From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #290 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Thursday, April 13 2000 Volume 01 : Number 290 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 12:34:59 -0400 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) MOX is dead in U.S.! - --=====================_16115549==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by pooky.myhouse.com id MAA09273 Energy Department Opts Against Reusing Spent Nuclear Fuel By Cat Lazaroff, Environment News Service, April 12, 2000 http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2000/2000L-04-12-06.html WASHINGTON, DC, April 12, 2000 (ENS) - The Department of Energy has decid= ed that spent nuclear fuel should be melted down for permanent disposal, rat= her than reprocessed for reuse as fuel or other products. The decision, which environmentalists say will prove safer than reuse of the fuel, is also be= ing hailed as a victory for nuclear non-proliferation efforts.=20 Energy Secretary Bill Richardson (All photos courtesy DOE) The policy was established in a report being issued publicly by the Depar= tment of Energy (DOE) this week. The "Savannah River Site Spent Fuel Management= Final Environmental Impact Statement" evaluates alternatives for the safe and efficient management of spent nuclear fuel from power plants that is stor= ed at or scheduled to be received by the DOE=92s Savannah River Site in South C= arolina. The DOE had been considering a process in which the spent fuel would be reprocessed, separating the wastes into highly enriched uranium and a lar= ge volume of liquid radioactive waste. Critics feared the uranium could be u= sed to build nuclear weapons, hindering U.S. and international moves toward disarmament and nonproliferation. In addition, the disposal of radioactiv= e liquid waste is considered more hazardous and difficult than disposal of = solid wastes.=20 Instead, the DOE is leaning toward melting down the wastes and mixing the= m with nonreactive substances, forming metal ingots that the agency says can be = safely stored in permanent repositories. The process also makes the uranium in t= he wastes unsuitable for making bombs.=20 "The melt-and-dilute technology under development at SRS will further our efforts to reduce the danger from weapons of mass destruction," Richardso= n said in a statement. "Also, it will reduce waste generation and provide a cost effective, long term way to manage aluminum based spent fuel."=20 The DOE=92s choice of a new technology which does not reprocess the spent= fuel avoids adding to the stockpile of nuclear weapons material, said the Nucl= ear Control Institute (NCI) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).= =20 "Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson deserves congratulations for making = sure that this important new policy was actively pursued and approved," said N= CI Executive Director Tom Clements. "Now he must act decisively to make sure= there is an adequate budget to implement the policy and get the job done."=20 Spent fuel rods underwater at a receiving basin for off-site fuels at th= e Savannah River Site=20 The decision covers highly enriched uranium spent fuels from research re= actors in the U.S. and similar wastes imported from other countries for disposal. Other forms of spent fuel covered in the Environmental Impact Statement w= ill be reprocessed, but both NCI and NRDC view the decision on the highly enrich= ed uranium spent fuel as an essential step in hastening the end of reprocess= ing in the U.S. and an important example for other nations.=20 "This decision sends a positive non-proliferation signal internationally = and is a critical step toward the closing of reprocessing facilities at SRS," sa= id NRDC Staff Attorney David Adelman. "These plants were built as an integra= l part of fissile material production for weapons during the Cold War, and they = are no longer needed. Long term funding for melt-and-dilute must still be assure= d to keep the shutdown of these plants on track."=20 Of the 68 tonnes of fuel covered in the Environmental Impact Statement, a= bout 48 tonnes - 60 percent of the mass, 97 percent of the volume of the waste= s - would be subjected to the melt and dilute treatment. The processed ingots= would be destined for eventual shipment to the planned permanent repository at = Yucca Mountain, Nevada.=20 Melt-and-dilute involves the melting in an oven of the aluminum-clad high= ly enriched uranium research reactor spent fuel assemblies, with conversion = of the melted material into low-enriched uranium ingots. In order to demonstrate= the new technology, the DOE plans to melt highly enriched uranium spent fuel = in an oven soon to be installed in the old L-Reactor building at the Savannah R= iver Site.=20 The full-scale treatment facility is expected to be operational in the L-Reactor building at Savannah in fiscal year 2008. L-Reactor was permane= ntly closed in the late 1980=92s after decades of plutonium and tritium produc= tion for weapons.=20 Spent nuclear fuel pools like this hold tons of reactor wastes at Savanna= h River Site=20 DOE=92s Savannah River Site, located near Aiken, South Carolina, currentl= y stores a large quantity of foreign and domestic spent fuel in pools and is sched= uled to continue receiving such material from numerous research reactors aroun= d the world until 2009. The United States originally supplied the bomb-grade ur= anium fuel to reactors in over 30 countries and numerous U.S. universities, but= after realizing the proliferation risks of such supply began a program to conve= rt the wastes into forms incapable of being used for weapons.=20 DOE=92s concerted effort to convert research reactors to low enriched ura= nium ingots, known as the Reduced Enrichment in Research and Test Reactors (RE= RTR), has proved to be one of the U.S. government=92s most successful non-proli= feration initiatives. Under the RERTR program, DOE agreed to accept spent highly enriched uranium fuel for disposition in the U.S. in order to reduce risk= s of its diversion overseas for weapons.=20 NCI and NRDC praised Secretary Richardson for fulfilling a commitment mad= e in the 1996 by one of his predecessors, Hazel O=92Leary, to develop non-repr= ocessing technologies for management of the returning spent fuel for environmental= and non-proliferation reasons.=20 "We congratulate Secretary Richardson for honoring DOE=92s earlier commit= ment to the American people to pursue non-reprocessing disposal options for this bomb-grade spent fuel," said Clements. "As the U.S. moves to treat weapons-grade nuclear material as waste rather than as a valuable commodi= ty to be introduced into commerce, foreign states will be encouraged to do the = same." The H-Canyon corridor at the Savannah River Site - one of the two remain= ing DOE reprocessing facilities=20 The U.S. terminated commercial reprocessing of spent fuel in 1972 but ha= s yet to present a firm timetable for closing the two remaining DOE reprocessin= g facilities, F- and H-Canyons, both located at the Savannah River Site.=20 "From an environmental perspective, the people of South Carolina and Geor= gia should welcome this decision by DOE, but they deserve to be presented a timetable for closure of the dirty and dangerous reprocessing facilities,= " said Clements.=20 The DOE will issue a record of decision sometime after the end of a 30 da= y public comment period beginning Friday. The final Environmental Impact Statement will be published in the Federal Register on Friday.=20 ___________________________________________________ NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm Submit Letter/Notice/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor) About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm E-Mail Archive: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews Subscribe: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe) Here are excellent e-mail news resources (free, by subscription, for educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.): DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com | http://members.aol.com/doewatch=20 Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com | http://downwinders@onelist.com=20 EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org|http://www.envirolink.org/environe= ws=20 Planet Ark - mailto:anna@planetark.org|http://www.planetark.org/news/ Radbull (Radiation Bulletin for Activists) - mailto:rogerh@energy-net.org Distributed without payment for research and educational=20 purposes only, by subscription, and archived for the use of all, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. - --=====================_16115549==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by pooky.myhouse.com id MAA09273
Energy Department Opts Against Reusing Spent Nuclear Fuel

By Cat Lazaroff, Environment News Service, April 12, 2000
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2000/2000L-04-12-06.html
WASHINGTON, DC, April 12, 2000 (ENS) - The Department of Energy has decided that spent nuclear fuel should be melted down for permanent disposal, rather than reprocessed for reuse as fuel or other products. The decision, which environmentalists say will prove safer than reuse of the fuel, is also being hailed as a victory for nuclear non-proliferation efforts.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson (All photos courtesy DOE)

The policy was established in a report being issued publicly by the Department of Energy (DOE) this week. The "Savannah River Site Spent Fuel Management Final Environmental Impact Statement" evaluates alternatives for the safe and efficient management of spent nuclear fuel from power plants that is stored at or scheduled to be received by the DOE=92s Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

The DOE had been considering a process in which the spent fuel would be reprocessed, separating the wastes into highly enriched uranium and a large volume of liquid radioactive waste. Critics feared the uranium could be used to build nuclear weapons, hindering U.S. and international moves toward disarmament and nonproliferation. In addition, the disposal of radioactive liquid waste is considered more hazardous and difficult than disposal of solid wastes.

Instead, the DOE is leaning toward melting down the wastes and mixing them with nonreactive substances, forming metal ingots that the agency says can be safely stored in permanent repositories. The process also makes the uranium in the wastes unsuitable for making bombs.=20

"The melt-and-dilute technology under development at SRS will further our efforts to reduce the danger from weapons of mass destruction," Richardson said in a statement. "Also, it will reduce waste generation and provide a cost effective, long term way to manage aluminum based spent fuel."

The DOE=92s choice of a new technology which does not reprocess the spent fuel avoids adding to the stockpile of nuclear weapons material, said the Nuclear Control Institute (NCI) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

"Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson deserves congratulations for making sure that this important new policy was actively pursued and approved," said NCI Executive Director Tom Clements. "Now he must act decisively to make sure there is an adequate budget to implement the policy and get the job done."

 Spent fuel rods underwater at a receiving basin for off-site fuels at the Savannah River Site

 The decision covers highly enriched uranium spent fuels from research reactors in the U.S. and similar wastes imported from other countries for disposal. Other forms of spent fuel covered in the Environmental Impact Statement will be reprocessed, but both NCI and NRDC view the decision on the highly enriched uranium spent fuel as an essential step in hastening the end of reprocessing in the U.S. and an important example for other nations.

"This decision sends a positive non-proliferation signal internationally and is a critical step toward the closing of reprocessing facilities at SRS," said NRDC Staff Attorney David Adelman. "These plants were built as an integral part of fissile material production for weapons during the Cold War, and they are no longer needed. Long term funding for melt-and-dilute must still be assured to keep the shutdown of these plants on track."

Of the 68 tonnes of fuel covered in the Environmental Impact Statement, about 48 tonnes - 60 percent of the mass, 97 percent of the volume of the wastes - would be subjected to the melt and dilute treatment. The processed ingots would be destined for eventual shipment to the planned permanent repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

Melt-and-dilute involves the melting in an oven of the aluminum-clad highly enriched uranium research reactor spent fuel assemblies, with conversion of the melted material into low-enriched uranium ingots. In order to demonstrate the new technology, the DOE plans to melt highly enriched uranium spent fuel in an oven soon to be installed in the old L-Reactor building at the Savannah River Site.

The full-scale treatment facility is expected to be operational in the L-Reactor building at Savannah in fiscal year 2008. L-Reactor was permanently closed in the late 1980=92s after decades of plutonium and tritium production for weapons.

Spent nuclear fuel pools like this hold tons of reactor wastes at Savannah River Site

DOE=92s Savannah River Site, located near Aiken, South Carolina, currently stores a large quantity of foreign and domestic spent fuel in pools and is scheduled to continue receiving such material from numerous research reactors around the world until 2009. The United States originally supplied the bomb-grade uranium fuel to reactors in over 30 countries and numerous U.S. universities, but after realizing the proliferation risks of such supply began a program to convert the wastes into forms incapable of being used for weapons.

DOE=92s concerted effort to convert research reactors to low enriche= d uranium ingots, known as the Reduced Enrichment in Research and Test Reactors (RERTR), has proved to be one of the U.S. government=92s most successful non-proliferation initiatives. Under the RERTR program, DOE agreed to accept spent highly enriched uranium fuel for disposition in the U.S. in order to reduce risks of its diversion overseas for weapons.

NCI and NRDC praised Secretary Richardson for fulfilling a commitment made in the 1996 by one of his predecessors, Hazel O=92Leary, = to develop non-reprocessing technologies for management of the returning spent fuel for environmental and non-proliferation reasons.

"We congratulate Secretary Richardson for honoring DOE=92s earlier commitment to the American people to pursue non-reprocessing disposal options for this bomb-grade spent fuel," said Clements. "As the U.S. moves to treat weapons-grade nuclear material as waste rather than as a valuable commodity to be introduced into commerce, foreign states will be encouraged to do the same."

 The H-Canyon corridor at the Savannah River Site - one of the two remaining DOE reprocessing facilities

 The U.S. terminated commercial reprocessing of spent fuel in 1972 but has yet to present a firm timetable for closing the two remaining DOE reprocessing facilities, F- and H-Canyons, both located at the Savannah River Site.

"From an environmental perspective, the people of South Carolina and Georgia should welcome this decision by DOE, but they deserve to be presented a timetable for closure of the dirty and dangerous reprocessing facilities," said Clements.

The DOE will issue a record of decision sometime after the end of a 30 day public comment period beginning Friday. The final Environmental Impact Statement will be published in the Federal Register on Friday.

     ___________________________________________________

NucNews Archives: http= ://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm
Today's Newspapers: http://= prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm
Submit Letter/Notice/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.= org (NucNews-Editor)
About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm
E-Mail Archive: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews
Subscribe:  ma= ilto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe)

Here are excellent e-mail news resources (free, by subscription, for educ= ational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.):

DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.c= om | http://me= mbers.aol.com/doewatch
Downwinders - downwinders@onel= ist.com | http= ://downwinders@onelist.com
EnviroNews - environews@enviro= link.org|http://www.envirolink.org/environews
Planet Ark - mailto:anna@planetark.org|http://www= .planetark.org/news/
Radbull (Radiation Bulletin for Activists) - mailto:rogerh@e= nergy-net.org

      Distributed without payment for= research and educational
   purposes only, by subscription, and archived for the use of = all,
             = in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.


- --=====================_16115549==_.ALT-- - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 11:54:09 -0500 From: "Boyle, Francis" Subject: RE: (abolition-usa) MOX is dead in U.S.! Yes, but Richardson and the DOE are still paying Russia to ship weapons grade plutonium to Canada for use in a MOX Program there. fab. Francis A. Boyle Law Building 504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue Champaign, Ill. 61820 217-333-7954 (voice) 217-244-1478 (fax) fboyle@law.uiuc.edu - -----Original Message----- From: Ellen Thomas [mailto:prop1@prop1.org] Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2000 11:35 AM To: NucNews@onelist.com Subject: (abolition-usa) MOX is dead in U.S.! Energy Department Opts Against Reusing Spent Nuclear Fuel By Cat Lazaroff, Environment News Service, April 12, 2000 http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2000/2000L-04-12-06.html WASHINGTON, DC, April 12, 2000 (ENS) - The Department of Energy has decided that spent nuclear fuel should be melted down for permanent disposal, rather than reprocessed for reuse as fuel or other products. The decision, which environmentalists say will prove safer than reuse of the fuel, is also being hailed as a victory for nuclear non-proliferation efforts. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson (All photos courtesy DOE) The policy was established in a report being issued publicly by the Department of Energy (DOE) this week. The "Savannah River Site Spent Fuel Management Final Environmental Impact Statement" evaluates alternatives for the safe and efficient management of spent nuclear fuel from power plants that is stored at or scheduled to be received by the DOE's Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The DOE had been considering a process in which the spent fuel would be reprocessed, separating the wastes into highly enriched uranium and a large volume of liquid radioactive waste. Critics feared the uranium could be used to build nuclear weapons, hindering U.S. and international moves toward disarmament and nonproliferation. In addition, the disposal of radioactive liquid waste is considered more hazardous and difficult than disposal of solid wastes. Instead, the DOE is leaning toward melting down the wastes and mixing them with nonreactive substances, forming metal ingots that the agency says can be safely stored in permanent repositories. The process also makes the uranium in the wastes unsuitable for making bombs. "The melt-and-dilute technology under development at SRS will further our efforts to reduce the danger from weapons of mass destruction," Richardson said in a statement. "Also, it will reduce waste generation and provide a cost effective, long term way to manage aluminum based spent fuel." The DOE's choice of a new technology which does not reprocess the spent fuel avoids adding to the stockpile of nuclear weapons material, said the Nuclear Control Institute (NCI) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson deserves congratulations for making sure that this important new policy was actively pursued and approved," said NCI Executive Director Tom Clements. "Now he must act decisively to make sure there is an adequate budget to implement the policy and get the job done." Spent fuel rods underwater at a receiving basin for off-site fuels at the Savannah River Site The decision covers highly enriched uranium spent fuels from research reactors in the U.S. and similar wastes imported from other countries for disposal. Other forms of spent fuel covered in the Environmental Impact Statement will be reprocessed, but both NCI and NRDC view the decision on the highly enriched uranium spent fuel as an essential step in hastening the end of reprocessing in the U.S. and an important example for other nations. "This decision sends a positive non-proliferation signal internationally and is a critical step toward the closing of reprocessing facilities at SRS," said NRDC Staff Attorney David Adelman. "These plants were built as an integral part of fissile material production for weapons during the Cold War, and they are no longer needed. Long term funding for melt-and-dilute must still be assured to keep the shutdown of these plants on track." Of the 68 tonnes of fuel covered in the Environmental Impact Statement, about 48 tonnes - 60 percent of the mass, 97 percent of the volume of the wastes - would be subjected to the melt and dilute treatment. The processed ingots would be destined for eventual shipment to the planned permanent repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Melt-and-dilute involves the melting in an oven of the aluminum-clad highly enriched uranium research reactor spent fuel assemblies, with conversion of the melted material into low-enriched uranium ingots. In order to demonstrate the new technology, the DOE plans to melt highly enriched uranium spent fuel in an oven soon to be installed in the old L-Reactor building at the Savannah River Site. The full-scale treatment facility is expected to be operational in the L-Reactor building at Savannah in fiscal year 2008. L-Reactor was permanently closed in the late 1980's after decades of plutonium and tritium production for weapons. Spent nuclear fuel pools like this hold tons of reactor wastes at Savannah River Site DOE's Savannah River Site, located near Aiken, South Carolina, currently stores a large quantity of foreign and domestic spent fuel in pools and is scheduled to continue receiving such material from numerous research reactors around the world until 2009. The United States originally supplied the bomb-grade uranium fuel to reactors in over 30 countries and numerous U.S. universities, but after realizing the proliferation risks of such supply began a program to convert the wastes into forms incapable of being used for weapons. DOE's concerted effort to convert research reactors to low enriched uranium ingots, known as the Reduced Enrichment in Research and Test Reactors (RERTR), has proved to be one of the U.S. government's most successful non-proliferation initiatives. Under the RERTR program, DOE agreed to accept spent highly enriched uranium fuel for disposition in the U.S. in order to reduce risks of its diversion overseas for weapons. NCI and NRDC praised Secretary Richardson for fulfilling a commitment made in the 1996 by one of his predecessors, Hazel O'Leary, to develop non-reprocessing technologies for management of the returning spent fuel for environmental and non-proliferation reasons. "We congratulate Secretary Richardson for honoring DOE's earlier commitment to the American people to pursue non-reprocessing disposal options for this bomb-grade spent fuel," said Clements. "As the U.S. moves to treat weapons-grade nuclear material as waste rather than as a valuable commodity to be introduced into commerce, foreign states will be encouraged to do the same." The H-Canyon corridor at the Savannah River Site - one of the two remaining DOE reprocessing facilities The U.S. terminated commercial reprocessing of spent fuel in 1972 but has yet to present a firm timetable for closing the two remaining DOE reprocessing facilities, F- and H-Canyons, both located at the Savannah River Site. "From an environmental perspective, the people of South Carolina and Georgia should welcome this decision by DOE, but they deserve to be presented a timetable for closure of the dirty and dangerous reprocessing facilities," said Clements. The DOE will issue a record of decision sometime after the end of a 30 day public comment period beginning Friday. The final Environmental Impact Statement will be published in the Federal Register on Friday. ___________________________________________________ NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm Submit Letter/Notice/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor) About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm E-Mail Archive: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews Subscribe: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe) Here are excellent e-mail news resources (free, by subscription, for educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.): DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com | http://members.aol.com/doewatch Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com | http://downwinders@onelist.com EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org|http://www.envirolink.org/environews Planet Ark - mailto:anna@planetark.org| http://www.planetark.org/news/ Radbull (Radiation Bulletin for Activists) - mailto:rogerh@energy-net.org Distributed without payment for research and educational purposes only, by subscription, and archived for the use of all, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 15:30:16 -0400 From: Hisham Zerriffi Subject: (abolition-usa) MOX is NOT dead in U.S.! MOX is not dead!!!! These are two entirely separate programs. One is dealing with spent reactor fuel from research reactors and the other is dealing with plutonium from weapons. This decision not to reprocess the spent research reactor fuel containing highly enriched URANIUM has nothing to do with whether surplus weapons PLUTONIUM is used in a reactor or not. This is not a decision to forgo MOX (a mixture of uranium and plutonium fuel) in US reactors or to forego MOX in Russian reactors. Please do not lead people to think that the efforts to change the direction of the disposition program can be slackened. Hisham Zerriffi Senior Scientist p.s. One more point of clarification. The DOE is paying for a test of Russian plutonium in CANDU reactors in Canada. The program is nowhere near the stage of making a decision to proceed with full scale MOX use in Canada. This is not to minimize the implications and impact of the Russian and American Pu tests in Canada (FYI, I grew up mostly in Canada and am outraged at their actions), I think it important to be absolutely clear as to what is going on or we risk doing a disservice to ourselves. At 11:54 AM 4/13/2000 -0500, Boyle, Francis wrote: >Yes, but Richardson and the DOE are still paying Russia to ship weapons >grade plutonium to Canada for use in a MOX Program there. fab. > >Francis A. Boyle >Law Building >504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue >Champaign, Ill. 61820 >217-333-7954 (voice) >217-244-1478 (fax) >fboyle@law.uiuc.edu > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Ellen Thomas [mailto:prop1@prop1.org] >Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2000 11:35 AM >To: NucNews@onelist.com >Subject: (abolition-usa) MOX is dead in U.S.! > > >Energy Department Opts Against Reusing Spent Nuclear Fuel > >By Cat Lazaroff, Environment News Service, April 12, 2000 >http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2000/2000L-04-12-06.html > > >WASHINGTON, DC, April 12, 2000 (ENS) - The Department of Energy has decided >that spent nuclear fuel should be melted down for permanent disposal, rather >than reprocessed for reuse as fuel or other products. The decision, which >environmentalists say will prove safer than reuse of the fuel, is also being >hailed as a victory for nuclear non-proliferation efforts. > >Energy Secretary Bill Richardson (All photos courtesy DOE) > >The policy was established in a report being issued publicly by the >Department of Energy (DOE) this week. The "Savannah River Site Spent Fuel >Management Final Environmental Impact Statement" evaluates alternatives for >the safe and efficient management of spent nuclear fuel from power plants >that is stored at or scheduled to be received by the DOE's Savannah River >Site in South Carolina. > >The DOE had been considering a process in which the spent fuel would be >reprocessed, separating the wastes into highly enriched uranium and a large >volume of liquid radioactive waste. Critics feared the uranium could be used >to build nuclear weapons, hindering U.S. and international moves toward >disarmament and nonproliferation. In addition, the disposal of radioactive >liquid waste is considered more hazardous and difficult than disposal of >solid wastes. > >Instead, the DOE is leaning toward melting down the wastes and mixing them >with nonreactive substances, forming metal ingots that the agency says can >be safely stored in permanent repositories. The process also makes the >uranium in the wastes unsuitable for making bombs. > >"The melt-and-dilute technology under development at SRS will further our >efforts to reduce the danger from weapons of mass destruction," Richardson >said in a statement. "Also, it will reduce waste generation and provide a >cost effective, long term way to manage aluminum based spent fuel." > >The DOE's choice of a new technology which does not reprocess the spent fuel >avoids adding to the stockpile of nuclear weapons material, said the Nuclear >Control Institute (NCI) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). > >"Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson deserves congratulations for making >sure that this important new policy was actively pursued and approved," said >NCI Executive Director Tom Clements. "Now he must act decisively to make >sure there is an adequate budget to implement the policy and get the job >done." > > Spent fuel rods underwater at a receiving basin for off-site fuels at the >Savannah River Site > > The decision covers highly enriched uranium spent fuels from research >reactors in the U.S. and similar wastes imported from other countries for >disposal. Other forms of spent fuel covered in the Environmental Impact >Statement will be reprocessed, but both NCI and NRDC view the decision on >the highly enriched uranium spent fuel as an essential step in hastening the >end of reprocessing in the U.S. and an important example for other nations. > >"This decision sends a positive non-proliferation signal internationally and >is a critical step toward the closing of reprocessing facilities at SRS," >said NRDC Staff Attorney David Adelman. "These plants were built as an >integral part of fissile material production for weapons during the Cold >War, and they are no longer needed. Long term funding for melt-and-dilute >must still be assured to keep the shutdown of these plants on track." > >Of the 68 tonnes of fuel covered in the Environmental Impact Statement, >about 48 tonnes - 60 percent of the mass, 97 percent of the volume of the >wastes - would be subjected to the melt and dilute treatment. The processed >ingots would be destined for eventual shipment to the planned permanent >repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. > >Melt-and-dilute involves the melting in an oven of the aluminum-clad highly >enriched uranium research reactor spent fuel assemblies, with conversion of >the melted material into low-enriched uranium ingots. In order to >demonstrate the new technology, the DOE plans to melt highly enriched >uranium spent fuel in an oven soon to be installed in the old L-Reactor >building at the Savannah River Site. > >The full-scale treatment facility is expected to be operational in the >L-Reactor building at Savannah in fiscal year 2008. L-Reactor was >permanently closed in the late 1980's after decades of plutonium and tritium >production for weapons. > >Spent nuclear fuel pools like this hold tons of reactor wastes at Savannah >River Site > >DOE's Savannah River Site, located near Aiken, South Carolina, currently >stores a large quantity of foreign and domestic spent fuel in pools and is >scheduled to continue receiving such material from numerous research >reactors around the world until 2009. The United States originally supplied >the bomb-grade uranium fuel to reactors in over 30 countries and numerous >U.S. universities, but after realizing the proliferation risks of such >supply began a program to convert the wastes into forms incapable of being >used for weapons. > >DOE's concerted effort to convert research reactors to low enriched uranium >ingots, known as the Reduced Enrichment in Research and Test Reactors >(RERTR), has proved to be one of the U.S. government's most successful >non-proliferation initiatives. Under the RERTR program, DOE agreed to accept >spent highly enriched uranium fuel for disposition in the U.S. in order to >reduce risks of its diversion overseas for weapons. > >NCI and NRDC praised Secretary Richardson for fulfilling a commitment made >in the 1996 by one of his predecessors, Hazel O'Leary, to develop >non-reprocessing technologies for management of the returning spent fuel for >environmental and non-proliferation reasons. > >"We congratulate Secretary Richardson for honoring DOE's earlier commitment >to the American people to pursue non-reprocessing disposal options for this >bomb-grade spent fuel," said Clements. "As the U.S. moves to treat >weapons-grade nuclear material as waste rather than as a valuable commodity >to be introduced into commerce, foreign states will be encouraged to do the >same." > > The H-Canyon corridor at the Savannah River Site - one of the two remaining >DOE reprocessing facilities > > The U.S. terminated commercial reprocessing of spent fuel in 1972 but has >yet to present a firm timetable for closing the two remaining DOE >reprocessing facilities, F- and H-Canyons, both located at the Savannah >River Site. > >"From an environmental perspective, the people of South Carolina and Georgia >should welcome this decision by DOE, but they deserve to be presented a >timetable for closure of the dirty and dangerous reprocessing facilities," >said Clements. > >The DOE will issue a record of decision sometime after the end of a 30 day >public comment period beginning Friday. The final Environmental Impact >Statement will be published in the Federal Register on Friday. > > ___________________________________________________ > >NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm > >Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm > >Submit Letter/Notice/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.org > (NucNews-Editor) >About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm > >E-Mail Archive: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews > >Subscribe: mailto:prop1@prop1.org >(NucNews-Subscribe) > >Here are excellent e-mail news resources (free, by subscription, for >educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.): > >DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com | >http://members.aol.com/doewatch >Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com | >http://downwinders@onelist.com >EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org|http://www.envirolink.org/environews >Planet Ark - mailto:anna@planetark.org| > > >http://www.planetark.org/news/ >Radbull (Radiation Bulletin for Activists) - mailto:rogerh@energy-net.org > > > Distributed without payment for research and educational > purposes only, by subscription, and archived for the use of all, > in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >25% Off All Prints! >Buy one today at Corbis.com >http://click.egroups.com/1/3357/1/_/91925/_/955644853/ >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >To subscribe to the Abolition Global Caucus, send an email from the account you wish to be subscribed to: "abolition-caucus-subscribe@egroups.com" > > >Do not include a subject line or any text in the body of the message. > ***************************************************************** Hisham Zerriffi Senior Scientist Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) 6935 Laurel Ave. Suite 204, Takoma Park, MD 20912 Phone: (301) 270-5500 Fax: (301) 270-3029 E-mail: hisham@ieer.org Web: http://www.ieer.org ***************************************************************** - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. 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