Monday, September 11, 2006
Three Green groups have signed on...last chance!
The Charlotte Area Green Party, York County (SC) Greens, and the Pacific Green Party of Oregon have endorsed a letter calling for an end to plutonium fuel projects designed to revitalize the nuclear indiustry and potentially expand the inventory of plutonium available for nuclear proliferation. Dozens of other groups, from national to regional to local, have signed on to the letter. Tomorrow is the deadline for your group to sign on too.
All the details are behind the "Read more!" link...
Hey y'all,
Awesome list of groups! Thanks to everyone who signed on so far. We'll take
more sign-ons 'til end of day Tuesday, September 12. Jodi Dart, ANA, will
deliver to Hobson Wednesday morning. Thursday will be the media advisory
(give Hobson a chance to absorb the letter and be prepared to be contacted).
I'll hope to circulate on Wednesday afternoon and you may feel free to
substitute your contact and circulate at will.
Yours 'til MOX is NIXed!
Glenn
September 13, 2006
Dear Representative Hobson
Chairman, House Energy and Water Development Subcommittee
Room 2362-B Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-6020
fax 202-225-1984
Eliminate Funding for SRS MOX Plant, Support Plutonium Immobilization
Dear Representative Hobson:
We are writing to you to thank you for the decision by the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee which led the full House to eliminate funding for the plutonium (mixed oxide, MOX) fuel factory at the Department of Energy¹s (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. For a host of cost, non-proliferation, and environmental reasons we fully support the decision to terminate the MOX program as a method to deal with surplus weapons plutonium. We also enthusiastically applaud the House¹s recognition that immobilization of plutonium as waste is the preferred disposition path.
We urge members of the House to insist on the House provision in the upcoming House-Senate conference committee. The MOX program is woefully over-budget and behind schedule and the U.S.-Russian agreement is at a stalemate on key issues, not the least of which is almost total lack of support financially from the G-8 which has not even addressed it on its agenda for the past several years running. We depend on your strong leadership now to achieve a sound and cost-effective approach to manage surplus plutonium.
As you are well aware, after more than a decade of large expenditures and fiscal mismanagement, the DOE¹s MOX program has produced minimal results. As the cost of the MOX plant has rapidly escalated to near $4 billion, the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee¹s decision to cease funding the MOX program will prevent costs from spiraling further out of control if construction of the MOX plant were to begin.
As has been confirmed by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the plutonium now stored in the old K-Reactor at SRS is too contaminated for use as MOX and must be immobilized in existing high-level waste. The subcommittee¹s substantial increase in funding for a revived plutonium immobilization program is timely and promises to yield positive results in disposing of surplus plutonium now stored at SRS, Hanford and other DOE sites.
The Russians have made it clear that they will not participate in a parallel program to use MOX in their light-water reactors (LWRs). Thus, the basis for the joint U.S.-Russian MOX program has collapsed. Along with termination of the MOX plant funding, we request that it be made very clear to DOE that construction of the MOX plant at SRS shall not go forward given that there is no longer a parallel program in Russia.
DOE is taking a new look at an ³all-immobilization option.² Immobilization yields positive environmental and non-proliferation benefits over the risky commercial plutonium fuel option because it involves less handling and processing of plutonium. It is obvious that immobilization would be much cheaper than the dual disposition track (MOX and immobilization) that DOE is now pursuing. At a recent House Armed Services hearing on plutonium, DOE presented unsubstantiated rough estimates for the cost of immobilization compared with the cost of a dual track. We request that Congress direct DOE to conduct an in-depth cost analysis, involving participation and review independent from DOE, on immobilization and all aspects of DOE¹s plutonium
disposition program. An important dimension of this report must be to review the wisdom of two plutonium programs being managed by two artificially separated entities inside DOE - the Office of Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
As DOE has clearly not given up on MOX, however, we ask you to keep in mind there remain huge obstacles to success with the U.S.-Russia MOX program. In addition to the long-standing unresolved liability issues and the equally long-standing lack of G-8 support for financing Russia¹s MOX infrastructure, Russia simply does not have reactor capacity to burn MOX fuel. Although Russia has said it would use its BN-600 plutonium breeder reactor for plutonium disposition, that aging reactor has a maximum capacity to use only 4-5 metric tons of plutonium during its remaining life, far under the 34 metric tons in the original U.S.-Russia agreement. Now Russia wants outside funding to pay for construction of a massive new plutonium breeder reactor,
the BN-800. That reactor simply does not exist and thus cannot satisfy the bilateral agreement. Further, the BN-800 can be operated in ³breeding² mode to produce yet more weapons-grade plutonium for the Russian stockpile. Given the expense and the stark proliferation risk such a reactor poses, the U.S. must reject this option outright.
Thank you very much, again, for the significant step to terminate the MOX program.
Sincerely,
Glenn Carroll
Coordinator
Nuclear Watch South
(formerly GANE)
Atlanta, GA
Tom Clements
Senior Advisor
Greenpeace International
Washington, DC
Lou Zeller
Executive Director
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
Glendale Springs, NC
Dr. Edwin S. Lyman
Senior Staff Scientist
Union of Concerned Scientists
Washington, DC
Paul Leventhal
Nuclear Control Institute
Washington, DC
NATIONAL GROUPS
Daryl G. Kimball
Executive Director
Arms Control Association *
Washington, DC
Tom Carpenter
Director, Nuclear Oversight Program
Government Accountability Project
Washington, DC
Henry Sokolski
Executive Director
The Nonproliferation Policy Education Center
Washington, DC
Alice Slater
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
New York, NY
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Takoma Park, MD
Dr. Helen Caldicott
President
Nuclear Policy Research Institute
College Park, MD
Michele Boyd
Legislative Director
Public Citizen
Washington, DC
Susan Shaer
Executive Director
Women¹s Action for New Directions
Arlington, MA
LOCAL & REGIONAL GROUPS
Adele Kushner
Executive Secretary
Action for a Clean Environment
Alto, GA
Bobbie Paul
Director
Atlanta WAND (Women¹s Action for New Directions)
Atlanta, GA
Allison Peeler
Nuclear Issues Coordinator
Carolina Peace Resource Center
Columbia, SC
Charles Johnson
Center for Energy Research
Portland, OR
Anna Shockley
Charleston Peace
Charleston, SC
Kathryn Kuppers
Charlotte Area Green Party
Midlands, NC
Sue Dayton
Director
Citizen Action New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM
Peggy Maze Johnson
Executive Director
Citizen Alert
Nevada
Keith Gunter
Citizens¹ Resistance at Fermi Two
Monroe, MI
Michael J. Keegan
Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes
Monroe, MI
Joni Arends
Executive Director
Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety
Santa Fe, NM
Alice Hirt
Don¹t Waste Michigan
Holland, MI
Chuck Broscious
Executive Director
Environmental Defense Institute
Troy, ID
Ruth Thomas
President
Environmentalists, Inc.
Columbia, SC
Bob Darby
Coordinator
Food Not Bombs
Atlanta, GA
Paige Knight
President
Hanford Watch
Portland, OR
Gerald Pollet
Executive Director
Heart of America Northwest
Seattle, WA
Jennifer O. Viereck
Director
HOME: Healing Ourselves & Mother Earth
Tecopa, CA
Greg Mello
Los Alamos Study Group
Albuquerque, NM
Jay Coghlan
Director
Nuclear Watch of New Mexico
Santa Fe, NM
Joanne Cvar
Secretary
Pacific Green Party of Oregon
State of Oregon
Mavis Belisle
Director
Peace Farm
Panhandle, TX
Vina Colley
Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security
(PRESS)
Portsmouth, OH
Judith Mohling
Nuclear Nexus Program Staff
Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center
Boulder, CO
Frank Carl
Executive Director
Savannah Riverkeeper
Augusta, GA
Dell Isham
Director
Sierra Club, South Carolina Chapter
Columbia, SC
Don Hancock
Nuclear Waste Program Director
Southwest Research and Information Center
Albuquerque, NM
Jeremy Maxand
Executive Director
Snake River Alliance
Boise, ID
Brett Bursey
South Carolina Progressive Network
Columbia, SC
Sara Barczak
Safe Energy Director
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE)
Savannah, GA
Merrill Chapman
Thinking People
Mount Pleasant, SC
Marylia Kelley
Executive Director
Tri-Valley CAREs
Livermore, CA
Lewis E. Patrie, M.D., M.P.H.
Chair
Western NC Chapter, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Asheville, NC
Gregg Jocoy
York County (SC) Greens
Fort Mill, SC
To respond to this letter or if you have questions about plutonium
disposition issues and/or concerns about the program in the SRS region,
please contact Glenn Carroll, Nuclear Watch South, P.O. Box 8574, Atlanta,
GA 31106, 404-378-4263, atom.girl@mindspring.com
--
Glenn Carroll
Coordinator
NUCLEAR WATCH SOUTH
(formerly GANE - Georgians Against Nuclear Energy)
P.O. Box 8574
Atlanta, GA 31106
PHONE/FAX: 404-378-4263
atom.girl@mindspring.com
STOP PLUTONIUM! GANE ON THE WEB --
http://www.greenpeace.fr/stop-plutonium/en/20050301_en.php3
All the details are behind the "Read more!" link...
Hey y'all,
Awesome list of groups! Thanks to everyone who signed on so far. We'll take
more sign-ons 'til end of day Tuesday, September 12. Jodi Dart, ANA, will
deliver to Hobson Wednesday morning. Thursday will be the media advisory
(give Hobson a chance to absorb the letter and be prepared to be contacted).
I'll hope to circulate on Wednesday afternoon and you may feel free to
substitute your contact and circulate at will.
Yours 'til MOX is NIXed!
Glenn
September 13, 2006
Dear Representative Hobson
Chairman, House Energy and Water Development Subcommittee
Room 2362-B Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-6020
fax 202-225-1984
Eliminate Funding for SRS MOX Plant, Support Plutonium Immobilization
Dear Representative Hobson:
We are writing to you to thank you for the decision by the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee which led the full House to eliminate funding for the plutonium (mixed oxide, MOX) fuel factory at the Department of Energy¹s (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. For a host of cost, non-proliferation, and environmental reasons we fully support the decision to terminate the MOX program as a method to deal with surplus weapons plutonium. We also enthusiastically applaud the House¹s recognition that immobilization of plutonium as waste is the preferred disposition path.
We urge members of the House to insist on the House provision in the upcoming House-Senate conference committee. The MOX program is woefully over-budget and behind schedule and the U.S.-Russian agreement is at a stalemate on key issues, not the least of which is almost total lack of support financially from the G-8 which has not even addressed it on its agenda for the past several years running. We depend on your strong leadership now to achieve a sound and cost-effective approach to manage surplus plutonium.
As you are well aware, after more than a decade of large expenditures and fiscal mismanagement, the DOE¹s MOX program has produced minimal results. As the cost of the MOX plant has rapidly escalated to near $4 billion, the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee¹s decision to cease funding the MOX program will prevent costs from spiraling further out of control if construction of the MOX plant were to begin.
As has been confirmed by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the plutonium now stored in the old K-Reactor at SRS is too contaminated for use as MOX and must be immobilized in existing high-level waste. The subcommittee¹s substantial increase in funding for a revived plutonium immobilization program is timely and promises to yield positive results in disposing of surplus plutonium now stored at SRS, Hanford and other DOE sites.
The Russians have made it clear that they will not participate in a parallel program to use MOX in their light-water reactors (LWRs). Thus, the basis for the joint U.S.-Russian MOX program has collapsed. Along with termination of the MOX plant funding, we request that it be made very clear to DOE that construction of the MOX plant at SRS shall not go forward given that there is no longer a parallel program in Russia.
DOE is taking a new look at an ³all-immobilization option.² Immobilization yields positive environmental and non-proliferation benefits over the risky commercial plutonium fuel option because it involves less handling and processing of plutonium. It is obvious that immobilization would be much cheaper than the dual disposition track (MOX and immobilization) that DOE is now pursuing. At a recent House Armed Services hearing on plutonium, DOE presented unsubstantiated rough estimates for the cost of immobilization compared with the cost of a dual track. We request that Congress direct DOE to conduct an in-depth cost analysis, involving participation and review independent from DOE, on immobilization and all aspects of DOE¹s plutonium
disposition program. An important dimension of this report must be to review the wisdom of two plutonium programs being managed by two artificially separated entities inside DOE - the Office of Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
As DOE has clearly not given up on MOX, however, we ask you to keep in mind there remain huge obstacles to success with the U.S.-Russia MOX program. In addition to the long-standing unresolved liability issues and the equally long-standing lack of G-8 support for financing Russia¹s MOX infrastructure, Russia simply does not have reactor capacity to burn MOX fuel. Although Russia has said it would use its BN-600 plutonium breeder reactor for plutonium disposition, that aging reactor has a maximum capacity to use only 4-5 metric tons of plutonium during its remaining life, far under the 34 metric tons in the original U.S.-Russia agreement. Now Russia wants outside funding to pay for construction of a massive new plutonium breeder reactor,
the BN-800. That reactor simply does not exist and thus cannot satisfy the bilateral agreement. Further, the BN-800 can be operated in ³breeding² mode to produce yet more weapons-grade plutonium for the Russian stockpile. Given the expense and the stark proliferation risk such a reactor poses, the U.S. must reject this option outright.
Thank you very much, again, for the significant step to terminate the MOX program.
Sincerely,
Glenn Carroll
Coordinator
Nuclear Watch South
(formerly GANE)
Atlanta, GA
Tom Clements
Senior Advisor
Greenpeace International
Washington, DC
Lou Zeller
Executive Director
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
Glendale Springs, NC
Dr. Edwin S. Lyman
Senior Staff Scientist
Union of Concerned Scientists
Washington, DC
Paul Leventhal
Nuclear Control Institute
Washington, DC
NATIONAL GROUPS
Daryl G. Kimball
Executive Director
Arms Control Association *
Washington, DC
Tom Carpenter
Director, Nuclear Oversight Program
Government Accountability Project
Washington, DC
Henry Sokolski
Executive Director
The Nonproliferation Policy Education Center
Washington, DC
Alice Slater
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
New York, NY
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Takoma Park, MD
Dr. Helen Caldicott
President
Nuclear Policy Research Institute
College Park, MD
Michele Boyd
Legislative Director
Public Citizen
Washington, DC
Susan Shaer
Executive Director
Women¹s Action for New Directions
Arlington, MA
LOCAL & REGIONAL GROUPS
Adele Kushner
Executive Secretary
Action for a Clean Environment
Alto, GA
Bobbie Paul
Director
Atlanta WAND (Women¹s Action for New Directions)
Atlanta, GA
Allison Peeler
Nuclear Issues Coordinator
Carolina Peace Resource Center
Columbia, SC
Charles Johnson
Center for Energy Research
Portland, OR
Anna Shockley
Charleston Peace
Charleston, SC
Kathryn Kuppers
Charlotte Area Green Party
Midlands, NC
Sue Dayton
Director
Citizen Action New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM
Peggy Maze Johnson
Executive Director
Citizen Alert
Nevada
Keith Gunter
Citizens¹ Resistance at Fermi Two
Monroe, MI
Michael J. Keegan
Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes
Monroe, MI
Joni Arends
Executive Director
Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety
Santa Fe, NM
Alice Hirt
Don¹t Waste Michigan
Holland, MI
Chuck Broscious
Executive Director
Environmental Defense Institute
Troy, ID
Ruth Thomas
President
Environmentalists, Inc.
Columbia, SC
Bob Darby
Coordinator
Food Not Bombs
Atlanta, GA
Paige Knight
President
Hanford Watch
Portland, OR
Gerald Pollet
Executive Director
Heart of America Northwest
Seattle, WA
Jennifer O. Viereck
Director
HOME: Healing Ourselves & Mother Earth
Tecopa, CA
Greg Mello
Los Alamos Study Group
Albuquerque, NM
Jay Coghlan
Director
Nuclear Watch of New Mexico
Santa Fe, NM
Joanne Cvar
Secretary
Pacific Green Party of Oregon
State of Oregon
Mavis Belisle
Director
Peace Farm
Panhandle, TX
Vina Colley
Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security
(PRESS)
Portsmouth, OH
Judith Mohling
Nuclear Nexus Program Staff
Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center
Boulder, CO
Frank Carl
Executive Director
Savannah Riverkeeper
Augusta, GA
Dell Isham
Director
Sierra Club, South Carolina Chapter
Columbia, SC
Don Hancock
Nuclear Waste Program Director
Southwest Research and Information Center
Albuquerque, NM
Jeremy Maxand
Executive Director
Snake River Alliance
Boise, ID
Brett Bursey
South Carolina Progressive Network
Columbia, SC
Sara Barczak
Safe Energy Director
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE)
Savannah, GA
Merrill Chapman
Thinking People
Mount Pleasant, SC
Marylia Kelley
Executive Director
Tri-Valley CAREs
Livermore, CA
Lewis E. Patrie, M.D., M.P.H.
Chair
Western NC Chapter, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Asheville, NC
Gregg Jocoy
York County (SC) Greens
Fort Mill, SC
To respond to this letter or if you have questions about plutonium
disposition issues and/or concerns about the program in the SRS region,
please contact Glenn Carroll, Nuclear Watch South, P.O. Box 8574, Atlanta,
GA 31106, 404-378-4263, atom.girl@mindspring.com
--
Glenn Carroll
Coordinator
NUCLEAR WATCH SOUTH
(formerly GANE - Georgians Against Nuclear Energy)
P.O. Box 8574
Atlanta, GA 31106
PHONE/FAX: 404-378-4263
atom.girl@mindspring.com
STOP PLUTONIUM! GANE ON THE WEB --
http://www.greenpeace.fr/stop-plutonium/en/20050301_en.php3
// posted by Gregg Jocoy @ 8:04 PM 
