DOE to stop trying to bring Hanford sludge to New Mexico

[struggle4progress]

The U.S. Department of Energy has agreed to stop trying to move radioactive sludge from its Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant here.

Under a deal reached with the state of New Mexico, the DOE could apply for future permission to bring the sludge to the state, but the state would have the legal right to reject it.

Don Hancock, head of the Nuclear Waste Safety Project at the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, said the agreement would give the state veto power.
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State Environment Secretary Ron Curry said the deal is the best way to ensure that the waste never comes to New Mexico.
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=NM%20WIPP%20Sludge