'Because the federal government no longer purchases all of the plutonium produced, nuclear fuel residue from Illinois power plants is being transported and stored for future use under industrial supervision'

time has passed when the federal government directly supervises the handling of each shipment of "bomb grade" material and could provide military guards for these shipments. Increasingly, the storage and processing facilities for plutonium are owned and operated by industry.

Not always observed or enforced
Regulations established by the U.S. Department of Transportation govern the movement of plutonium from place to place. Although the State's authority to regulate the transportation of plutonium is practically nonexistent, there is apparently some room for the State to regulate the storage of the material within its borders. Eight Illinois agencies — Illinois Atomic Energy Commission, Civil Defense Agency, Illinois Commerce Commission, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the Departments of Agriculture, Law Enforcement, Public Health, and Transportation — are involved in some way with the proper handling of nuclear materials, but there is no agency in the State with the ultimate responsibility for the secure storage and handling of plutonium. There is evidence which indicates that the federal regulations governing the transportation of nuclear materials have not been observed or enforced on occasion.

A recent report by the National Resources Defense Council cited several violations of federal regulations uncovered through investigations conducted by the General Accounting Office. Three private contractors licensed by the Atomic Energy Commission to handle plutonium were found to have inadequate security systems at their installations. Plutonium was being stored in areas protected only by weak physical barriers, ineffective guard patrols and alarm systems. In addition, these installations had no definite "action plan" to follow in the event of the theft or diversion of the stored plutonium. In spite of these obvious shortcomings and outright violations of federal regulations, the facilities consistently received satisfactory security evaluations from Atomic Energy Commission inspectors.

The failure of the nuclear industry to pay meticulous attention to the details of the federal regulations designed to safeguard plutonium, as well as the possibility of human error in the handling of plutonium, could have dangerous, perhaps grave, consequences.

The problem of a highly dangerous material not being scrupulously safeguarded becomes even more frightening if one considers the rise of terrorism and large-scale extortion and blackmail attempts in the world. A no less disturbing trend is the frequency of industrial accidents in the handling of hazardous chemicals.

Safeguards required
Dwindling reserves of fossil fuels, increasing demands for energy, and the construction of nuclear power plants have forced us to acquiesce in the existence of large quantities of plutonium. Declaring a moratorium on the construction and operation of nuclear power plants is probably unrealistic considering our current energy situation. Establishing safeguards using the strictest practicable measures seems not only realistic but imperative. As the leading state in the production of electricity from nuclear power, Illinois is in a position to establish a strong precedent for the creation and enforcement of the strictest safeguards to ensure the security of man's most lethal element.

The problem of a highly dangerous material not being scrupulously safeguarded becomes even more frightening considering the rise of terrorism, large-scale extortion and blackmail in the world'

PLUTONIUM MISSING
At least 44 pounds of plutonium was reported missing from the Ken McGee production facility in Crescent, Okla according to a United Press International news story which cited a National Public Radio (NPR) report of December 28 1974. "Dr. Ersell Evans, a vice president of Westinghouse, was quoted in an interview with Barbara Newman of NPR as saying he heard from an Atomic Energy Commission official that 20 kilograms — 44 pounds — was or unaccounted for" (Illinois State Journal-Register, Dec. 29, 1974).

40/Illinois Issues/February 1975