Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Should Plutonium-238 be produced in Idaho? (PRO)

Safety concerns, secrecy issues will be addressed in draft EIS


By ELISABETH SELLERS
Elizabeth Sellers is the manager of the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho Operations Office, which oversees the Idaho National Laboratory. You can write her at 1955 Fremont Avenue, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415

The U.S. Department of Energy has been assigned a very important task: supplying the nuclear materials and systems necessary to provide heat and electricity for space exploration power, as well as national security missions, which operate in harsh, remote environments. The Department is looking for a safer and more efficient way to carry out these missions. It may prove to be consolidating all of the related nuclear work at Idaho National Laboratory.

DOE has the responsibility to supply plutonium-238, a radioactive element that generates heat as it decays. That heat is then converted into electricity, which is used in remote power systems to operate instruments in harsh environments. These remote systems have been used on manned and unmanned spacecraft since 1961. For example, the Ulysses spacecraft was launched in October 1990 to study the Sun's poles. To position above the Sun, Ulysses had to fly around Jupiter and slingshot out of the plane of the planets. Near Jupiter, the Sun's rays are 25 times weaker than near Earth. Solar panels large enough to catch this weak energy would have weighed 1,200 pounds, doubling the weight of the spacecraft and making it too heavy for booster rockets from the shuttle.

The Department also provides power systems to national security users for missions that we can't discuss. The need for these systems has increased significantly since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. DOE anticipates running out of plutonium-238 required for these systems by the end of this decade. Under current plans, the Department would begin producing plutonium-238 using facilities in Tennessee, as well as INL. In that scenario, plutonium-238 would needlessly travel about 8,000 miles before it was ready to be delivered to its end user.

Looking for a plan that reduces transportation requirements while improving security and efficiency, DOE is considering consolidating all plutonium-238 work at the Idaho National Laboratory. A draft environmental impact statement evaluating this plan, as well as reasonable alternatives, will be issued for public comment this summer. Here is a look at the key issues that have been raised about the plan and how the Department intends to address them:

· Safety: Stakeholders have expressed concern about worker exposure to plutonium-238, as well as release to the environment. We intend to use the lessons learned from 40 years of plutonium-238 production and handling to construct a state-of-the-art facility that designs-in safety. That means improvements that reduce the possibility of worker exposure, and prevent release of plutonium-238 even under extreme accident conditions. If consolidation occurs, INL will produce about 5 kilograms of plutonium-238 a year, a volume that would fit easily in a gallon milk container.

· Security: Terrorism is a concern we take very seriously here, no matter the potential target -- a reactor, waste storage, special nuclear materials, etc. We have a well-trained, well-armed security force, a sophisticated information-gathering network and the full resources of the United States Government on which to rely.

· Waste generation: DOE intends to ship all of the waste generated by these missions to permitted disposal sites out of Idaho. Transuranic waste would go to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. Low-level and mixed-low level waste would go to the Nevada Test Site and/or permitted commercial disposal sites. DOE will do everything it can to minimize the amount of waste generated, and to re-use as much plutonium-238 and neptunium-237 (the feedstock for plutonium-238) as possible, because they are both very valuable commodities.

· Secrecy: Because we can't discuss the national security missions related to this project, some stakeholders are concerned this will lead to environmental and safety issues. While the end users of the remote power systems are secret, the processes to produce the plutonium-238 and the power systems are not. The state of Idaho and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will have complete access to our facilities, to ensure they are safe and compliant with all applicable regulations.

· The Future: Some stakeholders believe this mission will open the door for other national security or nuclear-related missions. Frankly, as the nation's lead nuclear laboratory, we would expect it to do just that. INL provides a large employment base, spends millions of dollars a year with area business, and adds millions of dollars a year to Idaho's tax base. Consolidating the nuclear work related to this project in Idaho would bring a construction project to the state worth between $250 million and $350 million, and an estimated 100 permanent jobs.

INL is a national asset. Its ability to safely and securely manage nuclear materials means there is a high likelihood INL will be called on to perform other critical missions to support our national security. In each case, the Department will welcome the public's input and listen carefully as it makes decisions that affect the future of the nation, INL and Idaho.




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.