The Savannah River Site’s Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) on Tuesday approved a position paper opposing the Department of Energy facility’s possible receipt of 900 kilograms of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany. The board has no authority in the matter, but its positions can be representative of the broader community on various topics. The paper, one of several approved on Tuesday, will now be posted online as the group’s official stance on the matter.
In 2012, Germany contacted the Energy Department for help in disposing of the HEU, which dates back to the 1950s. The HEU was first produced in the U.S., which sent the material to several other countries for research purposes through the Atoms for Peace program launched in 1953 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Under the program, the U.S. is supposed to take it back, even though one of the options DOE is considering is to take no action and let the material remain in Germany.
The CAB also voted to renew its position on the interim or long-term storage of other spent nuclear materials at SRS. The paper states that the nation’s spent nuclear fuel material was intended to be stored at the Yucca Mountain deep geologic repository in Nevada. The Obama administration canceled that project and last year formalized a “consent-based” strategy for nuclear waste disposal under which one or more permanent sites would be ready by 2048.
The CAB’s position paper states “no site for a long term geologic site superior to Yucca Mountain exists and any alternative site will be technically inferior.” CAB member Larry Powell said the issue, much like the German HEU shipment, highlights the fact that the board does not want more nuclear material coming to SRS unless it poses a legitimate proliferation risk at its current location. “Before we start getting more material, we need to do develop an exit strategy to get some of this other material off-site,” he said.
The vote on both items was 13-5.
