Concern over plutonium program

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - The agency that oversees the nation&#39;s commercial nuclear reactors says there is no guarantee that a controversial federal program to turn plutonium from nuclear weapons into fuel for reactors will ever start. <br> <br> The Nuclear Regulatory Commission expressed its concerns in a memorandum filed in a relicensing case last week. South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges&#39; office says it validates his fight to keep federal shipments of plutonium out of the state, a fight that could lead to a showdown with federal officials next month. <br> <br> The regulatory agency agreed with Duke Energy Corporation, which also worries whether a program to convert the plutonium at the Savannah River Site will fail before it begins. The Savannah River Site is south of Aiken, near the Georgia state line. <br> <br> Company spokesman Tom Shiel said Duke Energy&#39;s concerns were filed as part of the utility&#39;s plans to relicense several nuclear power plants that would use the new form of fuel made from weapons-grade plutonium. The new nuclear fuel is called mixed oxide or MOX. <br> <br> In its memo, the NRC wrote that agency officials ``see no reason to doubt Duke&#39;s statement that its submittal of a MOX license amendment application is uncertain.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Cortney Owings, Hodges&#39; spokeswoman, said the NRC and Duke misgivings about the feasibility of converting to use of MOX validate Governor Hodges&#39; position against allowing plutonium into the state. <br> <br> Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has said his intention is to begin shipments of 76 trailer loads of plutonium from the former nuclear weapons facility in Rocky Flats, Colorado, to South Carolina shortly after May 15. The shipments would continue through June 2003.

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