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In February of last year, the Bush administration announced its intention to implement the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), a proposal to provide "fuel services" to developing countries. If it is implemented, GNEP will require regular transports of high level radioactive waste throughout the country, and it is very likely that many of those transports will come directly through North Charleston and Charleston on their way to the Savannah River Site. . . . SC transport maps

Basically, GNEP is a proposal to begin reprocessing commercial radioactive waste. Both the Ford and Carter administrations implemented policies against this dangerous, expensive and environmentally unsound technology, and there has been no reprocessing of high level nuclear waste in this country in over 30 years.

The only private commercial reprocessing plant in the U.S., West Valley in New York State, is still threatening the ground water in the area decades after it was closed and will cost taxpayers $5.2 billion to clean up. The Savannah River Site, which is very likely to be the destination of large amounts of spent nuclear fuel if GNEP is implemented, has not been able to clean up or repair its leaking underground storage containers, which are already threatening the Savannah River and surrounding areas.

Under those circumstances the Bush administration's Department of Energy plans to accept commercial high level radioactive waste from foreign countries and have regular transports of the nuclear waste crisscrossing the United States.

On May 22, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and the Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads Campaign released maps (scroll down) of where the waste would be likely to travel. 33 groups, including Charleston Peace, co-released the maps in their local areas. Charleston Peace also created South Carolina maps from those provided by the national map authors.

The waste will be shipped in casks designed to withstand a 1,475 degree Fahrenheit fire that burns for 30 minutes. Diesel fuel burns at 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, and the fire on April 29 that destroyed a part of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay bridge may have reached 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. If this proposal is implemented, it won't take a terrorist attack to cause a terrible disaster for the Charleston area; all it will take is one bad accident, and there will be many opportunities for that to happen.

More information:Institute for Energy and Environmental Research , Common Dreams article , Carolina Peace Resource Center .