Law sets timetables for removal of plutonium at SRS

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Posted 7:20PM on Monday, December 2, 2002

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - President Bush signed a defense bill Monday that sets timetables for the removal of plutonium at the Savannah River Site near Aiken and fines the U.S. Energy Department if plutonium processing programs fail to meet goals. The department plans to build a facilities at SRS that will convert 34 tons of plutonium into a mixed-oxide fuel, or MOX, that can be used in commercial nuclear reactors. DOE embraced the MOX plan of disposing plutonium as it cleans up a Rocky Flats facility in Colorado. U.S. Sen.-elect and U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. authored a plutonium provision bill and fought to have it inserted into the defense bill. ``The legislation provides unprecedented protections for the state,'' said Graham, who worked closely with U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond on the provision. ``It has a requirement that all plutonium leave the state at a date certain if the MOX program fails and those requirements are backed by unprecedented financial penalties for noncompliance.'' But Gov. Jim Hodges, who threatened to lie down in the road to block the plutonium shipments, wasn't thrilled about the new law. ``This legislation is not a solution, however, it is a step in the right direction,'' Hodges' spokesman Cortney Owings said. ``Basically, it's better than nothing.'' But ``it gives no certainty that plutonium will leave our state,'' Owings said. Greenpeace International's Tom Clements said some good things could come from the legislation, but he said it was passed to appeased concerned politicians and ``the fines are so far out into the end of the decade that they will never be applied.'' Owings agreed the fines may never happen. ``The remaining plutonium is not addressed until 2017,'' she said. ``That's a long period of time for plutonium to be sitting with an uncertain path in our state.'' ``I think this bill is not based in reality regarding the current situation,'' Clements said. Clements said some positives from the bill would be if it produces a timeline for the program and addresses Russia's plutonium disposition program. ``It's going to have to address what's going on in Russia and right now there's not much going on there,'' Clements said. ``I tend to think that report will not be based on reality and won't present the timeline for the Russian program.'' The key elements of the bill include: A requirement that the Secretary of Energy report to Congress on the progress of the MOX program. Program failure could not be hidden and Congress could act to protect the state. If the program is not producing MOX fuel on schedule (by 2009), the Department of Energy must within two years produce one ton of MOX or remove one ton of plutonium from the state. A failure to meet this requirement results in a $1 million per day up to $100 million per year fee until the requirement is met. By 2017, if the MOX program is not successfully operating, then all remaining plutonium must be removed immediately. In addition, a fee of $1 million per day up to $100 million per year will be assessed during the removal period to make sure the nuclear material is removed quickly. Even if the government pays the maximum fees, it will still be required to remove all plutonium. Hodges also has sued DOE to block the radioactive material from entering the state. Hodges' lawsuit said Energy officials had not conducted the proper environmental studies on the safety of shipping plutonium to SRS. The governor lost the lawsuit in U.S. District Court and the appeal to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The lawsuit is now on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to decide early next year whether to hear the case. If Hodges' term expires before the high court decides to hear the case, it's unclear what would happen to the lawsuit. ``We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,'' Owings said.