Mar 30 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Mike Gellatly Aiken Standard, S.C.



The federal government's game plan for the "political football" of nuclear waste are contrary to long-term promises made to the Savannah River area and its history of patriotism and sacrifice, according to the head of a the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO).

In candid remarks at the first meeting of the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, Rick McLeod, executive director of SRSCRO, described the legacy of the Savannah River area and how his organization felt the site's tending of nuclear waste was not being represented on the panel or by the energy secretary's plans.

"Our history is one of patriotism and sacrifice. ... We believed we had a trusted partner in the federal government which needed trained minds, willing hands and committed spirits fully dedicated to defending our nation," McLeod said. "Today, that partnership is in question. In our view, the Department of Energy has broken faith with the people of the Savannah River region and with other communities who, like us, trusted the government's promise. We do not intend to be timid or reticent on this subject. We did our part; our community has lived with nuclear waste for over 50 years. We expect the government to do theirs -- move the waste to a permanent repository."

In his remarks, McLeod laid out three suggestions to improve the work of the panel that is expected to make proposals on the nation's nuclear future. First, he insisted that weapons complex sites, such as the Savannah River Site, have formal input to the process.

 "What your panel recommends will impact us in the nuclear communities more than any other group," he said. "Fairness dictates that we have more than casual input."

The commission, announced in January by Energy Secretary Steven Chu, convened late last week to discuss the future of the nuclear energy sector in the United States following the Obama administration's move to close the Yucca Mountain project. The mandate of the panel was to look for a solution, but the panel is barred from having Yucca be a part of that solution -- a decision that has raised the ire of many.

"Yucca Mountain is the only known means to dispose of high level waste, and it must not be discarded unless and until a better disposal option has been determined and verified," McLeod said, making his second suggestion.

Yucca Mountain, a site slated for completion in 2017 but repeatedly delayed, was effectively canceled by the Obama administration after it cut off funding for the project in its budget proposal last month. It was to be the home of the country's high-level nuclear waste and spent reactor fuel. The closing of Yucca has been panned by politicians at all levels in South Carolina.

McLeod's third focus was the processing of nuclear waste in order to reduce the total amount of material that will eventually need to be stored, but that still required the Yucca project to be completed.

"The need for a Yucca Mountain capability varies with the processing option to be developed; however, even if spent nuclear fuel process is chosen as an option, a permanent high-level waste disposal option will still be required," McLeod said.

The panel met Thursday and Friday and began their discussion with a history of the nuclear waste issue, where the waste is produced and now stored. Chu opened the meeting with remarks urging the panel to look forward to new solutions rather than focusing on previous work.

"We're at a different place than we were some 25 years ago," Chu said. "Right now, I think it's fair to say that it's not only a possibility but a likelihood that we will be restarting the nuclear industry in the U.S."

Contact Mike Gellatly at mgellatly@aikenstandard.com.

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