Archivist
University of South Carolina
1322 Greene St.
Columbia, SC 29208
Nuclear Waste
Nuclear waste has long been a contr
oversial topic in South Carolina politics. While many laud nuclear facilities for the jobs and tax revenue they bring into the state, politicians and citizens alike have voiced environmental pollution and human safety concerns related to handling these materials. In the past four decades, four state laws have been passed regulating transportation and storage of nuclear waste within the state. In addition, legislation has limited the use of Barnwell Nuclear Reprocessing Plant in Barnwell County, the state's nuclear waste disposal facility, removing it from its place in the Southeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact to limit the influx of out-of-state nuclear waste. Despite this, the Barnwell Plant continues to accept waste from Connecticut and New Jersey facilities as a part of the Atlantic Compact.
Diagram from "Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant" of the Mary T. Kelly Papers, South Carolina Political Collections, University of South Carolina. Click to expand.
Collection Connections
- Blatt, Solomon (1895-1986)Box 5. Some information about the Barnwell Nuclear Reprocessing Plant.
- Campbell, Carroll A., Jr. (1940-2005)Boxes 5, 21, 23, 25. Some clippings on the South Carolina Nuclear Waste Consultation Committee, spent nuclear fuel, and other hazardous waste, as well as a speech to the 1990 Joint Conference on Hazardous Waste Production.
- Derrick, Butler (1936-2014)Boxes 8, 12, 19-20, 22, 25, 32, 36, 54, 61-62, 74, 78, 91. Information on the Barnwell Nuclear Reprocessing Plant, waste at the Savannah River Site, the Southeast Low-Level Waste Compact, and other regional low-level waste compacts, as well as general information on radioactive waste. Derrick was a member of the South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Board during his term in the S.C. House of Representatives.
- Holland, Donald H. (1928-2003)Box 9. Some general information on nuclear waste.
- Hollings, Ernest F. "Fritz" (1922-2019)Gubernatorial Box 19; Senate Boxes 100, 119, 146, 199, 232-233, 271, 303, 326, 461, 509, 558, 689-690, 693, 724, 748-749, 756, 770. Information on Barnwell Nuclear Reprocessing Plant, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and the Savannah River Plant. Includes audio and video recordings.
- Kelly, Mary T. (1923-2013)Boxes 3-4, 6-7, 9-13, 18. Information on the Pinewood Hazardous Waste Facility, the South Carolina Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Task Forces, Waste Management Inc., and waste at the Savannah River Site as well as cleanup and hazardous waste management.
- Keyserling, Harriet H. (1922-2010)Boxes 6, 14-19, 22, 24, 36, 41, 44-46. Information on the Barnwell Nuclear Reprocessing Plant, the Southeast Compact for Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management, various South Carolina nuclear waste boards and committees, and nuclear waste at the Savannah River Site, as well as monitored retrievable storage, ocean dumping, out-of-state, overseas, and transportation of nuclear waste. Includes a video cassette. Keyserling was on S.C. Congress' Advisory Panel on Nuclear Waste Disposal from 1979-1982, and became the chair of the South Carolina House Energy Committee in 1991.
- League of Women Voters of Columbia/Richland CountyBox 13. General information on hazardous waste.
- League of Women Voters of South CarolinaBoxes 28, 30-31. Includes information on the Barnwell Nuclear Reprocessing Plant and waste at the Savannah River Site.
- Republican Party of South CarolinaBox 31. Some information about the Barnwell Nuclear Reprocessing Plant and waste at the Savannah River Site.
- Waites, Candy Yaghjian (b. 1943)Boxes 2-3, 7-8. Information on the Barnwell Nuclear Reprocessing Plant, waste management at the Savannah River Site, as well as monitored retrievable storage and environmental impact. Waites was a member of the South Carolina House Nuclear Waste Consultation Committee.