Rancho Seco Nuke Plant Victory

Bridge the Gap and the Sierra Club recently discovered a proposed contract by which radioactive wastes from decommissioning the Rancho Seco nuclear plant would be sent out of state for disposal in landfills not licensed or designed for radioactive waste.  This would effectively bypass a victory by CBG in state court several years ago that overturned a regulation that would have permitted such unlicensed dumping in California, and an administrative moratorium on such practices in the state that we got adopted.  CBG and the Sierra Club filed a complaint with the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) Board, which resulted in a reversal by SMUD and a commitment not to send radioactive waste to unlicensed disposal sites [click here to see SMUD’s response].  This victory is important not only for our region, but more broadly, since other radwaste generators would likely have used “SMUD does it” as an excuse for exploiting the same loophole.

• See CBG/Sierra Club Complaint to SMUD Board (click here)
• See the SMUD Board’s response letter (click here)