SRS article left questions unanswered

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A letter to the editor from Sara Barczak, safe energy director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, criticizes the Department of Energy's lack of a clear plan for handling plutonium and nuclear waste at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Barczak expresses alarm at DOE's apparent strategy of shipping plutonium to SRS while abandoning high-level waste already stored there, characterizing the situation as a dangerous "shell game."

We're not talking about yard clippings here. The department "in charge" lacks a plan other than dumping plutonium in South Carolina, which sounds awfully similar to what they want to do with the nuclear waste left in the tanks.
Sara Barczak

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July 23, 2004

SRS article left questions
unanswered

Web posted Wednesday, July 21, 2004
| Letter to the Editor

The recent article on the Department of Energy's ongoing plutonium and
nuclear waste "shell game" ("Waste could end up at SRS," July 7) was full of
disturbing and confusing double-talk.

As a downstream citizen concerned
about the Savannah River Site, I've
surmised that DOE never really had a
solid plan to responsibly deal with the
waste at SRS - not only the toxic crud
in the tanks, but now the plutonium
from other weapons sites.

Although DOE said, "We're not going
to leave it there," they can't honestly
say where the waste will go, or when
or how. Only that it is here, that more is
coming and that we should just hold
tight.

Others further muddled the plot,
stating, "DOE says it doesn't have a
disposition path. That does not mean
there is no disposition path. It's not a
basis for alarm."

What?

Sorry, but this is cause for alarm. We're not talking about yard clippings here.
The department "in charge" lacks a plan other than dumping plutonium in
South Carolina, which sounds awfully similar to what they want to do with the
nuclear waste left in the tanks. Hmmm - actually, maybe DOE does have a
"plan" to ship plutonium to SRS and abandon the high level waste already
present there.

Hear the alarm yet?

Sara Barczak
Savannah