The Department of Energy (DOE) will be holding hearings on the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement on plutonium disposition in Washington DC on June 15 (details below). The Supplemental EIS discusses changes in the MOX program since release of the Draft EIS and the potential environmental impacts of using MOX fuel in six commercial reactors in Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina. DOE will not be holding hearings in these communities, however, despite many requests that it do so.

Washington-based anti-MOX groups will be sending representatives to the June 15 hearing. If you live outside DC and want to submit comments to be read at the hearing, contact Mary Olson at the Nuclear Information Resource Service at 202-328-0002.

To register call: 1-800-820-5134 or fax 1-800-820-5156. You can also register on the web at: http://www.doe-md.com. Click on "Meeting Registration" and follow the instructions.

COMMENTS on the Supplemental EIS will be accepted until JUNE 28 and may be submitted several ways:

1. By regular mail:

   DOE, Office of Fissile Materials Disposition
   c/o Supplement to the SPD EIS
   P.O. Box 23786
   Washington, DC 20026-3786

2. By email: On the web, go to http://www.doe-md.com. Select "Public Involvement" then select "Comment Table," then select "Send Us Email."

3. By phone or fax: The DOE comment line is: 1-800-820-5156 (this line works for both voice messages and faxes).

ORDER HARD COPIES of the Supplemental EIS by calling or faxing 1-800-820-5156. It can also be downloaded from the web at: http://www.doe-md.com. Go to "What's New."

A hearing on DOE's plutonium disposition program will be held in Columbia, SC on June 24 at the request of SC State Senator Phil Leventis. The purpose of the hearing is to gain further information from DOE on key unanswered questions about its MOX proposals - including:

• the amount of the incentive fees to be paid to the Duke Energy/Cogema/Stone and Webster consortium
• information on the environmental and health records of Cogema
• details on DOE's position that the Russian government is compelling the US to pursue the MOX option
• accurate estimates of waste generation expected due to the MOX program and explanation for inconsistencies of estimates between the Draft and Supplemental EIS
• failure of DOE to hold hearings on the Supplemental EIS in reactor communities

PLEASE COME SHOW YOUR OPPOSITION TO MOX!
The Carolina Peace Resource Center (CPRC) in Columbia, SC is helping to organize the hearing and requests your attendance. The hearing will take place:

Contact Ethan Brown of CPRC for more information: 843-853-2414, or ethanbrown@earthlink.net.

The following articles are available via email - write to port@bigsky.net if you would like a copy:

1. "Duke power is ignoring problems with MOX fuel"
   Op ed by Harry Rogers of the Carolina Peace Resource Ctr.
   The State (Columbia, SC), 5/22/99

2. MOX-related articles in the Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, GA)
   -"Groups still concerned by using MOX fuel" 5/28/99
   -" Plutonium disposal involves two methods" 5/28/99
   -" Plutonium disposal key to SRS future" 5/28/99
   -" Disposal mission brings plutonium full circle" 5/28/99

   (This series can also be found on the Augusta Chronicle website.)

3. "The Hex on MOX"
   The Guardian (London), 5/25/99
   

4. "Canning plutonium: cheaper and faster"
   Why Russia's excess weapons plutonium ought to be immobilized rather than burned. -By Allison Macfarlane and Adam Bernstein
   Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, May/June 1999

5. "US Sees Flaw in Safe Storing of Atom Waste"
   Discusses failure of in-tank precipitation process at SRS.
   This is tied to the vitrification facility at SRS which would be used for plutonium immobilization.
   New York Times, 6/2/99

A statement opposing the fabrication and use of MOX fuel, written jointly by US and Russian activists, was released on International Nix MOX Day, May 17, 1999. The statement was distributed at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) MOX conference in Vienna with 14 signatures on May 17. It will be released again on June 15 to coincide with the hearings on the Supplemental EIS.

The statement now has over 75 signatures and is STILL OPEN FOR SIGN-ON. To add your organization's name to the list, contact Lisa Ledwidge at the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, 301-270-5500, or ieer@ieer.org.

"...It is clear to us that rather than solving the problem of placing plutonium into safe and secure forms, a MOX program is likely to promote further plutonium processing and use, something that is undesirable on environmental, safety, economic, and non- proliferation grounds.

"Therefore, we call on our governments to stop MOX disposition programs in both the US and Russia. Instead, emphasis should be placed on safe storage and development of immobilization programs..."

Complete copy of the statement available at www.ieer.org/comments/pu-disp/ngostmt.html..

1. Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout

Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout (CNP) is a Canadian NGO opposed to MOX. Nuclear reactors in Chalk River, Ontario (called CANDU reactors) are slated for a "test burn" of MOX fuel for sometime this summer. CNP and other groups have been fighting the test burn and the import of plutonium fuel into Canada for the last several years, including protests, letter-writing campaigns, publication of factsheets and written materials on plutonium fuel, and other efforts.

For more information on anti-MOX efforts in Canada, contact CNP at cnp@web.net, or visit their website, www.cnp.ca. (This site has some good factsheets on plutonium fuel, CANDU reactors, and transportation of MOX fuel.) CNP also works with the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, www.ccnr.org.

2. Mayors' resolution against MOX

On May 21st, the International Great Lakes St. Lawrence Mayors' Conference passed a resolution opposing plutonium shipments and the burning of MOX fuel in the Great Lakes region. There were over 65 mayors in attendance as well as 30 municipal representatives.

For a copy of the resolution write to port@bigsky.net.

The Nuclear Control Institute (NCI) has copies available of its recent report, "Public Health Consequences of Substituting Mixed-Oxide for Uranium Fuel in Light-Water Reactors." For ordering information contact NCI at 202-822-8444 or nci@mailback.com. Information on the report is also on NCI's webpage, www.nci.org/moxsum.htm.