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The administration of Donald Trump reportedly has plans to reclassify high-level radioactive waste spread around the United States. It would make cheaper and easier to dispose of. The AP has reported that the Department of Energy aims to re-label high-level radioactive waste left over from the production of nuclear weapons as low-level. The high-level radioactive waste is currently defined as a byproduct of fuel reprocessing or from nuclear reactors. Low-level waste represents around 90% of all such waste. The American Nuclear Society has indicated that it generally comes from facilities, such as nuclear power stations, and local hospitals.

These items often include wipes, clothes, and plastic. More than 90,000 metric tons of nuclear waste is being temporarily stored in the U.S as successive administrations have confronted to find a long-term solution. Storing nuclear waste safely presents a number of challenges. It needs to be protected from natural disasters, and stopped from seeping into the surrounding water and soil. The AP reported that the agency said the reclassification would shave $40 billion off the cost of cleaning up after the production of nuclear weapons. An official at the Department of Energy informed the press that it is requesting public comment on its interpretation of the meaning of the statutory term of high-level radioactive waste through the federal register.

It will be done after the consultation on reports and recommendations by outside entities, including the Government Accountability Office, Energy Communities Alliance, National Research Council, MIT, and the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Energy Future. The official said, “At this time, DOE is not making and has not made any decisions on the classification or disposal of any particular waste stream”. They didn’t confirm reports the move would save $40 billion, or whether it was a cost-cutting exercise. The most affected facilities will be the country’s most highly contaminated: the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State; which takes up an area half the size of Rhode Island. Opened in 1943, the site produced the plutonium for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.