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DOE sued over plans to truck Pu
Despite the fact that DOE would like to streamline their Environmental
Management program, there are certain factions that will tolerate
nothing less than absolute adherence to rules and regulations, as noted
in the following news article (received via CPEO list).
--Susan Gawarecki
U.S. DEPT. OF ENERGY SUED TODAY OVER PLANS TO TRUCK PLUTONIUM
ACROSS WESTERN STATES IN UNSAFE CONTAINERS
Manufacturer Admits Containers Cannot Withstand "Crush Test;" Shipment
Routes Would Include Major Population Centers
Livermore, CA -- At a news conference held today at the fence line of
the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, community groups and
environmentalists announced the filing of a major environmental lawsuit
challenging a Dept. of Energy (DOE) plan to truck plutonium from Rocky
Flats, Colorado to the Bay Area's Livermore Lab in containers that
cannot be certified as safe.
Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment),
represented by attorneys with Earthjustice, filed a complaint in federal
court in San Francisco detailing how Rocky Flat's plutonium is slated to
be shipped to Livermore in 45-gallon "DT-22" containers that DOE
documents acknowledge do not satisfy applicable safety regulations. The
containers cannot pass a "crush test," which is mandatory for such
shipments under Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations. Moreover,
documents obtained by Tri-Valley CAREs disclose that the container's
manufacturer apprised DOE of this fact.
DOE's plan to put these containers on trucks out on the Interstate
highways, which run through many populated areas between Colorado and
California, is raising concern throughout the West. According to DOE
sources, the surplus plutonium parts are scheduled to be trucked in
DT-22s to Livermore Laboratory in the spring or early summer of 2002.
Once in Livermore, the plutonium parts will undergo high-temperature
processing. Some years hence, the plutonium is supposed to go back out
on the road, some of it to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico
and some to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
Documents obtained by plaintiffs and attorneys in the case show that DOE
is hurrying to meet an "accelerated closure" plan for dealing with the
mess it made at the old Rocky Flats weapons plant, located about 16
miles outside of Denver. "Speeding up the project to meet an arbitrary
2006 closure date would save the agency money, but at the expense of
public safety along the shipment route and in my community," stated
Marylia Kelley, executive director of the Livermore-based Tri-Valley
CAREs.
"First, the DOE improperly granted itself a 'national security
exemption' from NRC regulations, so that it can more cheaply truck
decades-old, surplus plutonium parts in containers that cannot be
certified safe in crush scenarios. Then, DOE compounded its egregious
violation of law and agency discretionary powers by neglecting to comply
with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the basic
environmental statute of the land," explained Trent Orr, an attorney
with Earthjustice.
The lawsuit is being filed under NEPA, and calls on DOE to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposal. An EIS, say
plaintiffs and their attorneys, is needed to analyze the risks posed to
communities along the route in case of an accident. Further, the law
requires an EIS to contain a comprehensive "alternatives analysis,"
i.e., outlining other options for the plutonium, and include the public
in decision-making through hearings and comment periods.
Plaintiffs and attorneys noted that there are multiple alternatives that
were dismissed out of hand by DOE -- without benefit of NEPA analysis --
as too expensive or time-consuming. They include but are not limited to:
* Cutting the material to fit into safer containers for transport.
* Processing the material on-site at Rocky Flats, and storing it there.
* Sending portions of the material from Rocky Flats directly to the
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico, rather than to
California first then across the Southwest to New Mexico.
* Sending the recovered plutonium directly to Savannah River, SC, rather
than to California first then across the country to Savannah River.
* Processing the material at one of several DOE sites not within urban
boundaries, if careful analysis showed this to be safe.
Citing the potential hazard of an accident, Marvin Resnikoff, an expert
in radioactive transport issues, said, "These DT-22 containers cannot
withstand all credible highway accidents. It makes no sense to transport
plutonium in unsafe containers to Lawrence Livermore, process the
plutonium, then transport it to other government facilities in New
Mexico and South Carolina. All this transportation maximizes the risk of
a transportation accident."
"Plutonium presents an extreme health hazard to workers who handle it
and to the public," explained Marion Fulk, a retired Livermore
Laboratory physicist with five decades of experience studying plutonium
and other radioactive elements. "A tenth micron-sized particle of
plutonium, once in the body, is enough to cause cancer or other health
problems," Fulk continued. "New scientific studies show a wide range of
negative health outcomes associated with radiation doses that
authorities believed to be safe in years past. If we must err, we must
err on the side of caution," he concluded.
"What we have here is an agency ignoring rules to get a job done
quickly," agreed attorney Orr. "While that may save the DOE some money,
it might not be the safest way to solve the problem."
Moreover, the shipments could pose a national security issue, said
Kelley. "After the tragedy of September 11th, the DOE temporarily halted
nuclear waste shipments knowing they pose an attractive target for
terrorists. What assurances do we have that these shipments will now be
secure?"
"Cleaning up the remnants of the Cold War is a worthy and difficult
project, but communities should not be endangered in the name of
expediency," Kelley concluded.
- 30 -
The following persons are also available for interviews:
Tom Marshall, Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center,
(303) 444-6981
Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, Radioactive Waste Management Assoc.,
(212) 620-0526
A pdf file of the lawsuit complaint is available on Tri-Valley CAREs'
website at http://www.igc.org/tvc. Additionally, maps of potential
routes and communities that could be affected and a copy of the lawsuit
are available online at http://www.earthjustice.org.
--
.....................................................
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee
We've moved! Please note our new address:
102 Robertsville Road, Suite B, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
.....................................................
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