TAKE ACTION !

Tell the DOE to
STOP THE MOX BOONDOGGLE
and start immobilizing plutonium TODAY!

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TAKE ACTION!

"STOP WASTING OUR TAX MONEY ON MOX!"

PHONE CONGRESSMAN
PETE VISCLOSKY

202-225-2461

CONGRESSMAN PETE VISCLOSKY is head of the House Energy & Water Subcommittee which controls the purse strings for MOX.

Pick up the phone today and tell Rep. Visclosky whether you think the dead-end MOX boondoggle should continue to drain our tax dollars.

You may wish to mention that there are better alternatives for plutonium disposition through plutonium immobilization and that the MOX program has fallen apart with the failure of the MOX fuel test and subsequent cancellation of the contract with Duke Power to use MOX in its reactors.

Educating and activating the grassroots to create a
nuclear-free future

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PO Box 8574
Atlanta, GA 31106
404-378-4263
nukewatchsouth@mindspring.com

NO NUKES Y'ALL!

ACTION CENTER | STOP THE MOX BOONDOGGLE

Tell the DOE ~
"STOP THE MOX PLUTONIUM FUEL BOONDOGGLE!"

YOUR COMMENTS NEEDED — GO ON RECORD FOR THE FUTURE!

The 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires governments and corporations to seek, record and respond to PUBLIC INPUT on major hazardous projects, like MOX PLUTONIUM FUEL through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. The EIS is required under NEPA to "analyze all possible environmental impacts of the proposed project." NEPA is a powerful tool for the public because a deficient EIS is open to LEGAL CHALLENGE. The current SUPPLEMENTAL PLUTONIUM DISPOSITION EIS is in the scoping phase and has held a series of public hearings all over the country. A draft EIS will be produced and circulated for public comment. You can comment in the EIS via e-mail — a handy e-mail is available below for quick action.

CLICK FOR INSTANT ACTION

BACKGROUND In 1994, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) declared one-half the U.S. inventory of plutonium to e surplus and decided to turn tons of the nuclear weapons-grade material into an experimental, risky and proliferating nuclear reactor fuel called mixed-oxide, MOX, for mixing oxides of plutonium with conventional uranium for a different breed of fuel. DOE proposes to process 50 TONS of plutonium into MOX, a risky business indeed when 15 POUNDS can make a bomb like that which devastated Nagasaki at the close of World War II. PLUTONIUM is man--made and one of the most toxic materials on Earth. It is fissionable and, except for uranium, the only material that produces a nuclear explosion. Plutonium has low-energy radioactivity which means you can hold it in your hand, but it is deadly if even a speck is inhaled. The U.S. and Russia went overboard making plutonium in the Cold War, so now there are tons and tons of this dangerous man-made element with a virtually eternal lifespan on hand and it is a colossal security risk.

OPPOSE THE MOX BOONDOGGLE

There is widespread agreement that something must be done to secure plutonium from future use in nuclear bombs. Proponents of the MOX boondoggle purport to "burn" the indestructible plutonium but they are really relying on the intense radiation that results from fissioning radioactive fuel in a nuclear reactor to protect the plutonium from theft. Environmentalists oppose MOX because it spreads plutonium around in commerce and encourages proliferation of nuclear weapons. Other concerns with MOX are listed below in the sample comment letter.

SUPPORT PLUTONIUM IMMOBILIZATION

There is a better way to secure plutonium, via PLUTONIUM IMMOBILIZATION which is the process of securing plutonium in the glassification process used to stabilize highly radioactive tank waste at Savannah River Site (SRS). Ironically, the vast inventory of tank waste still unprocessed in 60-year-old underground tanks at SRS is leftover from 50 years of separating plutonium from irradiated reactor fuel by chopping the radioactive reactor waste into little pieces and dissolving everything in hazardous industrial acids. The tank waste contains all the highly radioactive byproducts from the reactor fuel that produced the plutonium we are now trying to manage. The highly radioactive waste is supposed to be turned into a stable borosilicate glass in the Defense Waste Processing Facility's vitrification project. Managing disposition of the plutonium inventory and high-level waste inventory at SRS in one unified program administered by DOE's Environmental Management program should be given due consideration in the EIS.

USE THIS HANDY E-MAIL ACTION LETTER TO GET STARTED!

This handy e-mail action letter will help you make the most of this great opportunity to make a difference in plutonium disposition.

You may edit the letter as you wish. There are many resources and links on nonukesyall.org to help you get more information about plutonium and plutonium disposition options.

CUT AND PASTE ~ Additional Points to Customize Your Message

~ I oppose using the antiquated H Canyon at SRS for plutonium processing.

~ I oppose sending plutonium to WIPP in New Mexico.

~ I oppose using MOX in TVA reactors. The TVA reactors are some of the worst performing and unsafe reactors in the U.S. The Tennessee River has been getting hotter every year and it would not be credible to predict how hot the river will be whenever MOX fuel may be ready for loading. TVA is already crossing proliferation boundaries by producing weapons-grade tritium for thermonuclear weapons.

~ The plutonium disposition program is currently split between National Nuclear Security Agency and Environmental Management which has been used by DOE to keep vital details about the plutonium program from the public. The plutonium program should be consolidated with the radioactive tank waste vitrification program and the plutonium immobilization be run by Environmental Management department.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO SIGN YOUR NAME AT THE END OF THE MESSAGE

Ms. Sachiko McAlhany SPD Supplemental EIS NEPA Document Manager U.S. Department of Energy P.O. Box 2324 Germantown, MD 20874-2324 RE: SUPPLEMENTAL SURPLUS PLUTONIUM DISPOSITION ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATMENT Dear Ms. McAlhany, I am writing to comment upon one of the most pressing issues facing society, the disposition of tons of weapons-grade plutonium. I support the principle of safeguarding plutonium against future use as nuclear weapons and also keeping plutonium out of the environment. The controversial MOX fuel program is a failure and cannot achieve any plutonium disposition mission. It has been going on for 16 years, is already 10 years behind schedule, and there is no beginning or end in sight. Russia is not participating in the program. There are no reactors to use MOX and the earliest that any reactors can clear licensing hurdles and participate in MOX would be 2020, too-little-too-late to achieve plutonium security. Quality plutonium feed is unavailable for the MOX program as the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility will come on-line far in the future, if ever, and the pit plutonium inventory is the only uniform, quality feed we have for a reactor fuel program requiring the most meticulous craftsmanship for safe fuel performance. All of the plutonium already in place at Savannah River Site is a hazardous hodge-podge of various states and compositions of plutonium, totally unsuitable for use in the MOX program, as found in a recent GAO report on MOX. The MOX factory is already under construction and been cited by the NRC for numerous violations including using shoddy, substandard construction materials in the foundation and improperly documenting design changes in the field. Construction for this dead-end plutonium factory is consuming $500 million tax dollars a year, even though the design for the plutonium processing factory is chronically 25% unfinished and the project cannot achieve its mission anyway for the reasons cited above. Key parts of the MOX plutonium plan that remain unfinished by Shaw AREVA MOX Services (SHAMS), the DOE contractor on the MOX project, are all-important plutonium security and accounting as well as hazardous high-alpha MOX waste treatment and storage. The EIS is required to analyze all impacts of a proposed project and compare to alternatives. The EIS should analyze the public security and economic benefits of stopping the MOX program in favor of plutonium immobilization in the high-level radioactive waste inventory in the underground tanks at SRS. I support building a glass factory to encase plutonium feed for the Defense Waste Processing Facility waste vitrification process. I support, in addition, reviving the promising ceramic immobilization path. Thank you very much for your thoughtful consideration of my comments. I look forward to reading the draft EIS. Respectfully submitted,

PLEASE REMEMBER TO SIGN YOUR NAME AT THE END OF THE MESSAGE

Your letter will be signed with the information you provide below:

* = Required

* First Name:

* Last Name:

* Address #1:

Address #2:

* City:

* State:      * Zip:  

* Email Address:

NO NUKES Y'ALL!

"To the village square
we must carry the facts
of atomic energy.
From there must come America's voice."

ALBERT EINSTEIN

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THE LAST FIVE YEARS
Don Moniak

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Robert Alvarez

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GREENPEACE
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MORE GREENPEACE PLUTONIUM

NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION:
DOE NEEDS TO ADDRESS UNCERTAINTIES WITH AND STRENGTHEN INDEPENDENT SAFETY OVERSITE OF ITS PLUTONIUM DISPOSITION PROGRAM
Government Accountability Office

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PLUTONIUM FACTS

Year plutonium was discovered by Glenn Seaborg and others
1941

Minimum amount of plutonium required for bomb
1 kilogram (2.2 pounds)

Amount of plutonium used in Nagasaki bomb
6.5 kilograms

Average amount of plutonium used in modern atom bomb
3 kilograms

Estimated amount of U.S. weapons-grade plutonium
85,000 kilograms (93.5 tons)

Estimated amount of Russian weapons-grade plutonium
160,000 kilograms (176 tons)

Hazards associated with plutonium
Radiation, fire, inhalation, ingestion, criticality, reactivity, decay

Length of time that
plutonium 239 (weapons-grade) remains hazardous
240,000 years
(Ten 24,000-year half-lives)

Form of plutonium most hazardous to life
Plutonium oxide powder

What happens to plutonium metal when exposed to air
Gradually turns to
plutonium oxide powder

Lethal amount of plutonium oxide powder (inhaled)
2000 micrograms

Lethal amount of plutonium oxide powder (ingested)
500,000 micrograms

Amount of sugar substitute in average 1 gram package
1,000,000 micrograms

Excerpted from Stop Plutonium Fuel: Plutonium Index, compiled by Don Moniak. Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, www.bredl.org