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Issues
> Energy
> Printer
Version $600
million
The administration is proposing to turn plutonium used by the military into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors. The experimental fuel, called MOX (mixed oxides of plutonium and uranium), is a mixture of weapons-grade plutonium and uranium and will come from at least 34 metric tons of surplus weapons grade plutonium. Although immobilizing the plutonium in ceramic is cheaper and safer, the administration is proposing to spend more than $3.8 billion on building and operating a MOX fuel fabrication facility in Savannah River, South Carolina. This would effectively end the U.S. moratorium on military plutonium use in commercial reactors. Reactor grade plutonium fuel is in use in Europe, but no reactor has ever been loaded with plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons. The MOX fuel would be used to generate electricity thereby allowing weapons grade plutonium to enter into commercial use. In
addition to disposing of its own weapons grade plutonium, the
U.S. government, in agreement with other western countries, has
committed to financing, with other G-8 countries the bulk of
costs for plutonium disposition in Russia. Current
Status In 2002 the Bush administration officially canceled the immobilization option. This reverses the Department of Energy's January 1997 decision to pursue both the immobilization and MOX options. Licensing of the MOX factory by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is being challenged by two groups: Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and Georgian's Against Nuclear Energy. Hearings before the Atomics Safety Licensing Board are expected in fall 2003. Project Hurts Taxpayers The immobilization-only approach to dispose of 34 tons of plutonium would cost about $3.2 billion, based on the DOE's own analyses. Reinstating immobilization and canceling MOX would save at least $600 million over the life of the project compared to the MOX approach, estimated by DOE to cost more than $3.8 billion. Project Hurts the Environment Plutonium is an extreme health hazard when inhaled or absorbed through cuts or abrasions. As little as 1/100,000 of an ounce can cause lung cancer when inhaled. An initial environmental analysis by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission states that low income and minority people would be at greatest risk in the event of an accident at the new factory or the associated plutonium processing plant. Using MOX to fuel nuclear reactors would reduce the stability of reactor cores, necessitating increased expenditures on reactor modifications to restore the same level of control as with uranium fuel. The consequences of a reactor accident would be more severe, resulting in 25% more cancer fatalities than the same type of accident in a uranium-fueled reactor. The four nuclear power reactors that are currently slated to use the MOX fuel are within thirty miles of Charlotte, NC and Rock Hill, SC. Plutonium capable of being used in nuclear weapons would be transported and stored near this fast growing metropolitan area. Since use of MOX fuel does not result in much net plutonium reduction, nuclear waste generated from MOX contains more plutonium and also more biologically active fission products than other nuclear wastes. The generation of such waste complicates storage, transportation and disposal of both so-called "low-level" and high-level wastes that would be generated on the shores of Lake Norman and Lake Wylie. The full implications of MOX are global, since the project undermines non-proliferation goals. Ending the moratorium on U.S. plutonium fuel use would encourage other nations to pursue plutonium fuel cycles, increasing proliferation and terrorism risks. Contacts
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