European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 23, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The question of age. The original a expectancy Tor the Savannah  years although a nors recent study said to reactors would be usable into the 21 St Century. Tiny hairline cracks were discovered in Heselor c at Srp and it currently is undergoing repairs. Reactor the first operational reactor at Srp. Was shut Down 22 years ago and cannibalized Lor parts. There Are no plans to return it to  officials pointing to constant monitoring and modification at the Plant see no special danger. Critics  you get past the smoke and mirrors and the scientists in the whits Coats you find a shockingly primitive operation Alvarez  the Energy department does not have to answer to the org an exact evaluation of the reactors or any other part of the plan is not readily available to the  Epi report which tha government has not addressed publicly but plans to counter soon with a Page by Paga response found More than 14.000minor accidents spills and equipment allures listed in government documents Over the years. For swim Public interest groups even More worrisome than the aging reactors Are the tons of radioactive waste stored at the Savannah River Plant. While there is More radioactive waste stored at Han for the waste at Srp accumulating since thee arty 1950s is far More radioactive because of an evaporation process that cuts the total weight by one third but does not reduce the radioactivity. The High radioactivity Oltha Srp wastes is Only one Olathe concerns of environmentalists. Some others of the 51 waste storage tanks 24 a a old tanks and Energy department officials acknowledge at least nine have developed cracks Over the years and leaked High level radioactive waste into tha soil. Thay say therein Lilllan movement of the waste once it gets into the red Clay packed around the  Srp site itself has been heavily polluted by accidental releases and routine dumps up to 300,000gallons daily of chemical and Low level radioactive waste into unlined seepage basins. A recent report bythe general accounting office said radioactive materials in the ground water it Srp were More than 400 times the proposed drinking water standards. Doe officials do not consider he intense contamination a threat to Public health since it is confined to Srp property and greatly diluted by the time it makes its Way from the seepage basins through Miles of lakes creeks and Marshland to he Savannah River. Environmentalists say the pollution will make the land uninhabitable forever. Traces of contaminants particularly tritium Are commonly found in fish in the Savannah River drinking water supplies downstream and raw milk irom nearby dairies. Allowable Levels have never been  to South Carolina end Georgia officials who Monitor the area. An internal 1976 study by Dupont found evidence that lung cancer and leukaemia Ware significantly increased among workers at the plan. The study cited 11 cases of leukaemia among 5,000 Srp employees six of which were myeloid leukaemia generally recognized As being caused by radiation. The numbers a a not overwhelmingly Large but significant said Alvarez. No studies of workers health have been completed since then. The Lanks sit directly above the Tuscaloosa aquifer a major fresh water Supply Lor the  to studies contamination has not reached the deep aquifer but an environmental Protection Agency report in 1993 said pollution from Srp poses in imminent threat to lha aquifer. Then there is the earthquake actor she is located in the tame seismic zone that produced the devastating Charleston earthquake of 1686, the most destructive Ever recorded along the East coast end there Are fears the aging reactors end waste tanks could not withstand such a major quake. The . Geological Survey nays another major earthquake in South Carolina is possible but not Likely in the near  department officials admit she has been plagued with environmental problems and vow to make Amend. Energy Secretary John Herri Roglon pledged i january compliance with both the spirit and the intent of environmental Laws. Some critics cad it lip  say the damage he already been done. Sail. John 01m, l Ohto who comr Isalone the lao Watro mental study of All Energy department fast ii said the results show an attitude Al neglect ordering on contempt for environmental  what they be said in effect is we re going to build bombs and the environment be damned " Glenn said. However Srp is making headway in some areas. The Plant is in the process of phasing out the of tanks and transferring the waste to newer More secure ones. In addition Srp is constructing an $070 million vitrification Plant the nation s first to immobilize its highly radioactive waste into Glass that will be poured into 10-toot-tar stainless steel canisters which will be stored at Srp until a Federal repository is available. The new Plant due to be operational in 1990, would allow Thedoe to eventually Transfer All of its most hazardous waste  the serious questions raised by outsiders it is difficult to find critics of the Plant in Aiken the official Home of Srp. Although the town i sell is actually 15 Miles up Highway 19, or whiskey Road the Plant has been Graal for  said mayor Odell weeks 78, who was mayor when Srp first came and has been aver since. But it was quite a Shock when they made the announcement that they Ware  Aiken was a sleepy Little Winter Haven for Yanke snowbirds when Srp came to town. Aiken s population has More than doubled since up to -12.000 people in the metropolitan area and it is quite cosmopolitan for a Small  has provided jobs and lured other industries. With construction of the new waste Plant employment at Srp is Way  Leol we live in about the safest place in America weeks  Law worked for 30 years for Dupont at Srp in Public relations before taking Early retirement an becoming associate editor of the focal newspaper the Nikon Standard. He feels very  people who Are Moat concerned about Srp Are people who do not live near Srp Law said. We know he people running the Plant and we know their record. We have a different  Savannah River nuclear Plant the primary producer of plutonium and tritium for . Nuclear weapons the Savannah River Plant occupies a 300 Square mile tract in South Carolina in the same seismic zone that produced the Charleston earthquake of 1986 tha most destructive earthquake Ever recorded on the East coast. Its aging reactors built in the1950s without containment domes and its massive radioactive waste tanks Are under increasing criticism from environmentalists. Epicentre of Charleston earthquake of 1886 Savannah Miles reactor confinement Srp reactors warehoused in Concrete buildings thai do no have contain ment domes. Airflow from within the reactors is channelled through fillers designed to trap radiation. I in the reactor Ore Fis Sioning uranium 235 emits neutrons which when absorbed by uranium 238 the Large fuel produce uranium 239. Over time radioactive decay transforms the u 239 into plutonium 239. 2 heavy water or deuterium oxide 020circulate through the Core serving As both fission Moderator and reactor coolant. 3 heat exchangers draw water from the Savannah River to Cool the d20, which is recirculated through he reactor. Scalding River water is then piped out to Cool i creeks and lakes on Srp property. 4 irradiated fuel i removed irom the Core stored in Cooling Lanks and then transported to separation facility Lor purification. There weapons Grade plutonium is extracted shaped into discs and shipped to Rocky Flats colo., to be lathe into bomb parts. Two tank farms at Srp House 51underground waste containment tanks which store a total of 33,000.000 Gallons of High level radioactive liquid sludge and Salt. Cracks have Bee reported in nine of the tanks and radioactive waste has leaked into the surrounding Day. Sump leak detection slots Coo log coils 85 it. \ concretes sources . Deptol Energy Savannah Hiver Plant u.3.geological Survey up graph la Jato Etnan sunday november 23.1866 the stars and stripes plot 17