board

• Paul E. Wyszkowski, P.E., Chair, Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, retired manager
• Marlen Dooley, Esq. or Gerald P. Nicholls, Ph.D., New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, representing Commissioner Bradley Campbell
• Michael F. Lakat, New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services, representing Commissioner Clifton R. Lacy, M.D.
• Bonnie Magnuson, League of Women Voters
• Richard J. McGoey, Enercon Services, Inc, representing GPU Nuclear
• Robert P. McKeever, Global Power Systems, Inc., resigned
• Leland Merrill, Ph.D., Former Trustee, New Jersey Audubon Society
• James A. Shissias, Public Service Electric & Gas
• Theodore J. Stahl, M.D., Clinical Professor of Radiology and Medicine UMDNJ, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• K. David Steidley, Ph.D., St. Barnabas Medical Center, resigned
• Joseph Stencel, Ph.D., Rutgers University, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

 

• Richard K. Olsson, Ph.D., Rutgers University, Emeritus Professor of Geology
• James Clancy, Public Service Electric & Gas
• Thomas M. Dempsey, P.E., Enercon Services, Inc, representing GPU Nuclear
• William G. Dressel, Jr., New Jersey State League of Municipalities
• Donald L. Fauerbach, New Jersey Conference of Mayors
• Leslie G. London, Esq., McManimon & Scotland
• William McGrath, Bristol-Myers Squibb
• Lauren H. Moore, Atlantic County Planning Department
• Herbert W. Roeschke, Cumberland/Salem Department of Health
• John M. Simon, Esq., Wolff & Samson