A new report warns that the nation's nuclear weapons complexes -- including the Savannah River Site in South Carolina -- put drinking-water sources at risk.

Although no imminent danger is alleged at SRS in the report by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, it should not be ignored in Beaufort County.

The report, called "Danger Lurks Below," was produced by a national network of about three dozen organizations that monitor activity at nuclear sites under the control of the U.S. Department of Energy. It sees risks to groundwater supplies and the rivers and aquifers that provide drinking water to many Americans.

The Savannah River Site near Aiken is about 90 miles from Hilton Head Island. It sits on the Savannah River, which supplies much of the drinking water in Beaufort County.

The new report's "comprehensive snapshot" of groundwater pollution at federal nuclear complexes says contamination at SRS has spread from 68 seepage basins, along with burial grounds for waste and sanitary landfills. It says some of the nuclear waste there has been buried in a "remarkably casual manner" and there has been a migration of plutonium into the shallow aquifer.

Local residents should not forget that the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority does its own testing of Savannah River water before it enters the local system. And wells have been tested in areas closer to SRS, which was built in 1950 to produce radioactive materials for atomic bombs. Those tests show levels of radioactivity and other toxic substances to be within federal standards.

The report estimates the federal government has spent $200 billion so far to clean up the weapons plants, which are a lasting legacy of the Cold War. But it says much more must be done. It argues that the cleanup job is so immense and so important that it is foolish to generate new nuclear waste or take in more radioactive materials from around the world.

It warns that environmental progress at SRS could be undermined by proposed new facilities, such as the mixed-oxide fuel factory.

In South Carolina, SRS has long been seen as both an act of patriotism and an economic engine. The new report underscores the fact that there is more to the equation than that. It shows that federal, state and local public policy must reflect the need to clean up the site and stabilize and get rid of the nuclear waste there.

The study's key recommendations to the Energy Department are rooted in common sense:

Tell the truth about pollution.

Obey all environmental laws.

Ban unsafe waste dumping practices.

Don't cut corners on cleanup.

Research more effective technologies.

Involve the public in every step of the process.

All communities near nuclear weapons complexes -- and downstream -- should be asking for the same things.