Don't Waste Oregon Caucus
3959 NE 42nd St.
Portland, OR 97213
Plutonium policy must be democratized, not just made still in semi-secret -- mainly holding hearings only in areas in the vicinities of involving those who are directly-impacted by plutonium related jobs programs. I take issue with the basic DOE statement that this draft SPDEIS identifies reasonable alternatives for plutonium disposition. The dual track strategy is on the wrong track, headed over the cliff to catastrophe. The MOX option promotes more handling, more transport, increased risk of accidents, increased risk of health problems, increased expenses, more problematic spent fuel disposal and more security risks than guarded storage or prompt immobilization. The-Department's continued emphasis upon MOX fuels, in light of all we know today, as a reasonable disposition option, seems to reflect a lingering institutional insanity. The Nuclear Control Institute argues that using MOX fuel for commercial nuclear power plants is simply too expensive and too risky. Stimulating commerce in plutonium is a recipe for-disaster.
MOX takes too long. MOX costs too much. Tens of billions of dollars will probably be needed to underwrite the Russian nuclear power industry so that it can use MOX fuel. MOX is too dangerous. MOX fuel reduces the stability of reactor cores. MOX increases the severity of certain accidents. MOX undercuts non-proliferation and arms control. (Paul Leventhal, The Case Against Using Military Plutonium as Civilian Fuel, March 12, 1998).
SPDEIS states that the purpose of and need for the proposed action is to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation worldwide by conducting disposition of surplus plutonium in the United States in an environmentally safe and timely manner. MOX is neither environmentally safe nor timely. Moreover, we have just had a terrible confirmation of the saying that "nuclear power powers nuclear bombs," when India exploded the "peaceful" atom. MOX would not curb proliferation. The more plutonium is handled and transported, the more risk there is of inaccurate accountability and diversion. If our purpose is to reduce the availability of plutonium, then promoting a plutonium economy, MOX fuel and Russian reprocessing is obviously THE WRONG TRACK. In early August 1998 even Senator Domenici had called for a new approach to Plutonium disposal in face of the astronomical expenses. The ENERGY DAILY explained that Senator Domenici learned from the Russian minister of atomic energy that Russia would pursue its MOX program only if the West paid for the construction of a MOX fuel fabrication plant in Russia. and paid additional compensation to encourage Russia to use the MOX in their reactors. This stupendous military-industrial complex corporate welfare would wreck the world budget.
Domenici believes Russian officials would support conversion of plutonium to unclassified shapes and storage under international oversight. This is an idea that makes some kind of common sense for fast track securing of plutonium. On top of all the economic, health, environmental and proliferation liabilities of the MOX option is the significant fact that no non-governmental organization, public interest group or environmental organization either here or in Russia wants MOX to happen. In Russia, the Center for Nuclear Ecology and Energy Policy of the Socio-ecological Union of 200 environmental-organizations has a special resolution against MOX fuel. Hundreds of Western groups signed on to a letter calling for an end to all policies and practices that would allow or encourage the use of-plutonium as a fuel in nuclear power reactors in March of this year. We the people have the right to determine what future we want regarding the profound subject of plutonium disposition. It is very telling that it is only people who make money from MOX projects support it. This is the-kind of damaged reasoning that places greed before responsibility to the people, the environment-and future generations. We don't want MOX operations at Hanford, or Pantex, or INEEL or Savannah River or at any site in Europe or Asia. Nobody in their right mind wants a plutonium economy and we ask you-to do the right thing and reconsider going forward with MOX plans and concentrate only upon swift guarded storage and immobilization technologies.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn Sims,
Don't Waste Oregon Caucus
3959 NE 42nd St.
Portland, OR 97213