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Plutonium Shipment
U.S. Judge Opens Way for Plutonium Shipment
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Reuters) - A federal judge
on Friday cleared the way
for the shipment of plutonium from Los Alamos,
New Mexico, to Canada by
refusing to grant an injunction to groups who
say the move would break U.S.
law.
The order from U.S. District Judge Richard
Alan Enslen in the Western
District of Michigan also vacates a temporary
restraining order that he issued
on Dec. 7. The restraining order expires on
Friday at 5:30 p.m.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plans to
truck nine fuel rods
containing 119 grams of plutonium some 3,300
miles through several states
to an experimental reactor in Chalk River,
Canada.
The plutonium is at the center of the Parallex
Project, an experimental
program between the United States and Russia
to dispose of fuel from
dismantled nuclear weapons. The U.S. plutonium
will be combined with nine
rods from Russia and converted into nuclear
reactor fuel.
In a lawsuit filed Dec. 6 in federal court in
Kalamazoo, Michigan, opponents
of the effort said the Energy Department's
plans violated the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and did not
fully consider the
environmental risks.
The program has also met resistance in Canada,
where opponents fear their
country will be turned into a dumping ground
for nuclear waste. In addition to
environmentalists, police and firefighters'
associations have protested the
shipment and Native American groups have
threatened nonviolent actions to
block the route.
Alice Hirt, a Holland, Michigan, resident and
one of the plaintiffs in the
Michigan lawsuit, said on Friday that the
opponents' attorneys were reviewing
their options following Enslen's ruling.
``For (DOE) to move ahead at this point flies
in the face of the nonproliferation
policy in this country, which has been in
place for decades,'' she said.
In his ruling, Enslen said opponents are
likely to win on their NEPA violation
claims.
But he noted that the Parallex Project came
out of talks between President
Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin
and that courts should avoid
interfering with U.S. foreign policy.
``In the absence of overwhelming evidence by
the plaintiffs demonstrating that
the executive's foreign policy assessment is
not credible or mistaken, the
court must conclude that American
nonproliferation interests would be
harmed if the court were to issue an
injunction,'' Enslen said.
DOE officials said they were pleased by the
decision, which will ``allow the
Energy Department to proceed with this
important nonproliferation initiative.''
A spokeswoman said in response to concerns
expressed by lawmakers, the
DOE has taken additional safety steps
including using specially designed
vehicles.
It was unclear when the plutonium will be
transported. Hirt said DOE officials
have said their deadline is Friday for
starting the trip. DOE officials said
Friday a date has not been set.
Officials also refused to disclose the exact
route for security reasons.
Previous documents from the DOE indicated the
shipment could pass
through Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois
and Indiana before reaching
Michigan.
Once in Michigan, the fuel would cross the
Mackinac Bridge into Michigan's
Upper Peninsula, then enter Canada at Sault
Ste. Marie.
Donald P. Mercado
Radiation Safety Officer
Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space
O/EK-20, B/101
1111 Lockheed Martin Way
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Ph. (408) 742-0759
Fax (408) 742-0611
Email: Don.mercado@lmco.com
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