Status of the Advanced Neutron Source
Yesterday’s announcement that the Nobel Prize in physics will be awarded to Clifford G. Shull and Bertram N. Brockhouse for their pioneering research on neutron scattering will likely be cited in future deliberations over the proposal by the Department of Energy to construct the Advanced Neutron Source (ANS). At present, the outlook for the project is guarded.
As now envisioned, the ANS research facility would be constructed around a new reactor with a fission power of approximately 330 megawatts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It would provide an intense, steady-state source of neutrons for research by an estimated 1,000 scientists annually from universities, industry, and other federal laboratories. DOE stated in its FY 1995 budget document that the information from neutron experiments is “essential to the understanding of materials and has been instrumental in the creation of new materials.” This facility would also make a strong contribution to research on disease and human genetics and in many other areas.
ANS was first recommended in 1984 by the National Research Council’s Major Materials Facilities Committee. It has since been reaffirmed six times, most recently by the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee’s Panel on Neutron Sources in 1993. The 1994 budget request identified ANS as a Presidential investment initiative.
For FY 1994, $39 million was requested for ANS; $17 million was provided. This year, the administration requested $40 million for FY 1995 funding, of which $26.7 million was for construction. Congress cut this to $21 million, zeroing construction money.
In early March, there was warning that ANS might encounter difficulty. During an appropriations hearing on the DOE budget request, Rep. John Myers (R-IN) compared ANS to the SSC, calling it a “tremendous expense” (see FYI #40.) He warned that any project taking longer than two or three years to complete was likely to “get into trouble.” ANS is scheduled for completion in 2003 at a projected cost, by DOE, of $2.9 billion. The subcommittee gave $21 million for ANS in the FY 1995 appropriations bill because of what it said were “budget constraints and the size of the outyear mortgage (see FYI #76.)
During House consideration of the DOE appropriations bill, Rep. Harris Fawell (R-IL) inserted lengthy remarks into the Congressional Record on what he called “a number of troubling issues” for “what is basically a scientifically meritorious and much-needed project.” Fawell cited strong support for ANS in the neutron-user community, the condition of aging US facilities, and the much greater power of the proposed project. He argued, however, that ANS construction and operation costs could range from $9.1 billion to over $13 billion over 40 years, “making the ANS the most expensive scientific project since the superconducting super collider.”
Fawell also raised nuclear nonproliferation concerns. DOE now plans to use a core fueled with nuclear weapons grade highly-enriched (93%) uranium (HEU), although a study was to be undertaken on using medium or low enriched uranium. A new DOE figure for using alternative fuels has not been finalized; Fawell cited a 1993 DOE study concluding that low-enriched fuels would increase construction costs by $600 million and annual operating costs by $60 million. Fawell contends that by using HEU as a fuel, the U.S. government would “provide an excuse for all other nations to oppose international efforts to end the use of HEU fuels” in civilian nuclear power programs.
Finally, Fawell raised concerns about spent fuel management and regulatory issues. He called for a one-year pause for in-depth congressional hearings and DOE review, and to “give the scientific community a chance to reexamine the ANS.” He recommended a $17 million appropriation.
In June, the Senate cleared a DOE appropriations bill matching the House recommendation of $21 million for ANS. Senate appropriations subcommittee chairman J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA) in floor remarks said the “advanced neutron source is not yet ready. The environmental impact statement has yet to be completed.... They have not yet made a decision as to the kind of fuel, the degree of enrichment that they would use in this reactor, a very fundamental choice....” He called on DOE to complete these studies, “and then make a decision again, an eyes-wide-open decision” (see FYI #101.)
The final conference report for the FY 1995 DOE appropriation reflected congressional concerns, cutting the ANS request of $40 million to $21 million. In doing so, it stated, “It is the intent of the conferees that the ANS project proceed with the design activity including immediate implementation of the planned industrial participation in the engineering design and research and development.” Nowhere was there mention of construction funding for the Advanced Neutron Source.
