051305-WEAPONS GRADE URANIUM REMOVAL
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RECENTLY, SECRETARY OF ENERGY SPENCER ABRAHAM ANNOUNCED A SET OF NEW INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE SECURITY ACROSS THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT'S NETWORK OF LABORATORIES AND DEFENSE FACILITIES, PROMPTING STRONG REACTIONS FROM GOVERNMENT WATCH DOG GROUPS. ROGI RIVERSTONE HAS MORE.
SCRIPT:
Peter Stockton served under Bill Richardson in the Energy department during the Clinton Administration. He is a Senior Investigator with Project On Government Oversight, a watchdog group committed to open government.
[Stockton describes mock attack on Technical Area 18 at Los Alamos National Laboratories :038]
Computer simulations could replace nuclear-defense experiments at the Sandia Pulse Reactor facility in New Mexico, according to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. He says removal of the reactor's fuel and shipment to a permanent storage area could occur within three years.
[Stockton describes the reactor, and the savings to the government upon its removal and the removal of fuel. 0:30]
Paul Robinson is more skeptical. He is research director with Southwest Research and Information Center, an environmental education and social justice group.
[Robinson describes lack of planning for disposal of nuclear materials from the Sandia Pulse Reactor. He describes recently disclosed land fills and yard holes, containing equally-dangerous materials, which the Secretary of Energy does not address. 0:47]
The Energy Secretary also recommends expediting construction of a Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee to allow consolidation of nuclear materials stored there. Mr. Stockton describes the situation.
[Stockton describes security at Y-12 0:20]
The Department of Energy will also assess whether essential defense-related work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California could be relocated, allowing removal of special nuclear material from that facility.
Greg Mello is director of the Los Alamos National Study Group, a non-profit, research oriented, nuclear disarmament organization based in Albuquerque. He describes the security concerns of storing weapons-grade uranium at Livermore.
[Greg Mello describes facilities at Livermore and their proximity to heavily-populated areas 0:30]
In his press release, outlining the responsibilities and risks to DOE, Secretary Abraham is quoted as saying, "Since the stakes are so high, everything is on the table."
Paul Robinson recommends consideration of other concerns, not mentioned in Abraham's statement.
[Robinson on recently-disclosed "yard hole" dumps at Sandia Labs 0:35]
Energy Secretary Abraham proposes a three-year timetable for removal of weapons-grade uranium at sites he outlines. This would put the deadline at the middle of the next Presidential administration. In a prepared statement, U.S. Senator Pete Domenici said he continues to have concerns that security costs are outpacing any growth in the DOE budget, and that he will work with Secretary Abraham to consolidate special nuclear material where it [quote] "makes financial sense and will not undermine the program." [end quote]
Domenici is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He also serves chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds DOE and the national laboratories.
Greg Mello recommends public involvement, vigilance and persistence to remove weapons-grade uranium in our communities.
[Greg Mello describes problems with accountability
0:40]
New Mexico Congressional Representative Heather Wilson declined to comment for this report.
For KUNM, this is Rogi Riverstone
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