IX. ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY

I. OAK RIDGE GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT

Land use

January 31, opening a public forum on land use at Oak Ridge Reservation, Leah Dever, manager of the Oak Ridge Operations Office, made three announcements:  she will sign an environmental assessment that allows the transfer of 182 acres of floodplain property along the Clinch River to a developer; DOE hopes to finish within the next month an environmental review that will allow the transfer of some property at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for private development; and she is putting on hold the transfer of land for the ED-3 industrial park.  The last announcement came as a surprise to all but a few of her close confidantes. 

Land use has apparently become the “battleground” in a conflict within DOE’s Oak Ridge office.  Dever replaced Jim Hall as manager of Oak Ridge in 1999.  Hall had ties to the Oak Ridge business community and supported development by private parties of “surplus” federal lands.  The current chief of administration Dan Wilken and the assets manager Robert Brown maintain this position.  Dever, on the other hand, is seen by pro-development interests as a supporter of environmental interests.  At issue is the fate of     thousands of mostly forested land, not occupied by buildings or waste dumps.

February 7 DOE scheduled and then canceled a press conference at which Dever was expected to announce that DOE would require an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the Oak Ridge Reservation, as requested in January by the Southern Environmental Law Center.  Steve Wyatt, DOE spokesperson, said that the announcement of the EIS was canceled, because Dever had not been able to meet with senior-level officials at DOE headquarters.  However, Frank Munger later reported that the announcement was postponed after Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN)) met with Jim Decker, acting director of DOE’s Office of Science in Washington. (Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, 2/5/01, 2/7/01, 2/9/01; Paul Parson, Oak Ridger, 2/8/01)

In late February Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation (AFORR) found that the deed from the transfer of the 182 acres of land along the Clinch River, next to the Boeing Property, indicates that the federal government sold the land to the “Oak Ridge Land Company, LLC” for $9,828, that is for $54 an acre.  The Nature Conservancy had evaluated the land as “of very high biological significance.” (John Devereux Joslin, e-mail, 2/27/01)

Dever on Temporary Assignment 

February 8 Leah Dever unexpectedly announced that she was accepting an approximately 90-day position as acting chief operating officer in DOE’s Office of Science in Washington.  She maintained that the assignment had nothing to do with the land-use controversy: “These are two totally separate issues that just seem to come together.”  She had volunteered for the temporary position a few weeks previously to assist in the transition to the new administration, she said.  Ed Cumesty, her deputy, will serve as Oak Ridge manager during her absence. (Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, 2/9/01)

Cleanup 

British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) received $11.5 million from DOE in February for completing Milestone No. 5 in the cleanup at the K-25 site. The terms of the $238 million, fixed-price contract signed in 1997 stipulated that BNFL is to be paid as milestones are completed.  The firm planned to submit invoices by the end of March for Milestones 6 and 7, worth $12 million each.  Prior to February, BNFL had been paid $56 million. Most of BNFL’s work to date has taken place in Building K-33, from which some 2 million pounds of material are removed each week.  Much of the contaminated material is sent to Utah. (Frank Munger, Knoxville News-Sentinel, 2/17/01) 

New health-risks office

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) opened an office in February in downtown Oak Ridge.  The agency, a part of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, recently helped to create an Oak Ridge Reservation Health Effects subcommittee.  The agency and the subcommittee, with help from other organizations, will shortly carry out two assessments: a community needs assessment and a public health assessment. (Paul Parson, Oak Ridger, 2/19/01)

Refusal to store waste

Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist has refused to allow the US Department of Energy (DOE) to ship about one hundred drums, (ten truckloads) of transuranic waste from Battelle’s Laboratories near Columbus, Ohio, to Oak Ridge to await treatment, packaging, and shipping  to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico.   The waste was created during the Manhattan Project. Sundquist said that he might consider treating and packaging out-of-state waste on a case by case basis after a treatment plant that Foster Wheeler Environmental is constructing at Oak Ridge is operational.  The plant is expected to start up in late 2002.  Sundquist’s refusal came in a letter to the manager of DOE’s Carlsbad, New Mexico office (Michael Hawthorne, Columbus Dispatch, 2/16/01; Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, 2/15/01)

Perma-Fix

Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. announced February 14 that it has signed a Definitive Agreement to purchase all the outstanding voting stock of East Tennessee Materials and Energy Corporation (M&EC).  M&EC is licensed to operate the only non-government-run facility to treat mixed waste (hazardous and low-level radioactive) located within the boundary of the Oak Ridge site. (Perma-Fix Press Release, 2/14/01)

Water quality

A public meeting to discuss Phase 2 of an investigation into water quality at the K-25 site, scheduled for February 27 has been postponed until April 9 when “some initial observations and assumptions” should be ready to present.  Meanwhile, anyone with information about possible water contamination at K-25 should call the Phase 2 hot line, 481-8290 or the physician Richard Byrd, 781-646-5770. (Paul Parson, Oak Ridger, 2/26/01)

Whistleblower case

The Coalition for a Healthy Environment has filed a “friend-of-the-court” legal brief in support of whistleblower Joe Carson. The US Merit Systems Protection Board has ruled that DOE retaliated against Carson for attempting to report safety and security violations at several DOE sites. Carson and his lawyer are currently trying to get DOE to comply fully with a court order to furnish information on his case. (Paul Parson, Oak Ridger, 2/16/01)

Meeting on Exposure Assessment 

February 1, DOE briefed employees, former employees, and their families about the report of the Exposure Assessment Project on the Paducah plant, released in January (see February UEN). Current plant health physicist Orville Cypret, who reviewed the report as a citizen rather than in his official capacity, said that, although the report contained errors, he was in agreement with "most of the conclusions." Some attendees disagreed with the risk classifications. (Associated Press, 2/2/01)

Increase in assay

February 15, the Paducah plant enriched uranium to 2.25% uranium 235, a record high for the facility. Normally it enriches to around 2%. The NRC approved enrichment to 2.75% last year, and is expected to approve enrichment to 5.5% in mid March. 

USEC is planning to enrich at 2.25% or higher in the next couple of months to create a stock of feed material "to help increase levels up to 5.5% once [the 5.5% assay] is approved," Elizabeth Stuckle of USEC reports. The increase to the high assay will proceed "more easily" if the enrichment process can begin with a relatively high-level feed. 

In May USEC will begin to decrease production in preparation for the summer months when the plant will reduce its output in order to cut its use of electricity during the period when electricity is most expensive. The plant will enrich at the higher levels needed for USEC customers when production increases in the fall. (Joe Walker, The Paducah Sun, 2/16/01)

Replacement of monitoring wells

Starting in the spring, DOE will replace at least 19 corroded monitoring wells at Paducah. The corrosion of the stainless steel casing results from enzymes created by bacteria in the groundwater, not from radioactivity, according to a report prepared for the Kentucky Natural Resources Cabinet by Bechtel Jacobs. Because of the corrosion, the state cannot be certain that the samples from the wells are reliable. Replacing 19 wells will cost up to $1.5 million, Greg Cook, a spokesperson for Bechtel Jacobs Co. says. Bechtel Jacobs is still looking into how many wells need replacement. (Bill Bartleman, Paducah Sun, 2/21/01) 

Funding for cold standby

In a press conference in Columbus March 1, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced that the Bush administration will provide $125.7 million to the Portsmouth plant for winterizing, cold standby, and worker transition. The funding will be split between the 2001 and 2002 fiscal years: $59.2 million in FY 2001; $66.5 million in FY 2002. The funding is in addition to $180 million budgeted for dismantling and decontamination. No money is being provided for development of gas centrifuge enrichment technology at the plant. The fate of the plant after September 30, 2002, will be determined by two task forces: a task force on national energy policy to be headed by Vice President Dick Cheney and a task force on defense policy to be headed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The $125.7 million will mean that USEC will be able to retain some 1200 workers at the site for the time being. About 525 workers will lose their jobs this year. (DOE Press Release, 3/1/01; Darrel Rowland, Columbus Dispatch, 3/2/01) 

USEC had told the Bush administration that if the company did not have a commitment for funding for cold standby by March 1 when it needed to begin the complex job of winterizing it would not be able to retain 1200 workers. Governor Bob Taft, Senators Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, Rep. Ted Strickland, and the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union lobbied to obtain the commitment by the deadline. Opinions in Ohio differ as to the extent to which Abraham's announcement fills a promise that Bush made in a letter to Taft October 4, 2000: "If I am elected President, my Administration will aggressively explore how the workforce and facilities at the Piketon site can continue to serve our national interest." (Associated Press in the Columbus Dispatch, 2/22/01; Katherine Rizzo, Associated Press, in the Columbus Dispatch, 2/28/01; Eddie Blakeley, Portsmouth Daily Times, 2/19/01)

Shipments of uranium billets

In mid-February DOE began shipping 235 metric tons of uranium billets from the Hanford nuclear reservation to the Portsmouth plant for storage. The billets would have been used to make fuel for the closed N reactor at Hanford. The shipments, which are going by truck, should be completed by the end of March. (Associated Press, 2/16/01) 

IV. US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

Funding for cleanup

President Bush's budget anticipates deep cuts in cleanup funds for nuclear weapons production sites, but the Bush administration will not release the details behind the broad outline of the budget until April. Meanwhile, reports of the Bush administration's intentions are circulating. (Katherine Rizzo, Associated Press, 2/28/01). One of the earliest was a report in the Washington Post February 13 that funds for cleanup at weapons facilities would be cut by $400 million. The Kentucky Congressional delegation and Kentucky governor Paul Patton reacted strongly to the Post article, as they fear a slowdown in cleanup at Paducah. (Bill Bartleman, Paducah Sun, 2/16/01; James R. Carroll, Courier Journal, 2/20/01)

Security of special nuclear materials

Ronald Timm, the head of Reta Security Inc., a key security contractor for DOE, has called on Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to address major inadequacies in the measures in place to protect special nuclear materials from sabotage or theft. Special nuclear materials include plutonium and highly enriched uranium. In a February 9 letter, he charged that the DOE inspector general has released a classified report giving "clear evidence of actual risk . . . at key DOE sites and in transit." A spokesperson for Abraham said that the DOE has already addressed most of the issues raised and will review the others. (George Lobsenz, Energy Daily, 2/15/01)

V. UNITED STATES ENRICHMENT CORPORATION (USEC)

NRC Review

A US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) review of USEC's performance at the Portsmouth plant from October 1, 1998, through September 30, 2000, found no safety or health issues that demanded immediate attention and noted safety improvements. However, the NRC stated that USEC still needs to improve in certain areas, including criticality controls. The company has been lax, in particular, in placing containers with uranium too close together for safety. As a result of the review, the NRC plans to carry out additional inspections during which its staff will pay close attention to criticality controls. (William C. Wallack, Nuclear Fuel, 1/22/01)

Tainted uranium

Responding to USEC's announcement that as much as 9500 metric tons of the uranium that it received from DOE is contaminated with technetium, a DOE spokesperson said that the agency will work with USEC to determine the extent of the problem but that it is too early to say whether the government will compensate USEC. The editors of the Columbus Dispatch are among critics of USEC that hope that the company is "given no more than the simple and timeless advice 'Buyer, beware.'" (Jonathan Riskind, Columbus Dispatch, 2/1/01; "Caveat Emptor," Columbus Dispatch, 2/13/01)

Cuts at headquarters

USEC announced February 13 that the company is reducing its headquarters costs by 20%. It has targeted a reduction of $10 million in headquarters costs for fiscal year 2002. The savings would be achieved by reducing the use of consultants, eliminating 40-50 staff positions at headquarters, and consolidating office space. (USEC Press Release, 2/13/01) 

Dumping investigation

The Department of Commerce is extending the time limit of the preliminary determinations in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of low enriched uranium from France [Eurodif], Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom [Urenco] from March 2, 2001 until no later than May 7, 2001. The delay results from the fact that the investigations are "extraordinarily complicated." (Federal Register, vol. 66, no. 35, pp. 11000-11001, 2/21/01)

Meanwhile, Duke Energy and Excelon have hired the Washington law firm of Shaw Pittman to put together an ad hoc group to lobby against USEC on the dumping issue. (The Electricity Daily, 2/20/01)

VI. RUSSIA

USEC-Tenex agreement

The Bush administration appears to have withdrawn approval for USEC to sign an agreement with Russia’s Technsabexport in regard to the implementation of the US-Russian High-Enriched Uranium (HEU) agreement from 2002 to 2013.  In reply to a request from the US House Energy and Commerce Committee for a review of the proposed agreement by the Enrichment Oversight Committee, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice wrote to the committee that USEC’s execution of the HEU agreement “requires careful oversight to ensure that the agreement achieves important US nonproliferation objectives, while at the same time being mindful of the stresses this may place upon the domestic industry.  I believe that a review of recent decisions related to this agreement is warranted.” She indicated that particular attention will be paid to the question of importing enriched uranium that does not contain military HEU.  (www.nuke-energy.com/data/other/natl_security_usec.html)

 The Russian Audit Chamber has checked for the first time on how the US-Russian HEU agreement is being implemented.  The results of the check were discussed at a meeting of the Chamber’s board, which decided to send reports on the results to the Russian Security Council and to both houses of the Russian parliament. (Itar-Tass, 2/6/01)

VII. URANIUM MARKET

DOE’s “Report to Congress on Maintenance of Viable Domestic Uranium, Conversion and Enrichment Industries,” dated December 2000, recently came to public attention..  The report was prepared in response to the FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Conference Report, which asked the Clinton administration to evaluate and recommend options to support the domestic uranium industry.  In the conclusion DOE recommends that the USEC Privatization Act be amended to avoid the requirement that DOE place on the market by April 2003 the remaining 9.8 million pounds of natural UF6 associated with Russia’s 1995 and 1996 shipments of blended-down HEU; that consideration be given to prompt, limited assistance to the only US conversion company, ConverDyn; that DOE and the uranium industry cooperate to develop low-cost environmental restoration technology for uranium mines; and that DOE establish an Office of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Security.   The report can be found at www.ne.doe.gov/fuels/rptcongress12_00.pdf

VIII. DEPLETED URANIUM

The United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP's) Depleted Uranium Assessment Team announced February 16 that laboratories in Switzerland and in Sweden charged with analyzing depleted uranium penetrators have found traces of plutonium 239/40 in four penetrators found in Kosovo. The readings varied from 0.8 to 12.87 Bequerels per kilogram. "The amount of plutonium found in the DU penetrators is very low and does not have any significant impact on the overall radioactivity," UNEP commented in its press release. Laboratory analyses are continuing. In early March UNEP will present a report on the environmental impact of depleted uranium in Kosovo. (UNEP Press Release, 2/16/01)

An opinion piece by Dan Fahey in the Los Angeles Times summarizes the controversy over the use of depleted uranium ammunition, while it asks for full disclosure by the Pentagon. Among the points in the article-the United States shot 320 tons of depleted uranium ammunition in Kuwait and Iraq. NATO forces "released the equivalent of 10 tons of depleted uranium in Kosovo and Serbia." Not until seven months after the bombing did NATO name the 112 sites contaminated by depleted uranium and not for nineteen months after the bombing did it post warning signs at the sites. The Pentagon's failure to release full information has inflamed the controversy that rages in Europe. Fahey is a student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a former board member of the National Gulf War Resource Center. (Dan Fahey, Los Angeles Times, 2/18/01)

IX. ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY

An article in the Richmond-Times Dispatch, February 27, describes experimentation on the development of a gas centrifuge enrichment process at the University of Virginia from before World War II until June 1985.  At that time, the federal government, which had been funding the project, shut it down.  A university physicist Jesse W. Beams developed the process.  “Only small amounts of uranium” were used, but the largest centrifuge, a hollow metal tube, was sixty feet long.  When research ended, the government shipped the equipment to Oak Ridge. (Carlos Santos, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 2/27/01)