more on FFTF decision - reprieve possible ?

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@aecl.ca>]

NUCLEONICS WEEK - February 1, 2001
DOE ISSUES FINAL FFTF DECISION,
HASTINGS HOPES FOR REPRIEVE
DOE's final decision to permanently deactivate the Fast
Flux Test Facility (FFTF) at Hanford was published in the Jan.
26 issue of the Federal Register, but Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.)
is holding out hope that the policy is not necessarily irreversible.
For starters, DOE does not have the $281-million needed
to drain the sodium from the reactor, Hastings' spokesman
Todd Young said. He said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
noted at his confirmation hearing that his predecessor's decision
would be the final action-unless new information about
the facility was brought forward.
The record of decision (ROD) signed Jan. 19 by then-Secretary
Bill Richardson calls for closing the FFTF, which
has been in hot standby since 1992. The reactor is to be deac-tivated
over a five-year period.
DOE had considered restarting the reactor to meet its
mission for medical and isotope production, plutonium-238
production to support NASA space missions, and civilian
nuclear energy research and development. But the department
said it didn't receive the necessary commitments from either
the private sector or foreign governments to justify the restart.
The ROD said DOE will reestablish Pu-238 production at
three operating DOE facilities and, in the meantime, it would
purchase Pu-238 from Russia if the existing inventory is
insufficient. It said it will be able to serve the short-term
needs of the research and isotope communities for the next
five to 10 years and that it would rely on the private sector if
the demand surges.
In anticipation of longer-term R&D needs, DOE said it
will begin working on a conceptual design for an Advanced
Accelerator Applications facility that it said could be modified
to produce proton-enriched isotopes. Initial work was
funded in the FY-01 energy and water appropriations. DOE
said the facility would be used for nuclear research missions,
to evaluate spent fuel transmutation, and to "ensure a viable
backup technology" for tritium production.

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