An email provided to SRS Watch in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveals that the German entity notified SRS in October 2022 that the scheme to dump German spent fuel –
Rocky Flats Horror Show: Film about Plutonium Pit Production Disaster in Process – The Plutonium-Contaminated, Closed Rocky Flats Pit-Production Site in Colorado is a Stark Reminder of the Threats of Pit Production at SRS and the Risks of a New Nuclear Arms Race
Plutonium pit production – for the core of nuclear weapons – was an environmental and health disaster at the Rocky Flats plant near Denver, Colorado. Officially closed in 1992,
Challenges to Plutonium “Pit” Fabrication and New ICBMs to Use Pits, Pressure to Return to Nuclear Testing
Do challenges in plutonium pit fabrication for a new ICBM pose the risk of a return to nuclear weapons testing in Nevada?
“As America’s Nuclear Arsenal Upgrades, Usual Testing is Scrapped”
State Department Promises to Drag its Feet in Providing Information on Nuclear Waste from Spain to the U.S. – Re 1966 Palomares Nuclear Weapons Accident that Scattered Plutonium near Palomares, Spain, with Waste Dumped at SRS
U,S. State Department won’t respond until November 2025 to an information request about more nuclear waste that could come to SRS from a nuclear weapons accident in Spain in 1996!
Difficulties of finding plutonium pit workers in New Mexico; but plutonium pit staffing problems worse at SRS has no nuclear-bomb manufacturing experience & no experience since 1980s in processing molten plutonium
This article about new nuclear bomb production at the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico is of importance because the same thing is happening at SRS. The “defense”
In Response to NNSA’s Refusal to Release Information on Plutonium Pit Aging, SRS Watch Files FOIA Requests
DOE is using “pit aging” as a justification to fabricate new pits for new nuclear weapons. We challenge them to back up their claim with scientific data!
SRS Watch Updates Long String of Public Interest Victories Over Misguided SRS projects
Major Savannah River Site (SRS) Public Interest Victories – For a Cleaner, Safer Site
Stopped operation of the Allied General Nuclear Services (AGNS) reprocessing plant,
SRS Watch Requests Nonproliferation Review of Production of HALEU (Uranium Enriched to 20% U-235)
SRS Watch, in response to a DOE notice that an Environmental Impact Statement would be prepared on production and availability of High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU), has requested that a Nonproliferation Impact Assessment (NPIA) be prepared related to the HALEU program.
DOE Breaks 6 Years of Unjustified Silence, Finally Complies with Environmental Commitment Concerning Now-Terminated German Spent Fuel Import Scheme
Embarrassed DOE Forced to Finally Publicly Admit Failure in Scheme to Dump German High-Level Nuclear Waste on SRS, But SRS Watch Learned Much Earlier that the Project was Dead and Informed the Public Months Ago,
DOE’s Spotty Response to FOIA Requests Harms Openness and Transparency: Is DOE Secretary Granholm Paying Attention???
Here are some Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by SRS Watch – which indicate how slow DOE processes FOIA (counter to DOE regulations). Such slow response to FOIA request by public interests groups like SRS Watch undermines public confidence and hurts transparency and openness.
DOE Belatedly Admits it Stiffed Congress on Plan for Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), More Confirmation VTR is Dead
DOE finally confirms that the congressionally required public-private funding plan for the plutonium-fueled Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) doesn’t exist.
Why did it take over two years to make this embarrassing admission?
“Dealing with a debacle: A better plan for US plutonium pit production” at SRS & Los Alamos National Lab
If you are following the issue of production of plutonium “pits” for new nuclear weapons, you will want to check out this April 27, 2023 article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists:
Dealing with a debacle: A better plan for US plutonium pit production
By Curtis T.
SRS Watch and other ANA Groups Meet with Congressional Staff, Administration Offices, Express Concern about DOE Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Waste Projects
Members of our grassroots network of public-interest groups around DOE sites – the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA), of which SRS Watch is a member – met with the Office of Environmental Management (EM) on April 25 to voice concern about site clean-up issues.
Cancel SRS plutonium bomb plant: “Dealing with a debacle: A better plan for US plutonium pit production”
Read why there is no “need” for a nuclear bomb factory (to make plutonium cores for new nuclear weapons) at SRS:
“Dealing with a debacle: A better plan for US plutonium pit production“
German Federal Government Concurs: Plan to Ship German Spent Fuel to SRS is Dead
German Federal Government Concurs with Termination of Plan to Ship Highly Radioactive Spent Fuel from Germany to U.S. DOE’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina
Decade-long Effort Funded by Germany to Develop Reprocessing Technique at SRS for Irradiated Graphite Fuel has Ended,
Congressman raises spectre of exploding costs for SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant
As always, complex nuclear projects for DOE are always delayed and run far over budget. Now we see that happening with the proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant and the missile for which new pits would be supplied (for the W87-1 warhead).
SRS Watch submits comments on draft EIS on plutonium “disposition”
Comments by Savannah River Site Watch (SRS Watch) on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program (SPDP EIS) (DOE/EIS–0549:
https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program)
27-page comments of SRS Watch posted here: Comments on Pu disposition draft EIS Clements March 16 2023
The comments by SRS Watch,
Silence on German spent fuel import plan remains a black eye on a derelict DOE
The Department of Energy continues to violate a committee made under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by refusing to update the public and the SRS Citizens Advisory Board about the status of the scheme to import,
A warning on the Biden budget proposal for FY24: “Biden Releases Record NNSA Nuclear Weapons Budget”
Nuclear Watch New Mexico reviews proposed Fiscal Year 2024 federal budget and finds some very alarming things, March 13, 2023:
Biden Releases Record NNSA Nuclear Weapons Budget
Santa Fe,
SCANA Official in Charge of Construction of Failed VC Summer Nuclear Project to be Sentenced on March 8, 2023
SRS Watch news: SCANA Official in Charge of Construction of Failed VC Summer Nuclear Project to be Sentenced in Federal Court on March 8, 2023; Admitted Felon Faces 5-Years in Prison but Asks for 15-Month Sentence;
Crackerneck Wildlife Management Area and Ecological Reserve: SRS Watch visits normally closed nature reserve on SRS
SRS Watch and friends visited the Crackerneck Wildlife Management Area and Ecological Reserve, which is located on the Savannah River Site and only open a few times a year (like Saturdays in March 2023),
SRS Watch files FOIA request on German spent-fuel import plan. Agreement to import spent fuel from German ended February 28, 2023. Is a new agreement in place?
To: Members of the SRS Citizens Advisory Board & the Public
From: Tom Clements, Director, Savannah River Site Watch
Re: Update on DOE plan to import highly radioactive spent fuel from Germany
In a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI),
US NRC authorized export of uranium to Russia, license expires December 31, 2023
Will export of uranium from the United States to Russia help pay for the war? How long will uranium export and import go on? Will a new export license be sought after the current license expires on December 31,
DOE Dealt Set-back in Court Challenge by Public-Interest Groups of Effort to Fabricate Plutonium Pits (Triggers) for New Nuclear Warheads, Part of Planning for Full-Scale Nuclear War
District Court Denies Department of Energy’s Motion to Dismiss Plutonium Pits Suit
Aiken, SC — In a win for public participation and environmental protection, the United States District Court of South Carolina denied the Department of Energy’s motion to dismiss a 2021 legal action filed by multiple citizen groups.
Secret Cost Estimate Revealed for SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant – Cost of $16.5 Billion Hidden from Public, Underscoring Lack of Openness
Document withheld from Public Reveals DOE Cost Estimate for Plutonium Pit Project at Savannah River Site Hits $16.5 Billion, Over $5 Billion Higher than Current Public Estimate
A key U.S.
Plutonium Pondering: How much SRS plutonium has gone to WIPP? How much plutonium does DOE plan to ship to WIPP? 66 Metric Tons?!
Plutonium Pondering
The Department of Energy must fully reveal how much surplus plutonium it has already sent from the Savannah River Site (SRS) and other DOE sites to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
Plans to Export German Spent Nuclear Fuel to the Savannah River Site for Processing & Dumping have been Terminated
U.S. DOE Plans to Export German Spent Nuclear Fuel to the Savannah River Site for Processing & Dumping have been Terminated after 10 Years, Yielding Good Outcome for South Carolina
Unsuccessful Effort to Illegally Export Spent Fuel from Germany to SRS Ends in Environmental Victory,
Japan’s Efforts to Stockpile yet more Weapon-Usable Plutonium Suffers Setback
Those aiming to proliferate weapon-usable plutonium suffer yet another setback:
“Japan’s Rokkasho reprocessing plant, 25 years behind schedule, delayed again”
On 26 December 2022, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited announced another delay in completion of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant.
SRS Watch Files more FOIA Requests for MOX “Lessons Learned” and Contractor Performance Reviews
More FOIAs filed by SRS Watch – for MOX lessons learned & NNSA performance reviews
A second Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request has been filed by SRS Watch for “lesson learned”
SRS Watch Rocks Against SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant, at Bonnie Raitt Concert in Savannah
On November 11, 2022, SRS Watch was invited to have an information table at the Bonnie Raitt concert in Savannah, Georgia, one of our favorite venues. To the backdrop of great music –