Released : January 23 2007

(Jackson, WY) – Today, a coalition of environmental groups and individuals, led by Jackson, Wyoming based Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free, filed suit against the United States Department of Energy in the Federal District Court for the District of Idaho alleging that the DOE has failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) in connection with its Advanced Test Reactor Life Extension Program (the “LEP”), and is seeking to shut the facility down until its safety can be assured. In addition to KYNF, plaintiffs in the case include Wilson, Wyoming resident Mary Woollen, Troy, Idaho based Environmental Defense Institute, former Idaho State Senator and Carey, Idaho sheep rancher John Peavey, and Aberdeen, Idaho resident Debra Stansell.

The LEP, according to DOE documents obtained by the plaintiffs, is a ten-year, $200 million program intended to extend the life of the ATR until the year 2040.
The ATR, which is already nearly 40 years old, became the subject of public scrutiny last year when the DOE proposed to use it to produce the deadly isotope Plutonium-238. As the scrutiny has intensified, and more has been learned about the precarious operating history of the ATR, the DOE has repeatedly insisted that the facility is safe. “Why does the American taxpayer have to spend $200 million on the ATR if it is safe?” asks Mary Woollen, KYNF Executive Director and a plaintiff in the suit. “It’s completely backwards—they should shut it down, fix the problems they know pose imminent harm, and then put it back on-line with confidence”, said Woollen.

According to a September, 2006 document outlining the LEP, the LEP is a “major project to extend the life of the ATR to the year 2040.” That document states that the ATR’s “routine maintenance, upgrades, and infrastructure” have suffered from years of “budget austerity.” As a result, the ATR has a massive engineering work backlog of more than 115,000 man-hours.

Even at a price tag of $200 million, the LEP does not include any major physical upgrades of the facility. Incredibly, that sum is the amount necessary just to assess the safety basis of the facility and address the engineering backlog. In addition to addressing that backlog, it will pay for the design basis reconstitution program, a material condition assessment, a probabilistic risk assessment, and seismic qualification program, all of which are necessary to evaluate the present condition of the facility and the possibility of continued safe operation.

The lawsuit asks the Court to order the DOE to shut down the reactor until such time as the key safety-related components of the LEP are performed. “DOE has admitted the need for a systematic investigation into the ATR’s many problem areas, and refurbishment where necessary. But, it is clear that, in addition to the serious problems that have been publicly discussed, there are a great many unknowns at the ATR. The plaintiffs believe that the reactor should be shut down until such time as the DOE can guarantee that it is safe to continue operating,” said Mark Sullivan, the plaintiffs’ attorney.

“It is ludicrous that that DOE has embarked on this program without weighing its many alternatives, and doing so in a public forum,” added Sullivan. “The DOE must prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the LEP, and that document must evaluate all of the DOE’s alternatives, including building a new test reactor, either at INL or another facility.”

NEPA requires that federal agencies prepare an environmental impact statement and conduct hearings to receive public input for all “major federal actions” that are likely to significantly affect the environment. The LEP, according to the suit, will generate massive amounts of highly radioactive waste for which there is today, no path for disposal, and will increase the likelihood of a major nuclear disaster at INL, impacts that the DOE must weigh before proceeding with the LEP.

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