Rivals' Washington pull hinders growth at SRS

AIKEN - Supporters of Savannah River Site are getting outgunned in Washington by the superior political clout backing rival federal nuclear reservations, SRS boosters said.

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As a result, SRS has lost out to facilities in New Mexico and Idaho on several multimillion-dollar programs that would have provided new jobs in the face of 300 layoffs this year - and more likely to come - in addition to delays in two big-ticket facilities the site is banking on.

Mal McKibben, the executive director of Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, said both states have shown remarkably cohesive support for their U.S. Department of Energy facilities.

"South Carolina and SRS is getting beat over the head and shoulders by DOE," Mr. McKibben said.

"It's important for our governor, our congressmen and our senators to know that we're getting beat by other states, and that it's political.

"They need to be beating the bushes for new projects for SRS."

Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., said he's doing the things Mr. McKibben is talking about. He said he has met with DOE officials recently and sat down Tuesday with representatives of the Economic Development Partnership of Aiken and Edgefield Counties, which also supports new missions at the site.

He also met separately that day with Bob Pedde, the president of Westinghouse Savannah River Co., the company that runs SRS for DOE.

"I understand why Mal's probably frustrated, but we are very involved," Mr. Barrett said. "We are very engaged."

Mr. Barrett and his Republican counterpart in the Senate, Sen. Lindsey Graham, have to compete with such heavyweights as Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.

Mr. Domenici helped steer a uranium enrichment plant, which would create fuel for commercial reactors, to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in his state, Mr. McKibben said.

The plant, which is being built by a private company, will cost about $1 billion to build and could create as many as 400 jobs, he said.

"Part of the reason was we just got beat to the punch," Mr. McKibben said.

"Sen. Domenici and others in New Mexico courted them heavily, offered incentives, and that's where (the plant) will be built."

Mr. McKibben tiptoed around criticizing Mr. Barrett or Mr. Graham, both of whom are staunch SRS supporters.

But, he said, they're rookies compared to the late Sen. Strom Thurmond and retiring Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings.

"Freshman congressmen and freshman senators, it takes time for their staffs to learn how to punch those buttons," Mr. McKibben said.

"They don't have clout, and their learning curve hasn't gone over the top."

Other site supporters said growing political muscle in Washington will take time.

"That's just the nature of the Congress," said Fred Humes, the executive director of the development partnership. "They have been working hard at supporting SRS, and I think we'll see the results."

Mr. Graham and Mr. Barrett said they were working to earn SRS recognition as a national laboratory.

That title would lend credibility to research there and potentially spark interest from the private sector.

"It's not going to happen overnight," said Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop. "Sen. Graham has always been interested in bringing in new missions that fit in at SRS."

If Mr. McKibben's outlook appears bleak, it's exacerbated by the morale blow SRS sustained when DOE didn't allocate any money in next year's budget to fund hydrogen research at the site.

The funding would provide a path that economic boosters say could mean big business for the local economy.

Meanwhile, Mr. McKibben said, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, which lacks SRS' scientific expertise, has been designated as a hydrogen research Center of Excellence.

Adding salt to the wound, Idaho State University at Boise and the Argonne National Laboratory recently were awarded funds for a teaching and research center.

The facility is similar to what boosters have proposed at Savannah River Site.

South Carolina Bureau Chief Jim Nesbitt contributed to this article.

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

--From the Monday, February 23, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle