S-5804.2  _______________________________________________

                 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 8432

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1996 Regular Session

By Senators Hale, Loveland and Rasmussen

Read first time 03/04/96.

Recognizing the importance of preserving the Hanford Fast Flux Test Facility.

    WHEREAS, More than ninety percent of the reactor-produced medical isotopes currently used in the United States are imported; and

    WHEREAS, The Hanford Fast Flux Test Facility is capable of providing a wide variety of high quality medical isotopes for diagnosing and treating cancer, and relieving pain caused by cancer, and in 1986 produced the purest form ever made of gadolinium-153, an isotope used to diagnose osteoporosis; and

    WHEREAS, The Hanford Fast Flux Test Facility could also produce isotopes for agricultural, industrial, and business applications; and

    WHEREAS, Opportunities for research and clinical trials with isotopes are severely limited; and

    WHEREAS, A private business group has presented a formal offer to the United States Department of Energy to operate the Hanford Fast Flux Test Facility at a cost less than the cost to shut down the Facility; and

    WHEREAS, The Hanford Fast Flux Test Facility is an irreplaceable national asset given the current regulatory climate and construction costs;

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the Senate of the State of Washington, the House of Representatives concurring, That the State of Washington recognize the importance of the preservation of this valuable national asset; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the State of Washington, through this resolution, respectfully call on the President of the United States and Congress to ensure the restart and continued operation of the Hanford Fast Flux Test Facility, and preservation of this valuable national asset.

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