U.S. Cites National Security in Nuclear Reactor Restart

WASHINGTON —  The Energy Department announced Tuesday that national security concerns will require the restart of one of its nuclear-weapons reactors at the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina before long-term safety improvements have been completed.

The government’s three production reactors, all at Savannah River, have been shut down for nearly nine months because of concerns about their safety. The reactors are the nation’s only source of tritium, a component of nuclear weapons that decays rapidly and must be replenished.

The department had hoped to restart one of the reactors this month, but Energy Department officials said last week that the action was likely to be postponed until midsummer.

In a report released Tuesday, the department outlined the steps it intends to take before restarting the first of the reactors, including new management and training procedures and equipment changes intended to improve reactor control and fire protection.

But it said that some of the activities will take “several years” to complete. Energy and Defense department officials have said the nation has no more than a six months’ supply of tritium, after which some nuclear weapons may have to be dismantled to provide tritium for others.

The report said the Energy Department thinks that “national security needs dictate a decision to operate a reactor before completion of the long-term portion” of its safety program.

“It’s not as scary as that suggests,” Energy Department spokesman C. Anson Franklin said. He said department managers have decided that the reactors can be operated with “an acceptable level of risk” before all of the improvements are made.

Franklin said the “vast majority” of management and training changes will be made before any of the reactors are restarted. He said he does not know what improvements are included in the “long-range” category.

Other sources, however, said that virtually none of the engineering changes needed to improve reactor control and prevent damage in the event of an earthquake will be completed in time to restart a reactor by next summer.

Administration sources, meanwhile, confirmed that the repair bill at Savannah River is expected to be about $200 million this fiscal year. Energy Department managers unsuccessfully sought supplemental appropriations to cover the cost, they said.