[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 178 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 ON THE DECISION OF SECRETARY OF ENERGY SPENCER ABRAHAM TO PERMANENTLY 
 CLOSE THE FAST FLUX TEST FACILITY ON THE HANFORD NUCLEAR RESERVATION 
                           NEAR RICHLAND, WA

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DAVID WU

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 19, 2001

  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud Secretary Abraham's 
decision to permanently close the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) 
located on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Washington.
  The FFTF is a 400-megawatt sodium cooled nuclear reactor that 
operated from 1982 to 1992 to test advanced fuels and materials in 
support of the national Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Program. In 
1992, this use was terminated. The FFTF then became a facility without 
a mission. When efforts to identify a long-term mission for the FFTF 
were unsuccessful, the Department of Energy moved the plant into a 
standby shutdown.
  For nearly ten years, this standby mode cost the American taxpayers 
$32 million per year, even though there was no functional purpose for 
maintaining this standby status. I have twice introduced legislation to 
permanently close this environmentally risky, fiscally wasteful, and 
technologically unnecessary facility.
  Mr. Speaker, nuclear contamination from the Hanford Nuclear 
Reservation has long threatened the Columbia River and the hundreds of 
thousands of Oregonians living downstream. The millions of dollars 
previously spent keeping the FFTF on standby can finally be used to 
perform the clean up that is essential to ensure environmental safety 
and clean drinking water for Oregonians.
  The Department of Energy has taken an important step today to remedy 
the environmental problems caused by the Hanford facility. I look 
forward to working with Secretary Abraham in the coming months and 
years to ensure that Hanford will no longer pose a health threat to 
those living in the Columbia River region.

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