Two weeks ago, UCS Senior Scientist Ed Lyman traveled to Maine and New Hampshire to highlight the Bush administration's flawed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). At four public forums, he critiqued the GNEP plan to "reprocess" the spent fuel from commercial nuclear power reactors, and sought to build opposition to the administration's proposal in these two key states.

"Reprocessing" separates plutonium and uranium from other nuclear waste contained in spent nuclear fuel. By separating it from the rest of the highly radioactive waste, reprocessing makes it far easier for terrorists to obtain plutonium, which can be used directly to make a nuclear bomb. For more information on reprocessing, see the UCS fact sheet, "Nuclear Reprocessing: Dangerous, Dirty, and Expensive."

Dr. Lyman's trip garnered widespread media coverage, with articles in the Bangor Daily News, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, and the Morning Sentinel in northwestern Maine. The Associated Press then picked up the story and it ran in the on-line versions of the Boston Globe and Portsmouth Herald. Dr. Lyman also appeared on the Maine Public Radio Network.

The Bangor Daily News article, "Scientist Assails N-energy plan," highlighted our primary objection to reprocessing: "plutonium gleaned through reprocessing would be much easier for terrorists to obtain than plutonium currently tied up in bulky, radioactive nuclear waste assemblies."

Dr. Lyman also drew attention to the latest development in nuclear waste, a plan put forward by Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) to create interim storage cites for spent fuel. Because Yucca Mountain, the planned geological repository for spent fuel, is so far behind schedule, proposals for interim storage of the waste are emerging. The Domenici plan proposes the creation of state or regional interim waste dumps.

Dr. Lyman highlighted that the only commercial nuclear reactor in Maine was shut down and is being decommissioned, but under the Domenici plan it could become a regional waste dump. Press coverage of Dr. Lyman's trip led both of Maine's senators, Olympia Snowe (R) and Susan Collins (R), to release statements opposing storage of additional nuclear waste in Maine. This week Maine Governor John Baldacci followed up, sending a letter to Senator Domenici objecting to the interim storage plan.

The governor's letter led to additional media coverage of both the GNEP and the interim storage proposal. The coverage in the Lincoln County News affirmed that it was Dr. Lyman's visit that stimulated the concerns.

In sum, the trip was an enormous success and we will look forward to following up in Maine and New Hampshire and planning new trips to more states in the future.