Congress is trying to kill the only option left for removing plutonium from South Carolina

When federal officials decided to send surplus plutonium to South Carolina, they promised it would not stay long.

They had two methods to dispose of the dangerous, highly radioactive material. Some of it would be encased in glass logs and permanently stored in a new high-level nuclear waste facility under construction in Nevada. The rest would be reprocessed at the Savannah River Site into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors.

The new permanent disposal site in Nevada is in limbo, the subject of interminable and unreasonable congressional debate and litigation.

Now, the U.S. House has voted to kill funding for the plant that would reprocess the weapons-grade plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel (MOX) for commercial power plants.

That would not only kill a major jobs project in that area of the state, it would leave South Carolina with no way to get rid of the plutonium, which has already been sent here.

South Carolinians always knew this was a possibility. The federal government has a terrible track record on carrying out any plan that involves handling nuclear waste.

The state sued the federal government to keep the plutonium out of the state and lost. The best compromise was a federal law that requires Washington to make hefty payments to the state if the plutonium stays here longer than the original plan.

The state's congressional delegation must hold its colleagues to that deal. It is the state's only leverage.

This plutonium is being stored at the Savannah River Site, which is not in a suitable location for long-term plutonium storage. The facility is also not designed for that purpose.

Federal officials have an obligation to South Carolina to reprocess this material and get it out of the state. Congress must fund the MOX plant, and it must move forward the plans for the disposal facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

The alternative means breaking faith with South Carolinians and creating a long-term environmental and health hazard, as well as a potential terrorist threat.

The federal government forced this material on South Carolina. In doing so, it forced a hazard on the state. It must recognize its obligation to remedy the situation.