Letter: Graham, Haley shouldn’t be leading MOX debate

Sen. Lindsey Graham and Gov. Nikki Haley are lobbying on behalf of French conglomerate Areva to produce mixed-oxide fuel (MOX) from spent nuclear materials at the Savannah River Site (SRS). According to Gov. Haley, it s not about whether utilizing the facilities at SRS is a good idea — the more we use SRS the more jobs we create.

Apparently, it does not matter that:

1) Areva’s MOX process, designed to recycle spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors, cannot recover alloyed weapons-grade (non-proliferation) plutonium without extensive redesign and cost overruns;

2) The market for MOX is in decline since the Fukushima disaster. Germany is dismantling its entire commercial nuclear program and is negotiating to send nuclear waste to SRS;

3) SRS has limited capacity for storing additional high-level nuclear materials including unsold MOX and MOX byproducts. Consequently, MOX production may cease in less time than it takes to build the MOX plant; and

4) SRS overlies vulnerable Coastal Plain aquifers that are prolific sources of drinking water for the Southeast.

Exposure to anthropogenic sources of radiation can lead to increased incidents of cancer and many radioactive byproducts have half-lives in excess of 1,000 years. It is unsettling to think that Sen. Graham (BS psychology, and JD) and Gov. Haley (BS accounting) hold sway on the ultimate fate of any nuclear process or material.

The SRS MOX facility is a multibillion dollar bridge to nowhere and South Carolina is ill-suited to serve as an international repository for high-level nuclear waste.

Victor T. Volskay Jr.

Simpsonville