Watchdogs Issue Second Demand for Nation-Wide Environmental Review of Expanded Plutonium Pit Production
On September 17, 2019, lawyers for the Natural Resources Defense Council,
New Letter Sent to DOE Demanding PEIS on Plutonium Pit Production at SRS, Los Alamos
Lawyers for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Savannah River Site Watch and Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment sent a second letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry and Lisa Gordon-Hagerty,
Senate Appropriations Committee Votes on DOE Funding, September 12, 2019
The Senate Appropriations Committee zeros out Yucca Mountain funding, cuts the Virtual Test Reactor (VTR) & keeps the plutonium sustainment slush fund for going – for “pits” for nuclear weapons.
“How to Starve Trump’s Lust for Nukes” (including the Plutonium Bomb Plant at SRS)
This opinion piece underscores the importance of the House-Senate “conference committee” on the defense bill (National Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2020), where the fate of the unjustified Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) at Savannah River Site will be decided.
SRS Watch Challenges Reuse of MOX Building as Unjustified “Plutonium Bomb Plant”
Savannah River Site Watch Revamps Website, Challenges NNSA’s Reuse of MOX Building as “Plutonium Bomb Plant”
Group Urges Armed Services Committees to Reject Expanded Plutonium “Pit” Production for Nuclear Weapons,
Congress to Decide on Defense Bill, Unjustified “Plutonium Bomb Plant” at SRS
The fate of the unjustified “Plutonium Bomb Plant” (PBP) at DOE’s Savannah River Site is on the table this week when the defense bill – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 –
SRS Watch to Armed Services: No Funding for “Plutonium Bomb Plant” (PBP) at SRS, Require Proliferation Risk Assessment
The status of new plutonium “pit” production, for the cores of nuclear weapons, is the subject of negotiations in a conference committee between the U.S. House and Senate over their differing versions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA).
U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee to Act on DOE Budget, September 12, 2019
Senate Appropriations to “mark up” legislation on DOE spending – will they act responsibly for our national security or will they support dangerous projects like the proposed “Plutonium Bomb Plant”
More Highly Radioactive Research Reactor Spent Fuel Headed to SRS
SRS is set to accept more foreign research reactor spent fuel, including from Canada and Japan. There is no environmental or proliferation justification for low enriched uranium (LEU) fuels to be accepted from Canada or other countries.
SRS Watch Requests Modified Agreement with Germany for Research on Illegal Plan to Export Spent Fuel to SRS
Savannah River Site Watch has filed another Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for an amended “work for others” agreement between SRS (Savannah River National Lab) and the Jülicher Entsorgungsgesellschaft für Nuklearanlagen (JEN).
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Japan’s plutonium stockpile remain proliferation threat
Japan reports domestically and to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it continues to stockpile a large amount of weapon-usable plutonium. Japan should make an official announcement that its bungled plan to reprocess spent nuclear reactor fuel in the problem-plagued Rokkasho facility,
Time to Hit the Brakes on the Unjustified Plutonium Pit Project at SRS
“Guest Column: New plutonium mission at SRS is the pits”
Succumbing to organizational flaws, the U.S. Department of Energy is rushing into a controversial and complex project at the Savannah River Site for which costs and need have not been established.
DOE Documents on Plutonium, HEU Packaging and Shipment
1. FISSILE MATERIAL MINIMIZATION THROUGH PACKAGING AND REMOVAL OF PLUTONIUM FUEL MATERIALS
https://sti.srs.gov/fulltext/SRNL-STI-2019-00316.pdf
While there may need to be some removal of plutonium and highly enriched uranium in situations where the material is at risk of theft,
“Plutonium Bomb Plant” at SRS Designed to Fuel Nuclear Arms Race with Russia
TOTAL MADNESS!: The proposed Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) at SRS is part of the formula for a new US-Russia nuclear arms race.
“Russian Nuclear Blast Theories Hint at No-Holds-Barred Arms Race”
Plutonium Bomb Plant at SRS? “Plutonium & People Don’t Mix: Rocky Flats: Colorado’s Defunct Nuclear Bomb Factory”
We encourage you to read about the ongoing plutonium nightmare caused by DOE’s plutonium pit production at the Rocky Flats site near Denver, Colorado. This might cause you to think twice about the proposed Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) at SRS.
SRS Watch Submits Comments on Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) Environmental Documents
SRS Watch has submitted a series of comments on DOE’s proposal to “repurpose” the abandoned MOX building at SRS into a “Plutonium Bomb Plant” – for two documents under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Groups Oppose Wasteful Spending in Defense Bill, Including on Plutonium “Pit” Production at SRS
SRS Watch and other Groups Write to Key members of Armed Services Committees about Wasteful Spending in National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, including on the Issue of Expanded Plutonium “Pit”
Plutonium Bomb Plant at SRS? Look at the Plutonium Mess Left by DOE at Rocky Flats
WARNING: DOE’s record on plutonium “pit” production (for nuclear weapons) is abysmal. Witness the Rocky Flats disaster and chronic plutonium-handling problems at Los Alamos National lab. Yet, DOE is a pushing the unfunded and unauthorized (by Congress) Plutonium Bomb Plant on the Savannah River Site,
SRS Watch Submits Comments on Proposed “Versatile Test Reactor”
SRS Watch has submitted comments for the “scoping” for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposed “Versatile Test Reactor.” DOE has proposed that SRS make the fuel for the reactor but SRS has no experience with such work since the production reactors at SRS closed in the 1980s.
DOE Requests License to Export More Bomb-Grade Uranium
The U.S. Department of Energy – National Nuclear Security Administration – has filed an export license request with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to export “highly enriched uranium” (bomb-grade uranium) to Europe.
Plutonium “Pit” Production for New Nuclear Weapons Wrong for SRS – SRS Watch Opinion
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,