A nearly completed nuclear waste repository in Texas will be receiving low-level radioactive waste from 15 utilities across the U.S.

Waste Control Specialists in Dallas signed an agreement with Utilities Service Alliance, a cooperative of 15 U.S. utilities, to dispose of the waste at the Texas Compact repository, subject to regulatory approvals. The Texas House of Representatives voted to allow WCS to dispose of waste from states outside of the compact, including Texas, Vermont and Maine.

The waste is generally lightly contaminated, such as paper, rags, tools and filters from the industry as well as the nuclear fuel cycle and is suitable for burial in shallow land. Low-level waste is categorized into three classes that must be kept up to 500 years.

The facility is scheduled to be completed Nov. 11 and disposal is expected to begin the following month.

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