Shawn stepped in. “You’re right. That incident at WIPP was only the second time since the Manhattan Project that the government really shook up its nuclear infrastructure. Granite Bay pushed the President over the edge.”
Senator Pulaski pulled himself up. “We take this very seriously, and that’s why Hydra Mountain is so desperately needed.” He lifted his chin, as though lecturing his staff. “All nuclear waste is dangerous. That’s why it belongs in here instead of out there.”
Adonia was surprised Pulaski would make such a broad and ill-informed comment, considering he was the one man who funded the country’s nuclear infrastructure. “Actually, it’s a matter of degree, Senator. WIPP stores only the lowest-level waste, such as contaminated gloves and paper, objects that may have briefly come in contact with radioactive material. It’s mostly secondary material and poses no immediate danger—”
“Immediate danger is a relative term, Ms. Rojas.” Garibaldi fixed his eyes on the last of the concrete cylinders as workers removed it from the second flatbed. “I’ll admit that a pair of lightly contaminated gloves is a lesser concern than radioactive spent fuel rods, but what level is truly safe? Unshielded rods emit enough radiation to kill a person after only a few seconds of exposure. The WIPP incident may have been minor, but if the same mishap occurred at your Granite Bay site, we’d be having an entirely different conversation.”
“At least there would be a conversation,” van Dyckman said. “And that’s the point. Nobody wants to talk about storing nuclear waste. Protest groups throw up roadblock after roadblock against any proposed solution, Congress doesn’t act — it’s as if everyone thinks the problem will just go away if we ignore it long enough.”
The tractor-crawler drove away carrying the large concrete cask, but the members of the group were caught up in their own conversation. Garibaldi rocked back on his heels near the rough wall. “Sanergy is aware of the magnitude of the present problem, but the only permanent solution is to stop producing more waste in the first place. If we expand safe, clean energy alternatives, then there will be no more high-level nuclear waste.”
Undersecretary Doyle was impatient with the debate. “That still doesn’t explain why we’re here. Why am I part of this group? Just to add another perspective before the Senator’s congressional oversight meeting? Sounds like half-assed planning to me.”
Garibaldi seemed troubled and curious. “And why did the President want me here as the… loyal opposition?” He seemed to be amused by the term. “I would think I’d be the last person he wanted to see this.”
“The President didn’t ask for anybody specifically,” Shawn said. “We took recommendations, and Rob Harris was very persuasive. You’re all here for a reason. Ms. Rojas, for example. Considering her hands-on familiarity with the problem, and as site manager of the nation’s largest nuclear power plant, she was a natural choice.”
Van Dyckman frowned. “Rob Harris also suggested Dr. Garibaldi, as well as Undersecretary Doyle, even though she doesn’t have as much background in nuclear energy.” His voice turned sour. “His approvals were rubber-stamped, and by the time I actually saw the names, it was too late to postpone.”
The site manager said curtly, “I wanted a well-balanced group with fresh eyes, people who could provide an unbiased perspective — a review team outside of your part of the DOE, Dr. van Dyckman, who wouldn’t have a personal stake in the program. Even though Ms. Doyle’s nuclear expertise is in Weapons rather than Energy, her engineering credentials are impeccable.”
Out of the corner of her eye Adonia saw Victoria Doyle give a curt nod to Harris. There was obviously something else going on between them.…
As the second flatbed was unloaded and the workers finished their paperwork, Harris guided them to the interior guard portal and a smaller vault door embedded in the granite wall. “Let’s go inside to the storage locations.”
“Then you’ll see the good stuff,” van Dyckman said. He gathered the group into a small semicircle next to the gate. “Keep in mind that DOE is already moving an incredible amount of high-level waste into Hydra Mountain, under the strictest security guidelines. Our intent is to rapidly reduce the amount of nuclear waste stored in inadequate holding areas at a hundred different sites across the nation. This will dramatically reduce the risk of an accident outside. Valiant Locksmith has been operational for a year since the President signed the classified Executive Order, but this is still a dangerous place — not an office building. However, Rob’s team is doing a great job.”
The Senator added, “And we’d like you to reach that same conclusion for your report to the Intelligence Oversight Committee.”
Van Dyckman kept smiling. “By law, once a year we’re required to conduct an outside and unbiased assessment of the entire program. The President is keenly interested, and as his military aide, Colonel Whalen is his eyes and ears. The rest of you constitute his blue-ribbon committee to review what we’ve accomplished, and, we hope, give Hydra Mountain a clean bill of health to present to the oversight committee.”
“If it’s warranted,” Garibaldi said.
“No pressure,” Adonia muttered.
“Of course it’s warranted,” van Dyckman said. “I’ve added DOE upgrades to the old military safeguards, supplementing the antiquated Cold War protective systems. With all the safety and security systems, this is the ideal place for our operations. Brand-new technology alongside tried-and-true legacy systems.”
Garibaldi turned to Shawn. “Ms. Rojas manages a nuclear power plant, so I understand what she brings to the table, but what is your actual expertise in these matters, Colonel Whalen?”
Shawn smiled. “I’ve had hands-on experience with nuclear material as a bomber pilot — I periodically carried nukes in my B-2. Because of the short notice and importance, the President asked me to expedite the review, but this is Mr. Harris’s facility, so he’ll lead us through. I’m just an observer, too.”
Harris said, “I’ll go over everything, step by step, corridor by corridor. You’ll see for yourselves, and reach your own conclusions.” He stepped up to the security door and swiped his card to open the vault. “The interior storage facility is isolated from this staging area by yet another layer of security. Once inside, we’ll head up to my office in the operations center, where you’ll see how we keep track of Valiant Locksmith ops nationwide, as well as the status of the waste stored inside the Mountain. That’ll give you some idea of how extensive the program is.”
The heavy door opened. Harris turned back to them, touching his lanyard. “Make sure your badge and dosimeter are visible at all times. And please, don’t touch anything.” He hesitated, then gave an uncharacteristic smile. “If you hear a high-pitched warbling siren, just run like hell to this exit. It’s the only way in or out of Hydra Mountain.”
The cool tone in his voice made Adonia uncertain whether or not he was joking. Something told her he wasn’t.
8
On the other side of the second vault door, the long granite tunnels looked identical to what they had just left behind. “This is a giant maze,” Adonia muttered, “like in Dungeons and Dragons.”
“An entirely different kind of dragon in here,” Shawn said.
During her undergrad years at Texas A&M, majoring in nuclear engineering, many of her classmates had spent weekends on role-playing games, following imaginary adventures across graph-paper mazes and battling monsters with a roll of the dice. Some of her friends had harangued her to participate, not because she would have been a particularly skilled elven warrior, but because they wanted more young women in the game. Although she had joined in a few sessions, Adonia preferred to spend her scant free time swimming for recreation, getting exercise. Most of her hours, though, were consumed by her studies. Becoming a nuclear engineer wasn’t easy.