Republicans say plutonium bill is ready

Posted 7:51PM on Saturday 27th April 2002 ( 23 years ago )

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - U.S. Rep Lindsey Graham says all he needs is Gov. Jim Hodges approval and he can get a deal through Congress nearly guaranteeing plutonium shipped from Colorado won't stay in the state indefinitely. A spokesman for the Democratic governor says he appreciates the bipartisan effort led by the Republican representative. But Jay Reiff says some details still must be worked out with the U.S. Energy Department before Hodges supports Graham's bill. The legislation would fine the federal government $1 million a day starting in 2011 if at least 1 ton of the weapons-grade plutonium has not been made into fuel for nuclear reactors at the Savannah River Site. The government would have to move the plutonium or speed up the conversion to stop the fines. The penalties would be capped at $100 million a year. The fines would start again in Jan. 1, 2017 if all the plutonium is not converted. The penalties would continue at the same rate and with the same cap until all the nuclear material is out of the state. Graham, who was flanked by fellow Republicans Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler and South Carolina House Speaker David Wilkins, said Saturday that fellow state delegation member and Democrat U.S. Rep John Spratt also plans to support the bill. The Energy Department also likes the bill, spokesman Joe Davis said. ``We hope they can get the governor to sign on to it,'' he said. All the bipartisanship is fine, Reiff said, but the governor still isn't completely ready to sign off on the proposal. Hodges, who has vowed to lay down in the streets to stop plutonium from entering South Carolina, wants nothing shipped from Rocky Flats facility in Colorado until the agreement passes Congress and is signed by the president. Graham said with the support of Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., that could happen by the end of May, but Reiff said he expects it to be closer to the middle of the summer. The Energy Department says it can start shipping the plutonium on May 15, although Graham said he expects the agency will delay shipments by at least a week if his deal moves forward. Hodges also disagrees with when the fines should start, and he wants better assurances the deal can pass through the Senate, Reiff said. ``This is not a done deal, but we've made progress,'' Reiff said. Graham said he had been meeting with the governor and other Republican and Democratic leaders throughout the weekend trying to hammer out the agreement. Graham, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the retiring Thurmond, said Hodges was right in his stance in wanting a binding agreement to guarantee the plutonium would leave the state in some form. Peeler, who is running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination to face Hodges in November, and Wilkins agreed and urged the governor to take the last step and sign on to the compromise. ``Political grandstanding doesn't get anything done, but political leadership does,'' Wilkins said. Hodges had state troopers and transport police practice blocking a tractor trailer trying to enter SRS on Monday.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/195430