BREDL lists
concerns with NC Governor Hunt on the proposed
reprocessing of nuclear weapons materials at the
Savannah River Site
February 19, 1999
The Honorable James B. Hunt
Office of the Governor
116 W. Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27603-8001
Dear Governor Hunt:
We, at the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League, are gravely concerned about the proposed
reprocessing of nuclear weapons materials at the
Savannah River Site and about the intent of
utilities which serve North Carolina to operate
their commercial reactors with plutonium fuel.
Our concerns are for the protection of our
environment and the health and safety of our
citizens, the risks of transport of dangerous
materials, and the threat of domestic terrorism.
The US Department of Energy’s January 14,
1997 Record of Decision states that the United
States will pursue the use of domestic light
water reactors to dispose of surplus weapons
plutonium. On December 22, 1998 United
States Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson
announced the selection of DOE’s Savannah
River complex as the preferred site for a
plutonium disassembly and conversion
facility. The DOE program would reprocess
33 tons of the radioactive metal for use as fuel,
a mixed oxide of plutonium, in commercial utility
reactors. Duke Energy and Virginia Power recently
announced plans to convert reactors in North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia to
plutonium fuel. The use of plutonium oxide
fuel in nuclear powered domestic utility
reactors would employ one of the most toxic
substances on earth to generate electricity.
The Department of Energy’s program would
make our reactors more dangerous. Utility
reactors designed for uranium fuel would need
modification in order to use plutonium, but the
fundamental physical problems introduced by the
new fuel would not be eliminated. The
problem is reactor component embrittlement caused
by the plutonium’s higher neutron flux. This
will shorten the expected life-span of utility
reactors and increase the risk and the
severity of accidents. Also, the transport
of the plutonium fuel to reactor sites would add
to the risk of accidental release of radiation.
The plutonium oxide fuel would be valuable target
for terrorists. The secrecy and defense
measures which the military uses to safely
transport plutonium would have to be duplicated
by every domestic utility company using plutonium
fuel. It takes just twenty pounds of
plutonium to make a bomb. Our civil
liberties may suffer as a consequence. On
February 2, 1999 at the States’ Terrorism
Policy Summit in Williamsburg, Virginia you
announced, “Terrorism is a threat that
is real - it’s here and now. We must
work together to plan for these possible attacks,
just like we prepare for other emergencies - from
earthquakes, to tornadoes to hurricanes.”
However, the terrorist threat of diversion of
plutonium fuel would be entirely avoided if
utilities drop their pursuit of the DOE’s
program.
Over and over the use of plutonium fuel has been
evaluated and rejected. In the 1970’s
the United States rejected plutonium fuel and
breeder reactors because of the environmental and
proliferation dangers. Throughout the
administrations of Presidents Ford, Carter,
Reagan, and Bush, the policy of the Federal
Government banned the use of plutonium in
commercial nuclear power plants because of the
risk that the plutonium could be diverted to
terrorists and to nations that have not renounced
the use of nuclear weapons. In the
1990’s we face a new and more complex
international security picture. What the
United States decides both to do and not to do
with dismantled warheads will affect
international stability far into the next
century. Plutonium fueled reactors and
other technologies which combine military and
domestic uses of fissionable materials would
create an impossibly complicated proliferation
puzzle.
Recently, other regions of the country - their
governments, their utilities, and their people -
have concluded that plutonium fuels are too
dangerous. Today, only Duke Energy and
Virginia Power are moving forward with this risky
scheme.
Because North Carolinians could be exposed to
additional radiation from plutonium fuel, we urge
you to direct the NC Division of Radiation
Protection to conduct a thorough investigation
and take steps to safeguard the health and
well-being of the people of our state.
Thus, we ask that you direct the Division of
Radiation Protection to:
Conduct a full investigation of the
downwind impacts on North Carolina of the
proposed reprocessing at SRS
Conduct a complete evaluation of
radiation exposure to North Carolinians from
transportation of plutonium from SRS to the
Maguire, Catawba, and North Anna nuclear power
stations including worst-case accident
impacts, dose-response population effects
of routine non-accident exposure, and scenarios
involving domestic or foreign terrorists
Conduct an independent assessment of
exposures to people living downwind and
downstream from the Maguire, Catawba, and North
Anna nuclear power stations
Hold public information meetings and
public hearings in the communities where power
reactors are located and transport corridors
Evaluate and report on the low-level radioactive
waste produced by the use of plutonium fuels and
the potential impact on the proposed Wake LLRW
facility
Secure the confidential records of Cogema and
British Nuclear Fuels and their subsidiaries and
parent companies and make this information
available to the public
Thank you for considering our requests. We
appreciate the attention you have given to our
concerns in the past and look forward to your
response.
Sincerely,
Louis Zeller, Administrator
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
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