For its part, the U.S. Congress has From the standpoint of costs, requiring reformulated gasoline with ethanol appropriated $200 million for the plufell between the MTBE and nonoxygen- tonium disposal program and DOE is ated fuel options. Gasoline with ethanol requesting another $200 million in aid raised some air quality concerns be- to the former Soviet Union. The agreement calls for plutonium cause incomplete combustion of the alcohol produces acetaldehyde, a hazard- disposal to start in 2007 and to proceed at a rate of at least 2 tons per year. U.S. ous air pollutant, Keller said. The study focused on California, but officials say it will take decades just to Keller told C&EN he is confident that address the first installment of stocksimilar trends would hold true for major piled plutonium. In another action, right after the Rusurban areas across the U.S. where reformulated gasoline is sold. Keller and Lin- sian agreement, President Clinton da Fernandez, an environmental econo- promised $78 million to Ukraine to help mist now at the University of California, decommission the Chernobyl Nuclear Riverside, prepared the cost-benefit Power Plant, site of the world's worst civilian nuclear accident. On the day of analysis. Cheryl Hogue Clinton's announcement, the Ukrainian government pledged to shut down the last remaining operating reactor there, effective Dec. 15. Modest Deals Spring From Clinton Travels The U.S. aid comes on top of an earliThe dark fruit of the Cold War, the shutHe also noted that it will take more er commitment of an identical sum, down and cleanup of the Chernobyl nu- than 20 years and many billions of dol- notes Rose E. Gottemoeller, DOE actclear plant, and nuclear technical aid lars to pull it off, and the Russian com- ing deputy administrator for defense nuwere among issues discussed and mitment, he added, is dependent on clear nonproliferation. The total aid package of $156 million goes to what agreements reached with little notice money from the rest of the world. during President Bill Clinton's recent The Russians intend to take their is called the "sarcophagus project" to sojourn to Russia and share (34 metric tons) of isolate and stabilize a structure covering Ukraine. military-grade plutonium ruined reactor four. The sarcophagus and irradiate it through will cost around $760 million, however, In Russia, the U.S. use as mixed-oxide fuel and will also take eight years to build. and Russian Federation in energy-producing nuinched a bit closer to The U.S. also agreed to provide clear reactors, making it $2 million for a nuclear safety assistance laying out a path to safeunsuitable for weapons. program in Ukraine, which is particularly get rid of tons of pluThe U.S. will use 25.5 ly important because 40% of the region's tonium once held in nutons as mixed-oxide fuel electricity comes from nuclear power. clear weapons that are for reactors and immonow being decommisThe aid would fund a wide range of bilize 8.5 tons through Chernobyl decommissioning and desioned with the Cold vitrification. The vitri- contamination projects as well as conWar's end. fied portion will be dis- tinue efforts to install advanced reactor Following up on past posed of in a geological display systems to help operators commitments to cut repository. quickly determine and address acciweapons, the presidents of the two countries Gottenmoeller With or without this dents. The systems came into U.S. use agreed to a plan to peragreement, DOE already in the wake of the Three Mile Island manently dispose of 68 metric tons of has committed to disposing of 50 tons of accident in 1979, according to DOE. weapons-grade plutonium, enough to plutonium—33 through use as fuel and The U.S. also will help Ukraine to make several thousand nuclear bombs, 17 by vitrification—and is developing a evaluate and certify new suppliers of Department of Energy (DOE) officials plan to bring this about. nuclear fuel, DOE officials say, and say. The U.S. government estimates its they note that Ukraine is dependent Before this can happen, however, disposition plan will cost about $4 bil- upon one fuel supplier for its 11 reacmuch work needs to be done and bil- lion, including construction of several tors. The technical agreement is worth lions of dollars needs to be spent. facilities; the Russian component will $30 million, DOE says, and along with supplying technical expertise, it will Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, run at least $1.9 billion. in a speech on June 13, said the agreeFor the plans to bear fruit, much will help certify fuel made by Westingment was needed to "lock in" the gains turn on what happens at a summit of G-8 house for use in Ukrainian reactors. of past nuclear arms reduction accords countries set for July in Okinawa, Japan, Also agreed to was U.S. economic by ensuring that the material will not where, DOE officials say, a strong re- aid to Slavutych, a town adjacent to be used for new weapons. The latest quest will be made for international Chernobyl's reactors. The support, acagreement, he said, would encourage funding of the Russian program. To cording to the administration, is in recdevelopment of a "new culture" in the move ahead, DOE officials say Russia ognition of the impact of the facilities' two countries to replace that of the needs at least a "general sense" of West- closure on the nearby community. Cold War. ern financial commitment. Jeff'Johnson term. This is in part because cars running on gasoline with higher toluene levels or added alkylates get higher fuel economy than those running on gasoline with either MTBE or ethanol, Keller said. If California implemented this option, gasoline prices in the state would rise by a few cents to as much as 15 cents per gallon, depending on the length of time allowed to phase out MTBE and step up sales of nonoxygenated reformulated gasoline, he said. Retaining reformulated gasoline containing MTBE would be the most expensive option for California, in large part because of high costs of treating the water predicted to become polluted with the compound.
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