| Public gets SRS plant hearing Residents of the Aiken-Augusta area get their chance Monday to speak out on a proposed plutonium factory at the Savannah River Site that would help replenish the nation's aging stockpile of nuclear weapons. SRS is one of five sites being considered for the so-called "modern pit facility." A pit is a sealed radioactive core made of plutonium that serves as a trigger for nuclear weapons. The Department of Energy will base its selection of a site in part on testimony heard at Monday's meeting, to be held at 6 p.m. at the North Augusta Community Center. But making the plant a reality isn't a certainty because Congress hasn't fully committed funds to it. The DOE contends that new pits must be built because old ones are slowly losing their potency. Officials with DOE said they're not sure how fast the plutonium is decaying but point out that the country doesn't have a facility capable of producing large numbers of pits. The plant could produce between 125 and 450 pits a year. The number and age of existing pits is classified information. Plant construction isn't scheduled to begin until 2011 and wouldn't be complete until about 2020, said Bryan Wilkes, a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration, an affiliate of the DOE. "The U.S. is the only nuclear power that doesn't have a long-term pit facility," Mr. Wilkes said. "2020 is a heck of a long time to wait for that." The plant would create more than 1,000 jobs, which is why local boosters said they'll turn out to Monday's meeting in full force. But the issue goes beyond economic benefit and into the realm of national security, said Mal McKibben, the executive director of Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness. He says he shares DOE's concern that the nation's stockpile of weapons will become useless without new pits. "We can't afford to take that chance," Mr. McKibben said. But the DOE has received sharp criticism from groups that oppose the creation of more plutonium, a highly toxic and radioactive substance. Some critics plan to rally in Augusta on Monday before attending the DOE's information-gathering session. Watchdog groups, including the Blue Ridge Environmental League, are highly critical of DOE's failure to show evidence of how fast pits are decaying. Blue Ridge member Don Moniak, of Aiken County, said the pits would last longer if the government stored them more securely. Before monitoring SRS for the group, he observed the Pantax site in Amarillo, Texas, which stores pits and is also being considered for the facility. Some in the opposition say building more pits could stimulate nuclear proliferation in less secure countries. Mr. Moniak said "it will incite a new arms race of sorts." Amanda Voss, a spokeswoman for Women's Action for New Directions, agrees. "I think the big question is whether going ahead with nuclear proliferation makes this country more safe. I think the answer is no," she said. That group plans to speak against the pit plant in Atlanta and Athens on Monday before doing so again at the Augusta Common at 4 p.m. The Department of Energy will have a public hearing on a proposed pit facility at 6 p.m. Monday at the North Augusta Community Center. Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 279-6895 or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.
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