Navy’s Plan To Leave Inel Won’t Sail, O’Leary Says

Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary on Tuesday downplayed the Navy’s latest threat of retaliation against Idaho for fighting resumption of nuclear waste shipments, saying it was probably too costly to carry out.

Under questioning from an increasingly frustrated Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig during a hearing on proposals to reduce the size of the Energy Department, O’Leary said she could understand the Navy’s frustration on being blocked at every turn in its attempt to resume using Idaho as the storage area for its spent nuclear fuel rods.

But she described as unfeasible the Navy initiative launched last Friday to move the Naval Reactors Facility and its 1,000 employees from the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.

“We must go forward seeking to resolve this among the parties that are already engaged,” O’Leary said. “There are no opportunities for the near term to take any other course.”

She essentially verified the hollowness of the threat by confirming earlier statements that relocation would take the better part of a decade for the Navy that vehemently argued national security was put at risk when shipments were not resumed two weeks ago.

“Neither the price tag nor the timetable meet the requirements of the Navy or meet the requirements of national security,” she told Craig.

The memorandum initiating the search for a new facility location and a letter from Adm. Bruce DeMars to Craig and other senators advising them of the move came less than 24 hours after a federal appellate court upheld a lower court order continuing a two-year ban on waste shipments.

Unless overturned by congressional maneuvering that some fear has already begun, that ban will remain in effect until fall when U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge has said he will rule on the state’s challenge to a conclusion that shipments can be made safely.

It was the second time the Navy has financially threatened the state since Republican Gov. Phil Batt refused to accede to demands that he permit more dumping at INEL. It earlier threatened to suspend environmental cleanup at INEL if the state continues fighting new shipments - a charge the Navy denies.

And even Craig, who was not an adamant supporter of the anti-waste campaign when it was led by former Democratic Gov. Cecil Andrus, took a swipe at DeMars and his retaliatory tactics.

“I’m very frustrated by the occurrences over the last several months,” Craig said. “What I hope Admiral DeMars will understand is that he can’t just threaten to take his ball and go home. We need to work this out rationally without threats or intimidation.”

The state’s fight to halt use of INEL as a nuclear waste dump has shifted to justifying its claim that the government wrongly concluded it could safely resume shipping more waste to INEL. The state claims safety and health concerns were not accurately assessed.

State attorneys contend that many of the facilities currently storing 261 tons of radioactive and hazardous material are deteriorating or nearing the end of their useful life, making it impossible to accommodate the other 165 tons of waste the government wants to dump at INEL in the future.