Wilson: H-Canyon Facility Has Proven to be an Effective and Valuable Asset
(Washington, DC) - Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-02) welcomed the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) to today's public meeting on issues related to public health and safety, particularly nuclear materials disposition, at the Savannah River Site (SRS):
"I am grateful for the Board's continued commitment to safety with regard to our nation's nuclear facilities. With potential consequences being so significant, safety must remain a high priority in decision making. It is one of the reasons I share the Board's concern over the Department of Energy's (DOE) decision to suspend chemical processing at SRS's H-Canyon.
"As the Board made clear to Dr. Steven Chu, the Secretary of the Department of Energy, in a letter it sent last February: the H-Canyon facility, including HB-Line, has proven to be an effective and valuable asset for safely processing fissile materials over several decades. These H-Area facilities are the only active processing facilities having capability of interest in the United States, and are the DOE's only disposition path for processing these types of excess nuclear materials. Until the DOE demonstrates legitimate alternative ways to dispose of its excess nuclear materials, I strongly advocate for the ongoing disposition of fissile materials at the H-Canyon facility."
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is an independent federal agency established by Congress in 1988. Their mandate under the Atomic Energy Act is to provide safety oversight of the nuclear weapons complex operated by the Department of Energy (DOE), and to ensure all of these activities are carried out by DOE in a manner that provides adequate protection for the public, workers, and the environment.