Mal McKibben, the executive director of Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, is a big supporter of the new bomb plant at SRS. RON COCKERILLE/STAFF

Politics plays into plant site

Savannah River Site's massive infrastructure and extensive history of handling plutonium make it a front-runner among candidates for a new trigger factory for nuclear weapons, but that alone might not be enough to land the deal, politicians and industry experts said Tuesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Have a thought? Go to the Forums or Chat.

Subscribe  E-mail this story  Write a letter to the Editor  Printer-friendly version  Get news on your PDA  Get e-mail headlines

SRS is competing for the U.S. Department of Energy's proposed Modern Pit Facility with four other sites in Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. Plutonium pits are softball-size triggers used to detonate nuclear weapons.

The final selection of the site rests in the hands of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, but money for the project, expected to cost as much as $4 billion, will come from Congress, which makes it a highly politicized matter.

"I don't know (which site is the front-runner) there's so much politics involved," said Don Moniak, of Aiken, a member of the Blue Ridge Environmental League, who is opposed to the plant.

Bringing the new mission to SRS received loud support Monday night from state, federal and local politicians and business leaders at a DOE meeting in North Augusta to discuss the new mission. The plant would inject billions of dollars into the economies of Georgia and South Carolina.

The South Carolina nuclear reservation could use political backing to offset the pull that President Bush could exercise for a competing site in his home state - the Pantex weapons construction facility near Amarillo, Texas.

"(Lobbyists from Texas) are very quick to point that out to you," said Mal McKibben, the executive director of Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, which wants the new facility for SRS.

New Mexico, too, has political clout in a key position. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., is the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which appropriates the DOE's budget each year.

"He has a lot to say about the DOE and people listen," said Jim Brannon, a member of the Northern New Mexico Citizens Advisory Board, an affiliate of DOE that monitors the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

So far, Mr. Brannon said, Los Alamos hasn't officially expressed interest in landing the pit facility, despite receiving DOE's top rating out of the five potential sites during a review conducted last year.

However, he said, local leaders from the Carlsbad site, which ranked last on the list, do want the trigger factory.

The Nevada Test Site near Las Vegas ranked third, behind SRS, and Pantex ranked fourth, according to DOE's screening report.

South Carolina's congressional delegation isn't going it alone and has traditionally teamed with its Georgia counterparts to champion new missions at SRS.

"When you put the numbers of South Carolina and Georgia together, we can be a formidable force," said Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C.

Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 279-6895 or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Wednesday, July 9, 2003 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle