DOE to scrap SRS [GNEP] initiative

has run with the story that the domestic GNEP program is being
terminated. But, the reporter did not come up with any further
statement about this & several of my sources were inquiring and also
have not yet been able to yet send me anything further, either. Please
let us know if any of you hear more about this. Tom

Augusta (GA) Chronicle (near the Savannah River Site)

DOE to scrap SRS initiative

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/latest/lat_518313.shtml

By Rob Pavey| Staff Writer

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 5:28 p.m.

The U.S. Energy Department will scrap a Bush administration initiative
that could have brought billions of dollars in new spending-and a lot
more nuclear materials- to South Carolina.

The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, unveiled in 2006, was a plan to
reprocess spent commercial nuclear fuel to maximize its efficiency,
reduce waste volume and prevent its exploitation for nuclear weapons.
Two of the 11 sites proposed for such reprocessing centers are in South
Carolina.

The domestic portion of the international program, which has been
criticized by environmental groups as too expensive and too dirty, will
not be pursued any further.

"The Department has already decided not to continue the domestic GNEP
program of the last administration," said DOE deputy press secretary
Jen
Stutsman in a statement today to Nuclear Engineering International
magazine. "The long-term fuel cycle research and development program
will continue, but not the near-term deployment of recycling facilities
or fast reactors."

Tom Clements, the Southeast nuclear campaign coordinator for Friends of
the Earth, said scrapping the program has both positive and negative
impacts for South Carolina.

"Some of the big contractors have been anxious to get new missions for
Savannah River Site, including a reprocessing facility, so this will be
a big setback to those efforts," Mr. Clements said. "On the other hand,
it is good news for the taxpayers and good news for the environment of
South Carolina in that we wouldn't have all this material being shipped
here."

One of the possible sites for a reprocessing facility is in Barnwell
County adjacent to SRS. Savannah River National Laboratory within SRS
also received a grant to study site possibilities.

Reach Rob Pavey at (706) 868-1222 or [email protected]

From the Wednesday, April 15, 2009 online edition of The Augusta
Chronicle

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NEI article "US GNEP programme dead, DOE confirms"
is at:
http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=132&storyCode=2052719