After plutonium arrives from Japan, Haley, Wilson still want nuclear materials out of S.C.

By Thomas Gardiner, Aiken Standard, S.C.

June 08--As unloaded nuclear carriers left Charleston on Monday, leaving behind about 331 kilograms of plutonium at Savannah River Site, South Carolina leaders had a message for the U.S. Department of Energy -- this state is not a nuclear dumping ground.

Gov.
Nikki Haley said Tuesday, "Today's news is another reminder that the Department of Energy has not lived up to its promises, and we will not back down: South Carolina will not be a permanent dumping ground for nuclear waste."

Haley penned a letter to U.S. Secretary of Energy
Ernest Moniz on March 23, the day after plutonium was reported on board the nuclear carriers Pacific Heron and Pacific Egret leaving Japan. In the letter, Haley explained that the Energy Department's decision to accept the shipment put South Carolina at risk of becoming a permanent nuclear dumping ground.

She wrote, "It is imperative to the safety of our citizens and our environment that South Carolina not allow this to happen."

Haley ended the letter by asking Moniz to stop the shipment or re-route it. This week's acceptance of the shipment from Japan shows the Energy Department did not comply.

Within days of that letter, a record of decision was issued by the Energy Department concerning 13.1 metric tons of "surplus" plutonium the department has been trying to deal with.

According to that decision, 6 metric tons is expected to be processed at Savannah River Site in preparation for long-term disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Another state leader, U.S. Rep.
Joe Wilson, R-S.C., focused on the plutonium pathway out of South Carolina.

"As the only member of Congress who has worked at the Savannah River Site, I support the mission of SRS. I appreciate that there is a clear plan for the disposition of the material so South Carolina is not a dumping ground for nuclear waste," he said.

According to Wilson's communications director,
Leacy Burke, the missions at SRS in the Second Congressional District of South Carolina have always been a priority for Wilson.

The record of decision announcing that pathway out of the state excluded about 7.1 metric tons of plutonium also stored at the site.

That material is subject to a non-proliferation agreement with Russia and is set to be processed through the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication facility, or MOX, should construction be completed. With MOX funding in legislative limbo, it is unclear if that will happen.

The Department of Energy has threatened to scrap the MOX project in favor of the so-called dilute-and-dispose method, which also would send the processed materials to WIPP.

U.S. Sen.
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called the National Nuclear Security Administration's plan to mothball the project "lousy."

The Aiken Standard requested a response to the plutonium shipment's arrival from Graham's office, but hadn't received a statement by press time.

The MOX facility has been called years past deadline and billions over budget, and it spawned an ongoing lawsuit between South Carolina and the Department of Energy. That lawsuit began when the MOX project remained unfinished after deadline and the department failed to remove the required 1 metric ton of plutonium from the state by Jan. 1, 2016.

Haley's office said it will not back down from the lawsuit and that the plutonium currently slated to be processed and sent to New Mexico has no impact on the MOX project. A hearing for the suit is scheduled for June 30.

Thomas Gardiner is the SRS beat reporter for the Aiken Standard. Follow him on Twitter @TGardiner_AS.

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