Chem-Nuclear Systems, L.L.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Duratek, Inc., operates a commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal facility located on 235 acres in Barnwell County, South Carolina.

Barnwell Disposal Site
Access for Fiscal Year 2005

Effective July 1, 2004, the Barnwell site will receive radioactive waste from generators, brokers and processors, with valid DHEC permits, without the need for individual
“importation authorizations” or “special disposal rate agreements.”
We are continuing to explore options for disposal access agreements with specific generators and waste brokers and processors. Pending those decisions and until further
notice, waste generators may continue to ship waste to the disposal site.

On July 1, 2000, South Carolina joined the Northeast Compact, thereby forming the Atlantic Compact with Connecticut, New Jersey and South Carolina as member states. The South Carolina Budget and Control Board establishes and adjusts the rate schedules for disposal of radioactive waste at the Barnwell Facility. Disposal rates for waste generated within the Atlantic Compact cannot exceed disposal rates available to waste generators outside the compact. The South Carolina Public Service Commission approves the allowable costs for disposal operations. For more information on the SC Radioactive Waste Disposal Program.

Chem-Nuclear's Barnwell, South Carolina, waste management facility is the only commercial Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) disposal facility in America that has operated without regulatory interruption. The 235-acre facility occupies property owned by the State of South Carolina and leased to Chem-Nuclear Systems. The Barnwell Waste Management Facility operates under the authority of Radioactive Material License 097 issued by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). Since the disposal facility began operation in 1971, about 28 million cubic feet or 90% of the available disposal volume has been used.

Many people aren't aware of all the ways we as a society rely on radioactive material to improve our lives, from medical treatments and scientific research to the production of electricity. The LLRW contained at the Barnwell site is the by-product of these essential and sometimes life-saving services.
Much of low-level radioactive waste looks like ordinary trash. It consists of contaminated wood, concrete, glass, metal, fabric, paper and resins. All waste accepted for disposal must be in a dry, solid form. No liquid waste is accepted for disposal. No toxic chemical waste or high-level radioactive wastes, such as spent fuel from nuclear reactors, are accepted at the disposal site.