While the chair of the S.C. Sierra Club, Susan Corbett, testified to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future on November 16 against reprocessing and against the creation of more waste, a proposal to ship spent nuclear fuel from out-of-state reactors to South Carolina for recycling has been emerging.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the private company that operates the Savannah River Site under contract with the Department of Energy, has proposed to create four experimental nuclear power plants capable of burning radioactive waste for fuel. The company estimates that it could be potential alternatives to the Yucca Mountain repository which has been closed this year by President Barack Obama because it had reached its legal capacity. The supporters of the project also insist on the fact that it would generate 25, 000 high-paying jobs and electricity without contributing to global-warming.
Though the DOE contractors responsible for the Tank cleanup are not talking, DOE public affairs is taking issue with the new GAO report saying delays and cost overruns ($1.5 billion) plague the high level liquid waste clean-up on 22 of the million gallon high level liquid waste tanks at the Savannah River Site.
