Benton County Commissioner Claude Oliver charged Thursday that Tri-City Economic Development Council board members didn't act ethically when they voted last week to support decommissioning of a Hanford research reactor.

He claimed some of them stand to gain by the Fast Flux Test Facility's decommissioning and thinks the members were rushed to vote without being allowed to check with the municipalities and businesses they represent.

TRIDEC President Carl Adrian dismissed Oliver's claims and said no conflict exists.

Oliver is an ardent advocate of restarting the reactor to provide medical isotopes to fight cancer and as a test platform for a new generation of reactors.

Department of Energy contractors already are working to deactivate and decommission FFTF. And there are doubts whether it could safely be restarted now.

"Until you are able to give a proper public accounting with independent review of your conduct under the TRIDEC code of ethics and conflict of interest policy, your resolution ... creates a serious public credibility gap about the overall effectiveness and trustworthiness of TRIDEC," Oliver read from his letter.

Adrian said the only reason Oliver held the press conference was because the TRIDEC vote was unfavorable to his position.

Adrian said board members were sensitive to the conflict of interest issue, and several abstained from voting because of that or because the group they represent previously supported FFTF's restart.

Adrian said a majority of board members said the community needs to move forward and put the FFTF issue behind it.

TRIDEC, a private nonprofit corporation, is among the Tri-Cities' most influential institutions. Members come from small and large businesses, governments, colleges, Hanford contractors, state representatives and other interests.

It has 39 board members, of whom 17 sit on its executive board, including the Herald's publisher.

It's the second time within a year Oliver has made charges that some board members - he hasn't named anyone - stand to gain financially from FFTF's closure.

TRIDEC's ethics policy calls for board members to disclose conflicts of interest and requires them to abstain from voting on those matters.

Oliver recently failed to convince his fellow Benton commissioners to withhold $25,000 from TRIDEC. He also wanted the county to budget $60,000 for FFTF and allow him to travel on FFTF business at county expense. He has said he could not support the county's proposed $40 million budget for those reasons.