AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA - With a court order keeping Governor Jim Hodges at bay, Energy Department shipments of weapons-grade plutonium could begin rolling into the Savannah River Site this weekend. <br>
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And while some area residents may be questioning their safety a little more now than in years past, many say they're not concerned since much of the radioactive material was made at SRS. <br>
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A retired nuclear scientist, Mal McKibben, said ``We never hurt a grasshopper or an earthworm, much less a person with plutonium. It's a very safe history of the site and the community knows that. And we've always been open and honest to the community.'' <br>
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McKibben, a 45-year SRS employee and executive director of the Citizens for Nuclear Technology Alliance, said SRS is better equipped to handle the plutonium than any facility in the country since the site produced tons of nuclear material for bombs during the Cold War. <br>
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The Department of Energy made the same argument last week when a federal judge sided with the agency in the lawsuit Hodges filed to try to stop the shipments. <br>
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DOE is cleaning up and closing its Rocky Flats site near Denver. About 6.5 tons of plutonium is to be trucked from Colorado to South Carolina.
