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Updates from the SRSCRO
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January 2016
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| Follow us on Twitter! |
Rick McLeod @atomicasset  |
Mindy Mets @nuclearstem |
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Speak up - Consent Based Siting Approach
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is implementing a consent-based siting process to establish an integrated waste management system to transport, store, and dispose of commercial spent nuclear fuel and high level defense radioactive waste. In a consent-based siting approach, DOE will work with communities, tribal governments and states across the country that express interest in hosting any of the facilities identified as part of an integrated waste management system.
As part of this process, the Department wants public input on implementing this system. In order to solicit public feedback, DOE is submitting this
Invitation for Public Comment (IPC). In addition, the Department intends to host a series of public meetings to engage communities and discuss the development of a consent-based approach to managing our nation's nuclear waste. The kickoff meeting was held on Jan. 20, 2016, at the Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel. You can also attend one of the other (yet to be announced) planned public meetings taking place across the country throughout 2016. In addition, the public is invited to send emails with comments or concerns to the Department of Energy at
[email protected] or visit the website at
energy.gov/consentbasedsiting to learn more.
DOE's strategy for managing both spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste was laid out in a strategy document from 2013, which was based on recommendations from President Obama's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (BRC). The DOE Strategy outlines a three-step process.
The first step for commercial spent fuel begins with developing a pilot interim storage facility that will mainly accept used nuclear fuel from reactors that have already been shut down. The purpose of a pilot facility is to begin the process of accepting spent fuel from utilities, while also developing and perfecting protocols and procedures for transportation and storage of nuclear waste. Beyond this first step, DOE also supports the development of a larger interim storage facility with more capacity and capabilities. The final step involves moving toward one or more long-term geologic repositories for both spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
DOE admits full implementation of this strategy will take time, but is soliciting comments to help develop a fair and effective approach to consent-based siting. DOE hopes that the public input will help with the design of a consent-based siting process, which will serve as a framework for collaborating with interested host communities across the country.
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Preferred Alternative - Pu Disposition
 The Department of Energy published a Federal Register notice on December 24, 2015, announcing DOE/NNSA's Preferred Alternative for Disposition of Surplus Non-Pit plutonium for the Final Surplus Plutonium Disposition (SPD) Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Supplemental EIS).
In the Final SPD Supplemental EIS, issued to the public in May 2015, DOE describes the potential environmental impact from alternatives for safe and timely disposition of 13.1 metric tons (14.4 tons) of surplus plutonium for which a disposition pathway is not yet assigned. This includes 7.1 metric tons (7.8 tons) of plutonium from pits that were declared excess to national defense needs and 6 metric tons (6.6 tons) of surplus non-pit plutonium. When the Final SPD Supplemental EIS was issued, DOE had no  Preferred Alternative for the disposition of the 13.1 metric tons (14.4 tons) of surplus plutonium that is the subject of the Final SPD Supplemental EIS. Also, DOE had no Preferred Alternative regarding the sites or facilities to be used to prepare surplus plutonium metal for disposition (i.e., pit disassembly and conversion capability). DOE/NNSA indicated that once a Preferred Alternative is identified, it would announce its preference in a Federal Register notice; and that DOE would publish a Record of Decision no sooner than 30 days after its announcement of a Preferred Alternative.
The Federal Register notice announces DOE/NNSA's selection of a Preferred Alternative to prepare 6 metric tons (MT) of surplus non-pit plutonium now stored at SRS for eventual disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The scope of DOE/NNSA's Preferred Alternative pertains only to the 6 MT of surplus non-pit plutonium and not to any of the other potential actions analyzed in the Final SPD Supplemental EIS.
Consider this somewhat good news, at least DOE/NNSA made a decision on an issue which it has been wrestling with for close to 20 years. Now implementing that decision will be crucial. While DOE has made the announcement on sending 6 MT of plutonium to WIPP, many hurdles remain to carry out this decision once the ROD is issued. No funding has been appropriated by Congress for down blending the plutonium at SRS for disposal. SRS currently lacks adequate infrastructure to carry out the mission and would need more gloveboxes, likely to be placed in the K Area Complex (KAC) at SRS, for packaging the material mixed with a secret inert material from which DOE believes it would be difficult to recover the plutonium so that the safeguards can be terminated.
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Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)
 NNSA has released a Gap Plutonium Environmental Assessment (EA) on its website. The EA evaluates how NNSA proposes to transport, receive, and process weapons-usable plutonium, also known as gap material plutonium, in the United States from foreign countries and manage it in accordance with NNSA plans and procedures for surplus U.S. plutonium, if no other reasonable pathways are identified to address U.S. national security interests. Gap material plutonium is separated weapons-usable plutonium currently located in foreign countries and "poses a threat to national security; presents a high risk of terrorist threat; has no other reasonable pathway to assure security from theft or diversion; and meets the acceptance criteria of the storage facility at the Savannah River Site".
You can access the EA at
http://energy.gov/nepa/downloads/ea-2024-final-environmental-assessment . NNSA has elected to implement the Proposed Action in the EA. Based on the analysis in the EA, NNSA has determined that the impacts of implementing the proposed action are not significant and not a major action significantly affecting the quality of the environment, and do not require the preparation of an environmental impact statement.
According to the
Finding of No Significant Impact document, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has decided to move forward with transport of up to 900 kilograms (1,984 pounds) of plutonium to be stored at SRS. Removing highly enriched uranium and plutonium materials from civilian facilities around the world is a long standing U.S. national security and nonproliferation objective. NNSA has successfully worked with partner countries to confirm the down-blend or disposition of hundreds of kilograms of weapons-usable nuclear materials outside of the United States.
One of the most serious threats facing the United States and other countries is the possibility that other nations or terrorist organizations could steal a nuclear warhead or highly enriched uranium (HEU), separated plutonium, or other nuclear materials. Vulnerable nuclear materials stolen from poorly secured stockpiles in various locations around the world could be used to construct a nuclear device. According to a 2013 study (Arms Control Association and Partnership for Global Security, The Nuclear Security Summit: Progress Report - Washington, D.C.: July 2013), roughly 780,000 kilograms of HEU and 226,000 kilograms of separated plutonium exist outside the United States, including more than 617,000 kilograms of HEU and 120,000 kilograms of plutonium in Russia.
Considering this, with the recent news of the North Korea nuclear test and heighten concerns about increased terrorist actions, leaving this material in the existing foreign countries may not be wise. For national (and international) security reasons alone, SRS may indeed be the safest place to store this material. The K Area Complex (KAC) at SRS provides for the safe handling and storage of this material. SRS is also the recognized leader for managing the plutonium surveillance program throughout the Department of Energy (DOE) Complex. This makes SRS the Nation's cornerstone of excess plutonium management and disposition, and perhaps the only facility of its type to fulfill the US commitment to international nonproliferation efforts in a safe and environmentally sound manner.
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Spotlight
Carolyne Williams
SRSCRO Board of Directors
Carolyne Williams has been a resident of Barnwell County for over 40 years. Now retired, she is the former Superintendent of Barnwell School
District 45.
Carolyne has served her community on a multitude of boards and commissions, including the SC State Board of Education, the National Association of School Boards of Education, the SRS CAB, the Barnwell County Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Savannah River Community Foundation.
She replaces Anna Loadholt on the SRSCRO Board of Directors. We all welcome Carolyne to the SRSCRO.
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SRSCRO
2016-17 Executive Committee
Sanford Loyd,
Chair
David Jameson,
Vice Chair
Robbie Bennett,
Secretary
Anne Rice,
Treasurer
Susan Winsor,
Immediate Past Chair
Danny Black,
SC Representative-at-Large
Chris Noah,
GA Representative-at-Large
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Summer Opportunity for Teachers
 Registration is in progress for the June 15 - 17, 2016 Southeastern Summer Nuclear Institute (SSNI). This unique 3-day program is offered to Middle and High School educators in Georgia and South Carolina. The Institute provides hands-on education for teachers focusing on nuclear technology and nuclear career pathways. Tours of Savannah River Site, Plant Vogtle and Augusta University nuclear medicine facilities are included. Meals, housing and materials are sponsor-provided at no charge to participants. More information is available
here.
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El Niño
Fun Facts
1. This winter's El Niño is predicted to be the strongest experienced in the past 50 years - it has been preemptively nicknamed "Godzilla El Niño".
2. No two El Niños are exactly alike in intensity.
3. El Niño can cause droughts, flooding and colder, wetter winters in North America.
4. El Niño events can last anywhere between nine months to several years.
5. It causes lots of disruption for sea creatures, and can be detrimental for fishermen and other professions that rely on marine life for livelihood.
6. El Niño has a counter climate change called La Niña, while El Niños occur when tropical Pacific waters are warmer than usual, La Niñas occur when tropical Pacific waters are colder than usual.
7. Both El Niño and La Niña have the power to change 50% of the planet's climates, making them the most powerful phenomena on earth.
8. It has been known to reduce the number of hurricanes over the Atlantic Ocean.
9. A strong El Niño is associated with flooding rains and warm weather in Peru, drought in Indonesia, Africa and Australia, heavy rain and mud sides in Southern California, milder winters in the Northeastern US and fewer hurricanes in the Southeastern US.
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Closing Thoughts
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"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." --
Mahatma Gandhi
"Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish." --
Albert Einstein
"A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand." --
Bertrand Russell
"The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything."
--
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"I suppose that I shall have to die beyond my means." --
Oscar Wilde
"An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows."
--
Dwight D. Eisenhower
"I was so naive as a kid I used to sneak behind the barn and do nothing." --
Johnny Carson
"The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has." --
Will Rogers
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| Contact Information |
SRSCRO, PO Box 696, Aiken, SC 20802
Staff:
Mindy Mets - NWI Program Manager - 803-508-7403
Amy Merry - Administrative & Business Manager - 803-508-7401
Kim Saxon - Assistant Coordinator -
803-508-7656
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