Idaho Gives Lukewarm
OK on Plutonium Plan
August 30, 2005 — By Christopher Smith, Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — The state of Idaho is
supporting a U.S. Department of Energy proposal to start producing
plutonium-238 for NASA and national security agencies at the federal
nuclear research compound in eastern Idaho.
But in comments submitted Monday to the Energy Department, the state
called on the Bush administration to spell out a plan to transfer the
highly radioactive waste created at the Idaho National Laboratory to
disposal sites out of state. And the state wants the DOE to allow
independent monitoring of air emissions and workplace safety at the
proposed $300 million production facility.
With those caveats, the administration of Gov. Dirk Kempthorne said it
will endorse the federal government's plan to consolidate U.S.
production of plutonium-238 "space batteries" at the 890-square-mile
complex outside of Idaho Falls.
"It's a concept we can support, but there are some details that still
need to be worked out and DOE needs to improve some of its evaluation
and communication," said Kathleen Trever, Kempthorne's coordinator for
INL oversight.
During a series of hearings earlier this summer around the state, public
comment was generally opposed to the plan to begin the first U.S.
production of plutonium-238 since the Energy Department shut down a
weapons reactor at the Savannah River complex in South Carolina in the
mid-1990s.
Unlike plutonium-239, plutonium-238 is not used in nuclear weapons. But
because of the heat it generates during a lengthy decay period, the
highly toxic material is used as a long-lasting power supply for
deep-space satellites and in surveillance devices that are placed
underwater or on land.
Because existing U.S. stockpiles are dwindling and treaties prevent the
use of Russian-made plutonium-238 in national security applications, the
Bush administration wants to use the existing Advanced Test Reactor at
INL to make 11 pounds of plutonium-238 annually for 35 years, beginning
in 2010.
The federal government wants to consolidate all the production,
manufacture and development of the space batteries at the Idaho complex
to reduce the security risk from shuttling portions of the batteries
among existing assembly and production facilities at national
laboratories in Tennessee, New Mexico and Idaho.
The production process would create about 95 55-gallon drums each year
of "transuranic" waste -- plutonium-contaminated gloves, tools, rags and
other radioactive rubbish.
In the state's 19-page letter, sent Monday to the Energy Department's
Washington, D.C. headquarters, Trever said DOE officials have offered
conflicting statements on whether the Idaho waste would be classified as
a byproduct of nuclear defense activities and therefore eligible for
burial at the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) in New Mexico. The
confusion over disposal plans has been "damaging to DOE's credibility on
a matter of key interest to Idaho," she wrote.
Idaho officials want written assurances from the agency that any waste
created by the plutonium project will be shipped out of state rather
than left atop the Snake River Aquifer, which is the major source of
irrigation and drinking water for more than 10,000 square miles of
southeastern Idaho. The state won't issue the necessary environmental
permits for the plutonium project until the exit strategy for the
nuclear waste is clearly outlined, Trever wrote.
The state also told DOE construction can't begin until a formal plan for
independent monitoring of the plutonium battery project is in place.
"Even when the balance between open government and national security
favors secrecy, we need independent oversight to protect human health
and the environment," the state's letter to DOE said.
Trever said the state will review its own environmental monitoring and
detection systems to determine whether it has the equipment and
expertise necessary to independently verify DOE's own claims of safe
operation.
Source: Associated Press |