THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 17, 1995 TAG: 9508170513
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
The Navy and the state of Idaho have renewed negotiations over the storage of spent nuclear fuel in that state, trying to resolve a dispute that threatens the jobs of up to 740 employees of Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
Idaho Gov. Phil Batt and Adm. Bruce Demars, who heads the Navy's nuclear propulsion program, spent Wednesday meeting privately in Chicago, Batt's office confirmed. But no immediate deal was expected to permit the resumption of shipments of radioactive waste to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.
A federal court injunction sought by Idaho is blocking those shipments. The state is challenging an environmental impact study that concluded that the fuel shipments and storage are safe.
With no place else to send the spent fuel, the Navy says it may have to delay the Portsmouth shipyard's scheduled work to deactivate the nuclear-powered cruiser Bainbridge. The Bainbridge work is to begin in October.
The dispute also threatens to block work on five nuclear-powered submarines at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington state and is delaying preparations for refueling of reactors on the aircraft carrier Nimitz at Newport News Shipbuilding.
Work on the Nimitz is not scheduled to begin until 1998.
Amy Kleiner, a spokeswoman for Batt, said the governor will insist that any agreement include a specific date for moving all spent fuel out of Idaho. The laboratory there ``is not set up to be a permanent repository,'' she said.
Kleiner said Batt expected to return to Boise on Wednesday night, but further bargaining sessions could be set next week if there is a reasonable prospect for a settlement.
Because of the dispute, the Navy is storing six containers of spent fuel at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. And on the Peninsula, six rail cars containing more spent fuel at Newport News Shipbuilding are awaiting shipment.
The naval shipyard has 7,300 employees, so the loss of the Bainbridge job would cut its work force by about 10 percent. by CNB