The Nuclear Regulatory Commission may be a few months away from approving a license for the possession of depleted uranium at Pohakuloa Training Area and Schofield Barracks.
NRC spokeswoman Maureen Conley said Friday the license for the Army could be approved around August assuming that the agency receives all the information it has requested.
“Once we issue a license we would want to go out to the sites … and take a look around,” she said.
The NRC held its second hearing on the draft license Thursday in Maryland.
During the meeting, Conley said the agency requested the Army provide a radiation protection plan, among other requests.
The Army applied for a license in 2008 to cover contamination from the previous use of depleted uranium, but has maintained it doesn’t believe one is required.
Rounds with depleted uranium, a dense, weakly radioactive alloy, were used at both sites in the 1960s to mimic the trajectory of the M101 Davy Crockett nuclear warhead.
Lt. Col. Eric Shwedo, PTA garrison commander, said a training ban for the use of depleted uranium will keep it from being used in the future.
The NRC issued its draft license last July.
About a year earlier, it issued a “notice of violation” for the presence of depleted uranium at PTA and Oahu’s Schofield Barracks.
It did not enforce a civil penalty.
Jim Albertini, a critic of the military, wrote in a press release following the meeting that the license would allow the Army to bomb “radiation contaminated bases.” He didn’t immediately return a request for further comment.
At PTA, located on the Big Island, training exercises are not allowed in areas where depleted uranium had been used, Shwedo said.
The license would require the Army to notify the NRC within 14 working days before firing high-explosive munitions in those areas.
The agreement also requires air and soil monitoring outside the training area.
It covers management of contaminated areas but not cleanup.
“That’s in the future. We really haven’t gotten that far yet,” said Clint German, safety and occupational health manager for the Army in Hawaii.
“We’re still trying to get the license to possess it.”
The license would last until Dec. 31, 2022.
It’s also anticipated to cover an additional 14 sites on the mainland.
