The expansion, which would add a uranium processing facility to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 weapons complex, has seen a tenfold increase in estimated costs since the project was first announced in 2005.
Over the years, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA) has protested the ballooning costs and has raised alarms about the environmental impact of the structure. Most critically, according to OREPA coordinator Ralph Hutchison, the group objects to a nuclear-based defense policy that it says actually makes the world less secure. Y-12 officials, on the other hand, call the facility a “key to global security.”
The Department of Energy recently announced its official approval of the project, called a record of decision, available at nepa.energy.gov/ records_of_decisions.htm.
Speaking at the Appalachian Peace Education Center in May, Hutchison said that the expansion would allow the Oak Ridge facility to produce 80 warheads every year. Hutchison detailed OREPA’s efforts to draw attention to the project and fight nuclear proliferation.
By Paige Campbell, The Appalachian Voice, August/September 2011
