U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., introduced a bill Wednesday that would fine the U.S. Department of Energy $1 million a day if it failed to ship plutonium from his state's Rocky Flats site to SRS by November 2003.

Shipments would have to begin by July 1, or the Energy Department would have to look for other places to ship the radioactive metal.

South Carolina politicians, including Gov. Jim Hodges, have fought to delay the shipments until they have assurances that SRS won't become a permanent storage site for plutonium.

But Mr. Udall said his concerns lie not with the Palmetto State, but his own.

"No matter what happens with South Carolina, we need an insurance policy to make sure the Energy Department keeps its promise to Colorado to close Rocky Flats by 2006," Mr. Udall said in a statement. "This bill focuses on protecting Colorado."

A spokeswoman for Mr. Hodges called Mr. Udall's bill as "a nonissue."

"We don't foresee this bill going anywhere," Cortney Owings said. "It is nothing more than another attempt to force-feed South Carolina plutonium.

"The people of Colorado would be better served if their elected officials pressured the federal government to be honest and keep their commitments rather than wasting time on bogus legislation."

Mr. Udall's bill followed one introduced by U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., last week. That bill would allow the Energy Department to reconsider its decision to build plutonium-treatment plants at SRS.

Some SRS supporters covet those plants, which would create more than 500 long-term jobs at the nuclear-weapons site.

But Mr. Hodges has opposed shipments of plutonium to SRS because he has no guarantees that the plants actually would be built.

In an attempt to break the months-old debate, South Carolina Republicans already have introduced a bill that would fine the Energy Department $1 million a day if it failed to meet deadlines for building the plants, then treating plutonium and shipping it out of South Carolina.

But Mr. Hodges would not endorse that bill, saying it didn't include enough protections for his state. Instead, the governor has sued in federal court to block the shipments until an agreement acceptable to him is reached.

Reach Brandon Haddock at (706) 823-3409 or bhaddock@augustachronicle.com.