Guest Editorial: New Plutonium Warhead Mission at SRS is the Pits
Aiken (South Carolina) Standard, June 24, 2019
by Tom Clements, Director, SRS Watch
Succumbing to organizational flaws,
BOMBS AWAY?! Uh, not so fast – we do not want a new “mission” at SRS that leads to more plutonium waste and needless preparation for nuclear war….
An overview of an analysis about making plutonium “pits” for nuclear weapons includes the bungled MOX plant at SRS. The South Carolina public will not trade one nuclear debacle –
Picture SRS Watch Director Wins Conservation Award
Tom Clements, the director of Savannah River Site Watch and senior adviser with Friends of the Earth, was presented the “Conservationist of the Year” award by the South Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club at its annual awards banquet in Columbia,
December 19, 2017: SRS Watch Files FOIA Request for Plans to Bring Nuclear Weapons and Special Nuclear Materials from North Korea to DOE Sites, including Savannah River Site – For Storage and Disposition
In Event of an Avoidable, Unnecessary War with N. Korea and if Nuclear Weapons and Plutonium, Highly Enriched Uranium are Seized or Obtained, What would be the Role of NNSA and DOE Sites?
NNSA Document Confirms MOX Plant at SRS being Reviewed for Production of Plutonium “Pits” for Nuclear Weapons; Would be Controversial Mission for SRS – Opposed by SRS Watch
NNSA’s Review of MOX Plant “Refurbishment” for Pit Production another Indicator that MOX is in Trouble and Facing Eventual Termination
Columbia, SC – A leaked 1-page document confirms that the U.S.
As MOX Remains on Shut-down Track, National Academies of Sciences Review of Non-MOX Disposal of Surplus Plutonium Gets Under Way with Meeting in Washington; Public Meeting to be Held Near Savannah River Site in Early 2018
NAS Committee to Review “Dilute & Dispose” of Plutonium as Nuclear Waste, in WIPP Facility; Plutonium Immobilization not Revived but has been best Disposal Option Since Inception of Surplus Plutonium Project
Columbia,
Seeing nothing but RED for a mismanaged MOX project that continues to teeter on the congressionally mandated precipice of oblivion
As we know and as is unavoidable due to on-going construction and management problems, the US Department of Energy again awards the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site a failing grade.
Congressional Armed Services Committees Set Path for Termination of $17 Billion Plutonium Fuel (MOX) construction Boondoggle at DOE’s Savannah River Site
MOX Debacle can be Terminated by Secretary of Energy if Requirements Met for “Alternative Option”
Columbia, SC – The Armed Services Committees in Congress have laid out an approach that could lead to the termination of the mismanaged plutonium fuel (MOX) plant at the Savannah River Site.
Quote of the month, which backs up our reporting that production of plutonium oxide in the HB-Line, for the failed MOX project, has ceased:
“Plutonium dissolution activities [in HB-Line] are on hold right now…[we] don’t anticipate that moving in the future.”
— Tony Polk, Director Nuclear Material Programs Division
DOE Savannah River Operations Office,
DOE Affirms Bungled Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project at SRS is Not Sustainable and Must be Terminated
See October 12, 2017 presentation by Robert Raines, NNSA, Associate Administrator for Acquisition and Project Management to the South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council:
Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF)
“Latest Government estimate [on MOX plant construction cost and schedule]: $17.2B and 2048 completion date”
New Aerial Photos of Partially Constructed Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Plant at DOE’s Savannah River Site Released as Rumors of Layoffs Emerge; Photos Reveal Little Work Progress on Exterior of MOX Plant as the Bungled Project Teeters on the Edge of Termination
Columbia, SC – Newly obtained aerial photographs of the plutonium fuel (MOX) plan at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site reveal little external progress on the partially constructed facility.
Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (SRS CAB) approves recommendation against importing and dumping German spent fuel at SRS, at September 26, 2017 meeting in Charleston, South Carolina
Draft recommendation “Oppose Receipt of German SNF for Treatment and Storage in the U.S.” – linked here
Watch for the pro-dumping members of the CAB,
Status of Plutonium Oxide Production – supposedly for MOX fuel fabrication – in HB-Line? Why won’t SRS be honest and admit it’s ending? (OK, go ahead and laugh about that material being used for MOX as that ship is sinking, sinking, sinking….)
An SRS official admitted on August 8 at and SRS Citizens Advisory Board committee meeting that processing continues only for plutonium solutions in H-Canyon. But they can’t yet bring themselves to admit there are no more plutonium shipments from storage in the K-Area to HB-Line for processing.
Construction of MOX Facility Marks 10th Anniversary – No Celebration Expected Given Mismanaged Construction and as Project Remains on Life Support and On Track to Termination
Odds Falling that the Badly Bungled MOX Project Will Make it to its 11th Anniversary
Columbia, SC — With no fanfare expected and no reason to celebrate,
Please allow us to drone on…..SRS is pro-actively undermining its credibility by failure to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by SRS Watch in November 2016
See partial list of outstanding SRS Watch FOIA requests, July 24, 2017, linked here
Why is SRS refusing to release any evidence about the hyped up “Drone Scare of 2016”
2017 Nuclear Materials Management Plan for DOE’s Savannah River Site Reveals Plutonium Oxide Production in HB-Line is Halting – Setback for MOX as Main Source of Plutonium “Feedstock” Eliminated
SRS Watch news, July 20, 2017 – news release linked here
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board: Nuclear Material Shipment to H-Canyon and HB-Line Halted
Note: The news release posted on July 20 was clear in that processing of plutonium liquid in HB-Line would continue and that processing of plutonium from K-Area would cease.
MOX Showdown at High Noon, July 20, 2017:
MOX Termination on the Move in U.S. Senate
Senate Energy & Water chairman and ranking member vs $enator “MOXie” Graham, who stands alone in defending MOX waste for his client (CB&I AREVA MOX Services) —–
U.S. DOE Documents Obtained via FOIA Request Confirm “Mission Need” to Expand “Dilute and Dispose” Method of Plutonium Disposition at Savannah River Site, Replacing MOX
Dilute and Dispose Faces Hurdles, Including Capacity of WIPP Disposal Site in New Mexico
Columbia, South Carolina – U.S. Department of Energy documents confirm that DOE has officially justified disposition of larger amounts of surplus weapon-grade plutonium via “dilute and dispose,” an alternative to the mismanaged plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Savannah River Site.
MOX Workers Jumping Ship
July 10, 2017: We’re hearing turnover amongst workers at the MOX debacle remains high…they come…they get trained…they leave for higher-paying jobs where they can earn overtime = a formula for poor performance as termination of the project closes in.
MOX Albatross Weighing Heavier and Heavier on Necks of Senator Graham and Representative Wilson
The last quarter of the U.S. Government’s Fiscal Year 2017 has arrived and we expect more action by DOE to start shutting down the bungled plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
House Armed Services Committee Sets Stage for Termination of Mismanaged MOX Project; Defense Spending Bill Stipulates that Continuation of the MOX Project can be Waived by Secretary of Energy
Columbia, South Carolina – A pathway to terminate the troubled plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) has been presented by the U.S.
Research reactor spent fuel from Peru to SRS – arrived late June, 2017. It’s not bomb-grade uranium so it wasn’t brought to the US for nuclear non-proliferation reasons….
Spent fuel from the RP-10 research reactor in Peru appears to have been transported on the ship Palermo, which left Peru on May 23 and went around Cape Horn –
Reminder, June 20, 2017: Loads of New Aerial Photos of the MOX Boondoggle at SRS
Posted on May 26 by ©High Flyer – on Google drive linked here
High Flyer says “Read Me First,”
Plutonium Oxide Production in H-Canyon: A Failure
Remember the SRS Watch report from November 2015: “H-Canyon Folly, Plutonium Failure?” (linked here) The Trump Administration budget request for DOE confirms we were correct in our assessment that SRS is falling far short of goals for plutonium oxide production in the aging H-Canyon reprocessing plant
In our report,
MOXy Bits, June 20, 2017
We’ve finally getting somewhere with our Freedom of Information Act request of January 3, 2017 for information about “rework” (of improper work) that has taken place at the MOX project.
SRS Watch news, June 13, 2017: NNSA Implies that SRS is being Analyzed for New Nuclear Weapons Mission: Production of Plutonium “Pits,” the Core of Nuclear Weapons; Reuse of Soon-to-be Mothballed MOX Building Likely a Focus
Comments by NNSA Official at DNFSB Hearing First Indication of Review of Pit Production Capability
Columbia, SC – The Department of Energy has confirmed that it is now conducting a review to determine which DOE sites might be appropriate for location of production of plutonium “pits,” the core of nuclear weapons.
US DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) affirms to SRS Watch that they are analyzing DOE sites for the production of plutonium “pits” (cores, or triggers) for nuclear weapons – June 13, 2017:
“NNSA is performing an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) to determine the most efficient and cost effective means of achieving pit manufacturing program goals over the next decade. Several NNSA and DOE sites with the capability of supporting nuclear operations are being considered in the AoA,
SHIM SHAM at MOX?! Rework Problems at the Mismanaged MOX Project Continue and Costs Mount….Will Taxpayers be Stuck with the Rework Bill or Not?
Please contact SRS Watch if you have more information about the MOX Shim Sham or other rework or construction problems at the MOX boondoggle: srswatch@gmail.com
Why aren’t Senator Lindsey Graham and Rep.
Zombie Project at Savannah River Site Looms like a $17-Billion Concrete Tomb
New Aerial Photos of Doomed Plutonium Fuel MOX Project at the DOE’s Savannah River Site Released, Legally Taken on May 26, 2017 – Can be Used with Approval by &
New Aerial Photos Released of Mismanaged, Massively Over-Budget AP1000 Experimental Nuclear Reactor Projects in South Carolina and Georgia, May 26, 2017 – Can be Used with Approval by & Credit to ©High Flyer
South Carolina Electric & Gas’ (SCE&G) VC Summer photos, May 26, 2017, Courtesy of High Flyer © 2017, have been linked by High Flyer on a public Google drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BwkyYyn8X-ySTHlYc0pwWDhCTWs
Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle May 26,