No restart of Hanford's FFTF reactor
William Kinsella

To: Dr. Norton Haberman, DOE
Dear Dr. Haberman:
I am writing to express my strong opposition to any restart of Hanford's FFTF reactor. Since moving to Portland, Oregon two years ago, I have followed the numerous issues surrounding the Hanford site with great concern. I believe that the Hanford waste legacy is more than an acute regional problem -- it is national disaster deserving of every possible effort at remediation.

I applaud the Department of Energy's efforts at addressing the problems at Hanford. At the same time, I am concerned that a restart of the FFTF will undermine these efforts substantially. Along with producing a new waste stream, at a site where any new waste burden compounds an already drastic problem, an FFTF restart violates a very important symbolic threshold. By introducing another production mission, this action would undercut the Department's commitment to an undistracted, uncompromised cleanup of Hanford.

That cleanup is the stated DOE mission at Hanford, as it should and must be. I urge you not to waver in your support of this commitment to the public interest. Thank you for your attention to these comments, and best wishes,

William J. Kinsella
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Lewis and Clark College
Portland, OR 97219