University of South Carolina Libraries
By Michael Gooding Qarrwcock Staff Writer South Carolina may soon become the nuclear waste dumping ground of the world, according to Mirhapl Lowe of the Palmetto Alliance. About 80 percent of the nation's low-level radioactive material is brought to South Carolina for storage, Lowe said, but if a proposal submitted to Congress in 1977 is passed, the state may soon be receiving large amounts of high-level radioactive material from other countries. Submitted by President Jimmy Carter and the U.S. Department of Energy, the proposal calls for countries importing American nuclear technology to sell plutonium and other nuclear byproducts to the United States. This would prevent these countries from using the materials to manufacture nuclear weapons, said David Berick, Washington, D.C. representative for the Environmental Policy Center. These highly radioactive materials would thf?n hp stnrpH in fho Tlnifa^ ~ ? WW. vv. u?v V1UVVU UIOV^O at a site selected by the federal government. The U.S. Department of Energy is currently considering Barnwell Riley opj new m Staff and Wire report! Gov. Dick Riley said Thursday 1 oppose any further construction of r energy plants in South Carolina unt nuclear cycle is complete." In an interview on NBC's Today Pilm; Dfiirl ? i%uvjr o?iv4 11^ iiuimo iuu many uuctii; questions remain in terms of s transportation and recycling of r wastes. While Riley said he would not starn way of completion of five nuclear plants now under construction in Carolina, he said he would "oppo: further construction of nuclear plant! state." ml - ? * 1 - ine governor saia, nowever, he tc state government "has the situatior control" in terms of its ability to r conditions at the four existing plants. Because of South Carolina's "lc perience" in dealing with nuclear < Riley said the state is adequately l ii.. u?:? i lit- i - uaiiuie any puuui; iituiim, iriomioi evacuation problems. South Carolina was one of the firsl to use nuclear energy and gets about its electrical power from that sourcc nuclear waste is also stored in Carolina than any other state. Riley was interviewed along witl Jim Thompson of Illinois in the wakt nuclear accident this past week at the Mile Island plant at Middletown, Pa. The Pi nuclear c as the Away From Reactor, AFR, v storage site. E "Barnwell is the most attractive s . site," Berick said, but the r Department of Energy is also s considering sites at West Valley, c N.Y., and Morris, 111. c Tf Rornuroll ic ' At i^utun\;ii to ocicviUU, UCIWIXU V 1,000 and 1,500 metric tons of spent b fuel (plutonium, uranium and v other nuclear fission products) " could be brought to South Carolina h by 1987, "but that is a shot in the dark," he said. c Berick said a major problem r; with the proposal is "it doesn't s\ prevent someone from taking fuel C out of the reactor." A foreign s? country could return only a portion p of the fuel, then use the rest for pi nuclear weapons," he said. hi "What's the difference between T building 200 bombs and 800 A bombs," Berick said. fc The federal government has not done adequate studies on en- w * ' -; ; N $. i u I i Nuclear plant b loses build iclear plant Riley said earlier in an int< he will Charlotte Observer that he f< luclear called for" in nuclear deve il "the state. "I don't mean that we oug show, we're doing now," he said, swered pause in terms of new p] torage, processes. We should look at luclear consider snfpfv faftnrc a? V ,MVVVtu MI liabilities." i in the Riley said during his energy governor this past year that 1 South about South Carolina's grov se any nuclear waste storage site. 3 in the permanent plans for waste c any more nuclear generati iels the constructed. i unaer Riley admitted there is lit nonitor can a50Ut the broad iss power. "It's a national problem, a >ng ex- ^ a natjonaj problem," he eihl tn want it to be South Carolina's . "There are no plans for a si ring or nuclear plants in South Cart Brown, press secretary for Hi t states half of Brown said although the n i. More in Oconee County was design South and Wilcox, the same contra Mile Island plant, the two \ ferent. The parts which i Gov. malfunction at Three Mile Is 5 of the identical and there's not th< s Three procedures between the tw said. Si almetto lumping ironmental impact, accordinj lerick. Aspects such as ti portation risks, amounts adioactive material to tored,methods of storage osts of the project should onsidered, he said. The iornmental impact study tha eing conducted by the ironmental Protection Age doesn't even address the issi ? j e saia. "It would be very difficult," f< ountry to build a bomb from adioactive waste, Tom Grah. pokesman for the U.S. Ai ontrol and Disarmament Ager aid. "They have very c< rehensive safeguards," revent anyone from obtain igh-level uranium or plutonii he International Atomic Ene gency establishes the safegua >r nuclear plants, he said. Lowe said about 75 percent of orld's nuclear waste will eing constructed, r i my S M jrview with The KT . eels "a pause is Nuclear ( lopment in the Urcew^ Three Mile [ht to stop what dletown, Pi "but I mean a P f<fsor,s lants and new c Cathey> our options and Savannah _ id assets and Savannah F a careful se the east coa campaign for Cathey s? le was worried *? ?verybod ving role as a Commissioi He called for situation wi lisposal before Harrisburg ng plants are Ronald E< in pnncip< a fail-safe tie a governor wrong, tlx iue of nuclear automatical shut down nd I want it to system left said. "I don't understand problem." beenpossibl nitdown of any Edge said )lina," Marion industry is h ley, said. faulty parts industry, wl uclear facility concerned w ea oy BaDcock "Somehov ctor for Three industry is )lants are dif- what they sa caused the joints of the land are "not upon the int< 5 same set of said. "I don'i r> nlantc " ka ., "uovemrri liquor can a <o Rllay, pag* 6 which are n State: g groun g to brought to Barnwell if ran- is approved by coi of Barnwell is chosen s be storage site, and The Palmetto Allia be concerned with currer en- at the Savannah Rive t is said. The plant is loca En- well and Aiken count ncy cupies a chunk of Soi le," roughly the size of Sal It is owned by the fe< ara nment and some of t this are under military am, where materials an 'ms tured for nuclear wai icy, Ted Harris of the 3m- . Alliance. The plant coi to inoperative and thre ing nuclear reactors, two r jm. plants in operation an< rgy water facility, Lowe sa rds The plant also has i for low-level waste a the farm" where high-leve be stored. The tank farr / / <y' Si in Jenkensville ISC prof uclear ei By Mark Platte Qamecock Staff Writer energy is still the safest enei pite the recent incident at I i Island Nuclear Plant in M i., Leconte Cathey, USC phys aid. a former employee of l River Nuclear Plant, said I 5lant was constructed only af ;arch for the best type of land St. lid, "It should breed confider Itr ' ' fVin f Mi?/\1/\? m II .1 ~ i - ijr, uiai me mitit'di neguiaix i was able to control t thout allowing panic among t (Three Mile Island) employee ige, USC nuclear physicist, sa il, allnuclear plants should ha system and if anything gc e plant should shut do\ lly. The plant in Harrisburg c but the failure of the cooli them with no backup. I doi that because that shouldn't ha e," he said. the problem facing the nucle iow the government can preve ? from being produced by tl lich Edge said he feels is on ith profit. / or other, we have to ensure tl straight, that thev are doi? y and that they are x-raying tl plant," Edge said. "It depen< ?grity of the industry itself," I t know how it can be resolved.' ient inspectors of either meat < tfford to get by with produc ot up to par occasionally, bi contains 21 n liquids, Lowe Lowe said ? 4"^ cerned with J waste is buri ^J[ I is radioactivi placed in poh are then stor :he proposal last 50 years, igress and Lowe also j s the AFR Nuclear Fuel located eighl nee is also bia. This pla t conditions containing i r Plant, he said. Led in Barn- Currently, ies and oc- transported th Carolina decision to p jda County. for commerc: leral gover- currently bei he reactors nuclear reac operation, running out o i manufac- The Ocone heads, said Seneca has I Palmetto storage faci isists of two "within the i operative Lowe said, eprocessing Lowe said t 1 one heavy considering t d. to "storage p burial site reactor near id a "tank extremely h 1 liquids are Lowe said, n currently an estimated / essors c lergy sq the trouble with the nuch gy you can't afford to let one he it does, then you have id- Harrisburg," Edge said, ics Both professors agreec currently being brought t he virtually harmless becai he for such material, I er disagreement as to the on these wastes. "There is no way that ce can hurt the state of Sou ry someone were to cut he Cathey said "There is v< he that happening because o 5. tanks around the materi d, layers of security," he sai ce "The amount of dang es waste in South Carolina 1 a r in oui ii we were to nave a id that's very possible, a c lg which carries the waste c< i t radioactive particles esca /e Both Edge and Cathey ? material under the ve *r probably catch any wast it ground. Cathey said this ie once it runs into the grou ly there is no way to del escape unless a vessel wei TU ~ O ? - *% ic- i uc oavannan uiver ] ig manufacturer of materi; le nuclear weapons under t Is the Dupont corpora tio: le Cathey. "Dupont made th< ' even down to having the p >r take off their shoes becau s soles would strike a sparl it said lillion gallons of these ;said. the Alliance is conthe way the low-level ed. He said the waste e for 500 years and is /ethylene bags, which ed in drums that will ?aid the Westinghouse I Division has a plant t miles from Columnt produces fuel rods iranium pellets, he no fuel rods are being because of Carter's ostpone reprocessing ial uses. Fuel rods are ng stored on sight at tors, but, "they are f room," Lowe said, e Nuclear Station at this problem and its ; 1 : 11 i? r i i nines will ue lull next nine months," When this happens, he Oconee plant is ransporting the rods ools" at the McGuire Charlotte. These rods, igh in radioactivity, remain deadly for 250,000 years. .... laim r i jest ear industry is that bad joint get by. If a situation like in I the nuclear waste o South Carolina is lse of the barriers but there is a oossible esrarn1 nf the nuclear waste th Carolina unless open the tanks," ?ry little chance of f the four layers of al. These are four d. er of the nuclear is not very great, n earthquake, and rack in the vessel [>uld result in some ping," Edge said. .aid there is a clay ?~ ^l~ ? - - ? ?? wnicn will e running into the gas cannot escape nd, but Edge said tgermine gaseous *e to crack. plant has been a als in the use of he supervision of n, according to at plant the safest, eoole who entered ise the nails in the c in the plant," he Sm USC, page 6