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Public anxiety over plan to use plutonium fuel in Browns Ferry reactors

The plutonium in MOX also makes fuel rods less stable, Lyman said. That increases the chance of a reactor meltdown. Not only is such a meltdown more likely, he said, but the use of plutonium would increase the number of fatalities by about 25 percent compared to a meltdown involving conventional fuel rods.

(USA) Crowd expresses concern over plutonium proposal, The Times Daily | Florence, AL, By Eric Fleischauer Decatur Daily, August 4, 2010 . A frustrated crowd of about 60 people confronted TVA and Energy Department officials at a public hearing Tuesday, and few expressed comfort with a proposal to use plutonium in Browns Ferry reactors.
“There’s not a person in this room who doesn’t have as a primary concern being a guinea pig on this fuel,” said Pat Karl, who identified herself as a Decatur retiree……….

The session’s purpose was to discuss one of several possible methods of disposing of surplus plutonium built up during the Cold War. Treaties with Russia have reduced the number of active nuclear warheads, and the possibility of terrorists stealing some of the nation’s 40 tons of the weapons-grade material raises nightmare scenarios.

The plan that would affect the Valley involves including depleted uranium with plutonium in the fuel rods at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry and Sequoyah nuclear plants. TVA has not agreed to use plutonium in its reactors, but it has entered into an agreement to evaluate the feasibility…….

MOX fuel is used in about 40 reactors in Europe, but only three are boiling water reactors such as those at Browns Ferry.

Keyes said DOE is not forcing TVA into the program, but some members of the public expressed doubts…….

The plutonium in MOX also makes fuel rods less stable, Lyman said. That increases the chance of a reactor meltdown. Not only is such a meltdown more likely, he said, but the use of plutonium would increase the number of fatalities by about 25 percent compared to a meltdown involving conventional fuel rods.

Crowd expresses concern over plutonium proposal | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL

August 5, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | technology, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, plutonium, radiation, radioactive, reactors