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Peace alliance analyzes Y-12's future
published Wednesday, November 04, 2009  1694 Views :: 7 Comments

Peace alliance analyzes Y-12's future

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance today released a "white
paper" that analyzes the missions at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and
proposes that the Oak Ridge plant refocus its efforts entirely on
dismantlement.

"Changes in U.S. policy, concern over nuclear proliferation, and global
realities have created an environment in which the power of arguments
for a new production facility has eroded significantly," the report,
titled The Future of Y-12, says.

The report said that the U.S. nuclear stockpile will be coming down
dramatically over the next couple of decades, and there will be little
reason for an expensive new production facility -- the proposed Uranium
Processing Facility -- to meet needs for refurbished warheads. That
money could be better used to focus exclusively on taking apart
warheads, the report said.

"What makes sense is not spending $3.5 billion on a new bomb production
plant, but investing in a new state-of-the art single-purpose facility
dedicated to dismantlement and disposition of retired warhead assemblies
and materials," Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the peace alliance and
lead author of the report, said in a statement released to the news media.

"The bottom line is the limited production activities necessary for the
Life Extension Program will be completed by the time a new Uranium
Processing Facility would come on line, and surveillance activities
necessary to assure a safe and secure stockpile while we move to zero
can be conducted in a consolidated, down-sized, upgraded facility in an
existing building, and we would save billions," Hutchison said.

Posted by Frank Munger on November 3, 2009 at 7:24 PM

The 9-page report is online at:
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/y12orepa.pdf




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