Low-Level Risk; Red-Hot Debate

Members of the Memphis City Council might have to work harder than usual for their paychecks next month.

Applications for special-use permits allowing the storage and incineration of low-level radioactive waste on Presidents Island could be challenging.

Council members could throw up their hands, note that there aren’t enough scientists at the dais and tell applicants to try their luck in someone else’s back yard.

That’s essentially the exit ramp taken by the Land Use Control Board on July 14 when it voted 6-0 to recommend that the permits be denied.

The issue, after all, has an undeniable political dimension. It has ignited protests among environmentalists and neighborhood activists.

It touches on longstanding complaints that residential neighborhoods on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder often don’t get the respect they deserve when environmentally hazardous facilities are licensed.

It would be easy for the council, scheduled to hear arguments Aug. 16, to turn down both applications for political reasons and quickly move on to the next item.

A more difficult approach would require reading studies, listening to experts on both sides and making an informed decision based on scientific research and history.

On that score, the applicant – Radiological Assistance, Consulting and Engineering (RACE) – has an advantage.

There is no compelling evidence that the anticipated level of radioactivity to be released by the plant poses a significant risk to residents of the area or the general public. That’s not to say there is no risk. But the lack of hard evidence that a significant risk exists brings other factors into the equation.

RACE has been in operation at Presidents Island since 2001, performing one of modern industry’s difficult but necessary tasks: the decontamination of low-level radioactive waste from hospitals, research laboratories and nuclear power plants.

Hospitals and research labs, including those in Memphis, could not exist without this service. The city’s aspirations in the field of biomedicine are closely tied to it.

Something else to consider: The processing of radioactive waste is not and will never be the only risk-producing activity routinely accepted in Memphis.

Would it be fair to the company’s investors, managers and employees to deny their application for special-use permits without a more inclusive evaluation of risks in the urban environment?

Such an assessment would have to include a long list of facilities in Memphis that are licensed to handle radioactive materials, the shipments of chemicals and other hazardous materials that roll through town on trucks and railroad cars, perhaps even those 6,400-pound SUVs that rumble along the interstates at 65 miles an hour.

If all of this makes City Council members anxious about their upcoming decision, that’s good. It means they’re taking the job seriously.

No-brainers come along once in a while, but this is not one of them.

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Politics informs waste disposal issue

A fair decision on RACE will require more than just a reaction to angry constituents.

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