Posted on 06/14/2002 2:38:51 PM PDT by DoveTurnedHawk
South Carolina governor sends state troopers to watch for plutonium shipments
COLUMBIA, South Carolina, Jun 14, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Gov. Jim Hodges ordered state troopers and other authorities to South Carolina's borders Friday to stop federal shipments of plutonium that could begin arriving from Colorado as early as this weekend.
"I order that the transportation of plutonium on South Carolina roads and highways is prohibited," Hodges said. "I order that any persons transporting plutonium shall not enter the state of South Carolina."
Hodges, who has vehemently opposed the shipments, read a statement declaring a state of emergency but refused to answer any questions about specific plans for roadblocks or other barricades at South Carolina's Savannah River Site, a nuclear weapons complex near Aiken.
On Thursday, a federal judge refused to block the shipments of weapons-grade plutonium. Hodges appealed the ruling and asked for a delay until the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could hear the case.
The U.S. Energy Department plans to move the material from the Rocky Flats weapons installation in Colorado, which is being cleaned up and closed, to the Savannah River Site, where the material would be converted into nuclear reactor fuel over the next two decades.
But Hodges has said he fears the government will end up leaving the plutonium permanently in South Carolina, making the state a tempting target for terrorists.
"The Department of Energy has broken promises, offered no assurances and left few options. Once plutonium arrives, it will never leave," Hodges said. "They want South Carolina to quietly become the nation's plutonium dumping ground."
The shipments legally could begin as early as this weekend, but U.S. Attorney Strom Thurmond Jr. said Energy Department officials told him they would not start until after June 22.
A message left for an Energy Department spokesman was not immediately returned Friday afternoon.
Vice President Dick Cheney, in South Carolina on Friday for a fund-raiser, said the fuel-conversion program is important to ensure that plutonium "never falls into the wrong hands."
"This administration is totally committed to helping pass legislation to guarantee that South Carolina does not become a permanent storage site for plutonium," Cheney said.
Hodges, a Democrat who is up for re-election in the fall, has threatened for weeks to use troopers to block roads into the Savannah River Site and has vowed to lie in the road if necessary to stop the trucks.
Sid Gaulden, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, said traffic would still flow along the state's roads. He acknowledged the department does not have enough resources to close every entry point to the state.
About 6 1/2 tons of plutonium are to be shipped from Colorado.
Federal officials have said the nuclear material would be under constant guard, and its path and time of arrival would be kept secret. They also say security at the Savannah River site is sound.
By JACOB JORDAN
Weapons grade shipments have an impressive escort made of of Special Forces who operate under 'shoot first, ask questions later' orders.
Actually, this stuff would be sent to the Savannah River Site, which is a pre-existing site that handles nukular(tm GWB) materials. I'm not sure quite how depressed the economy is in Aiken, Barnwell and Bamberg Counties, which contain the SRS, but overall we're doing pretty well down here in SC.
Hodges says that his problem with the shipments isn't that they're coming here per se, it's that the Federal government hasn't given any timetable or promises for the stuff to be taken back out. It's not supposed to be stored here permanently, it's supposed to come here for some sort of processing, then sent back out to Yucca Mountain or wherever. But the Feds steadfastly refuse to set any sort of timetable for removing the stuff--which makes it look like they're going to dump 30 tons of waste at SRS, then walk casually away whistling with their hands in their pockets and hope nobody notices.
Besides, Hodges is in trouble. Either Peeler or Sanford stands a very good chance of beating him in November. Hodges got elected as a one-trick pony--lottery, lottery, lottery, to save our failing schools.
But, the "Education Lottery" hasn't been the panacea he promised everybody it'd be. Hell, he ran around promising that it'd be a magic wand to instantly cure our crappy K-12 schools. Well, turns out that almost all the lottery money is going to college scholarships--to send any SC student with a B or better average to an in-state public four-year indoctrination institution, free. Gee, Unca Jim, how are kids supposed to get the B average and their free ride to USC or Clemson or SC State if their schools suck? Other than massive grade inflation, that is.
The public schools are cutting budgets to and past the bone, and statewide most agencies are cutting 8% or more. Folks are realizing that Emperor Hodges is buck-ass nekkid, so he's pulling this stunt to show himself as a "man of the people." Which he ain't.
}:-)4
He'll cave. But not before he milks it for all the free facetime on the news and photo-ops he can get out of it.
Having grown up next to the Hanford Reservation, I must express my skepticism.
Can you back up your statement?
Fine. Wait him out until the state goes broke paying for it.
No social funding + Democrat road kill.
Me neither. That's why Bush is sure to fight. This is exactly the sort of thing for which the well-regulated militia is to be used. "A well-regulated militia, being necessary for the security of a Free State...."
States' Rights bump!! And in SC of all places. Well imagine that. LOL
Once the fuel rods have been expended there is nothing you can do to recycle them. Burying them in concrete and putting security around the waste is the only option.
But nuclear energy creates very little waste. That is why I support nuclear energy.
When Hodges (the Democrat) told Graham (the Republican--see what's going on here?) that that wasn't good enough and threatened a lawsuit, Graham, (the lawyer, the smart one, the Republican running for the Senate) warned Hodges that if he attempts to sue the Federal government, he would lose, and that suing the Feds wouldn't help them at all in negotiations, but Hodges (the desperate Democrat running for re-election in a very conservative state) being a typical Democrat trying to legislate through the courts, says Graham is full of it. Graham, (the lawyer, the farsighted one) introduces legislation in the U.S. House that would impose fines on the Feds for leaving plutonium in the state longer than promised, because he knows Hodges will lose in court.
Well, lo and behold, who turned out to be right? The one who knows the law and the courts. The desperate Democrat is now trying to invoke the memory of Ft. Sumter, typical Democrat grandstanding during an election year. He thinks he's David protecting South Carolina from Goliath. That's how he hopes it will come across to the voters, anyway.
If I'm not mistaken you can enter Savannah River Plant from the Georgia side without involving SC highways. Isn't it all Federal roads inside SRP?
That's not according to what I have read-- From this:
US Nuclear Power Debate
... The Bush administration also wants to explore new technology to recycle nuclear
fuel, increasing its efficiency and possibly reducing its danger. ...
The Bush administration also wants to explore new technology to recycle nuclear fuel, increasing its efficiency and possibly reducing its danger.
Other info:
Numatec - the Tri-Cities' 'French connection'
... Numatec other parent is Cogema, the owner and operator of facilities used to produce
and recycle nuclear fuel, including many designed and built by SGN. ...
Nuclear Electricity
... gas equivalent). • Uranium offers a long-term source of energy. Unlike
fossil fuels, we can recycle nuclear fuel. We can recover ...
[MMA Alumni] Helping out MMA Nuclear Employed Alumni
... Many MMA Grads are employed in the Nuclear Power industry, ever since President Carter
killed the national plans to recycle nuclear fuel as was always intended ...
[PDF] U. S. Nuclear Waste Policy: Reaching Critical Mass
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
... An Aside: Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Overseas In addition to the United States,
only two other countries don't recycle nuclear fuel as a matter of national ...
Salon.com Technology | Nukes now!
... Other countries, such as Japan and France -- which gets about 80 percent of its
electricity from nuclear power -- recycle nuclear fuel, but President Ford ...
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