Released : July 06 2005
Written by : Mary Woollen Mitchell

For the past several months, Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free (KYNF) has been closely examining the details of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed plan to consolidate the production of all plutonium-238 manufactured in the United States at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Their intention is to produce plutonium-238 for the first time since the cold war, and to use the deadly substance as a power source intended for secret “national security” missions and NASA deep space exploration. Just as in the case of the DOE’s plutonium incinerator project, which KYNF prevented from being built, there are major problems and flaws in the DOE’s plutonium-238 production plan.

Plutonium-238 is hundreds of times more carcinogenic than the plutonium-239 that was intended for the incinerator. It is more radioactive, causes more biological damage in a shorter period of time, and remains toxic for almost 900 years. Just one particle set aloft and inhaled can cause cancer. Not only will this end-product of plutonium make such an unwelcome reintroduction to our lives, the process to produce the isotope carries immense risks that the DOE is taking with seeming impunity and hubris. KYNF is an organization dedicated to the eradication of radioactive airborne emissions, and we want this community to know that this plan has set off alarm bells.

Historically, the process and burden for producing plutonium-238 was shared between three separate DOE facilities. The legacy it left at the production sites was that of human and environmental contamination, and surrounding communities at those sites have made clear their opposition to this project. The DOE claims that shifting the production, purification, assembly and testing of plutonium power sources to one place is the preferred solution. While KYNF agrees that the previous risky “shell game” approach to producing plutonium-238 carries immense risk, we strongly assert that a plan for consolidation requires the most rigorous, and risk-based type of planning. Such diligence is not in evidence here.

One of the linchpin stages in this production cycle, is the processing of plutonium-238 from neptunium-237 (another highly radioactive isotope). This step takes place in a nuclear reactor, and in their planning the DOE has designated an existing 40 year-old reactor at INL for this extremely dangerous and highly sensitive process. Why? According to Tim Frazier, DOE lead on this project, it is the most cost effective solution

Subordinating human safety margins because of profit margins and budgetary constraints is a dangerous and unacceptable gambit. It doesn’t add up to the type of sound planning we as the potentially affected public deserve. The folly is this: DOE wants to produce one of the most deadly isotopes known to mankind, in a 40 year old reactor that lacks modern safety features, in one of the most seismically unstable areas of the nation. The obvious volcanic origins of nearby Craters of the Moon, and the spectacular seismic creation of Yellowstone Park provide the geological evidence and doomsday warning against such planning.

KYNF believes the DOE should go back to the budgetary drawing table, and consider building a state-of-the-art reactor for a processing plan they say may go on for another 40 years . Furthermore, we feel that either using or building a reactor in a seismic zone, which INL is designated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), could very well result in a human and environmental disaster. Current planning also does not even provide the public the security of a closed containment feature in the event of an accident or meltdown which would produce deadly radioactive releases.

The scope and intricacies of this latest DOE scheme are complex, but not enough to obfuscate a clear understanding of the risks. The DOE is coming to town to hear what Jackson has to say about this project on Thursday, July 21 at 7:00 p.m. at Snow King. Please call our office with questions about this project, read the article that was on the front page of the New York Times last week http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/27/politics/27nuke.html , and visit our website for more information: www.yellowstonenuclearfree.com If we are going to protect our community and each other from the harm posed by this haphazard plan of nuclear alchemy, we need your voice.



Submitted by: Mary Woollen Mitchell
Executive Director, Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free

Download Article »

Go to : Current News | Archived News