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                                          SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 8019

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                                                               Passed Legislature - 1990 Reg.

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Senators Benitz, Hansen, Newhouse, Stratton, Hayner, Bluechel, Metcalf and Vognild

Read first time 1/17/90 and referred to Committee on Energy & Utilities.

TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE HONORABLE ADMIRAL JAMES D. WATKINS, SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY:

          We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

          WHEREAS, The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) Complex at the Hanford Site is the Department of Energy's (DOE) newest, most efficient, and most reliable reactor plant anywhere in the DOE field locations; and

          WHEREAS, The FFTF has demonstrated world-record performance, operating at 97 percent efficiency since start-up in 1982, including a 126-day continuous full-power run; and

          WHEREAS, The FFTF is the only reactor subjected to a review process equivalent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing review; and

          WHEREAS, Having always met the licensing requirements, quality, safety, and environmental standards of commercial nuclear facilities, the FFTF is in a superior position to reactors that have not undergone the scrutiny inherent in these requirements; and

          WHEREAS, The FFTF is extraordinarily versatile, allowing an increasing number of irradiation test programs to be conducted concurrently with the option of adding other production programs without affecting ongoing projects; and

          WHEREAS, The FFTF contributes to a balanced mission at the Hanford Site in conjunction with the long-range program to clean up waste from nuclear defense activities; and

          WHEREAS, The highly advanced projects undertaken at the FFTF complement the ongoing research and development mission at DOE's Pacific Northwest Laboratories at Hanford; and

          WHEREAS, An ongoing mission at the FFTF would help ensure the likely breakthroughs in developing new technologies and methods to help immobilize and treat hazardous wastes at lower costs; and

          WHEREAS, The FFTF could be used to destroy nuclear warheads from different countries in the event of an arms reduction treaty; and

          WHEREAS, The FFTF could produce plutonium-238 to the quality standards of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for use in future space projects; and

          WHEREAS, With the existence of the Fuels Material Examination Facility complex at Hanford, the FFTF would allow for the consolidation of certain operations within the DOE; and

          WHEREAS, The FFTF facility presently employs nearly 800 highly qualified and dedicated people; and

          WHEREAS, Locating the plutonium-238 mission at hanford would secure the future of ongoing missions and provide the opportunity for an additional 400 people to join the efficient and dedicated efforts at the FFTF; and

          WHEREAS, The diverse representation of the Washington state delegation to Congress has unanimously supported this project;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your memorialists respectfully pray that the United States Department of Energy continue the ongoing mission at the FFTF, and that the FFTF take over the mission of plutonium-238 production.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George Bush, President of the United States, the Honorable Admiral James D. Watkins, Secretary of the United States Department of Energy, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.