From Us To You

Gifts are on the way from the states of Washington, New Mexico, and California to South Carolina.

From the Seattle Times:

By H. JOSEF HEBERT

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP — The Energy Department plans to send plutonium in Washington state and at research laboratories in New Mexico and California to the Savannah River nuclear complex in South Carolina to improve security and reduce storage costs.

It's a tough problem deciding what to do with nuclear waste? Most folks say NIMBY. We need the power from nuclear plants, but no one wants the consequences of storing the waste nearby.

Aware that officials in South Carolina have expressed concerns that their state not become a permanent dump for the country's unneeded plutonium, Rispoli emphasized at a news conference that the DOE plans include getting the material out of the state.

"The intent is not only to bring the plutonium there, but dispose of it at the (Savannah) site and then have pathways for all of this material to leave the state," Rispoli said. He said a facility to store the plutonium at Savannah River is being prepared with increased security.

Department officials acknowledged that it will likely take more than a decade — and possibly much longer — before much of the plutonium will be processed and moved elsewhere.
....

The plan calls for the plutonium to be either converted into a mixed-oxide fuel, or MOX, for use at commercial nuclear power plants or be encased in glass logs for eventual transfer to the Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository being planned in Nevada.

However, the MOX production facility at Savannah River won't be completed before 2017 at the earliest. And the future of the proposed Yucca Mountain underground repository is in doubt and is not expected to be completed before 2018 if it is built at all.
....

Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a leading nuclear nonproliferation advocacy group, said the group supports consolidation "as long as it's done as safely and securely as possible."

I'm not saying that the Energy Department is making the wrong decision, but I see much shuffling around of nuclear materials and a good many "ifs" and uncertain time-lines involved here. It does not have the look a well-planned operation, and the long view of how all of this will come out seems to be pretty cloudy.

Let's hope and pray that the moving and storage of the materials is done safely, and good luck to South Carolina in getting it moved out - eventually. How confident can we be that all proper safety and security measures will be in place during this operation?

LapinBizarre, R U Reddy?

Am I crazy to concern myself with this?