Jun. 13--It lands in the same dump, gets mixed in the same cells, is hauled in the same types of containers. But all Class A low-level radioactive waste is not created equal.

While classified as a low-level waste by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, depleted uranium has a characteristic that separates it from the rest of the Class A waste crowd: While other low-level wastes decay quickly and are no longer considered hazardous after 100 years, depleted uranium keeps getting hotter and hotter and hotter.

It's that characteristic that has the Utah Radiation Control Board showing due diligence, and pondering either a temporary or permanent moratorium to prevent EnergySolutions from accepting more of the material at its low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Tooele County.

The NRC recently confirmed the de facto designation of depleted uranium -- the leftovers from the process in which uranium is enriched to make fuel for nuclear power plants -- as Class A waste. But the agency attached an asterisk.

Federal regulators are currently developing special site-specific disposal criteria for the material, which could restrict disposal of 11 tons or more in shallow landfills like EnergySolutions' dump.

The company has already burdened Utah with at least 49 tons of the material, which decays into more-radioactive and easily-dispersed isotopes over time, exceeding Class A standards after 35,000 years and reaching its maximum

danger in 1 million years. That fact could cause the NRC to reclassify depleted uranium upon completion of a comprehensive study of its waste classification system.

Until the NRC issues its findings, and because the material is dangerous for many millennia, it behooves state regulators to close the door to depleted uranium, at least temporarily. But, in order to adopt the moratorium, the control board must leap a high hurdle put in place by the Utah Legislature 22 years ago.

Under the "No-More-Stringent" law, state environmental regulations cannot be more restrictive than federal requirements unless state regulators can prove that public health and safety will suffer. James Holtkamp, an attorney for EnergySolutions, delivered what could be construed as a veiled threat to the board, cautioning that, under the Utah law, justifying a moratorium constitutes "a fairly high bar."

It's important that the state Radiation Control Board members not be intimidated by the industry it was formed to regulate, and to remember that depleted uranium will be deadly long after they're gone. They need to safeguard all Utahns -- the living, and the yet-to-be born.

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