There's yet another study casting a shadow on the Savannah River Site. An independent panel of scientists reported "serious reservations" about the cleanup of radioactive waste at the site, located near Aiken.

The team of scientists, who studied three national nuclear sites, was most concerned about cleanup efforts at SRS. "There are a lot of pressures to do things in the near term at Savannah River," said Micah Lowenthal, the director of the study done by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academies of Science. "The committee is concerned the schedule-oriented approach can sometimes lead to decisions that you wouldn't make under more ideal circumstances." Millions of gallons of highly toxic sludge were created at SRS as a result of plutonium production for atomic weapons during World War II and the Cold War.

The report comes on the heels of other studies identifying problems and wasteful spending at SRS. Recently, an SRS Citizens Advisory Board said that a two-year delay of a nuclear waste processing facility at the site could cost taxpayers $1 billion.

Meanwhile, a separate audit found that another SRS project would cost $2.5 billion more than the $1 billion originally expected. That latter project involves the conversion of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for commercial reactors.

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South Carolina's congressional delegation needs to get a handle on SRS's troubles. This is one issue on which all of the state's federal lawmakers should be able to unite -- working together to make SRS less wasteful, more efficient and more accountable.