As anticipated, the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), serving its Department of Defense (DOD) client, has instructed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to take steps to increase production of tritium gas in the commercial Watts Bar Nuclear Bomb Reactors (WBNBRs) in Tennessee.
Stunning Admission by the NRC: No Review of its Regulation of Failed Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project at SRS!
Stunning and irresponsible: the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has admitted to SRS Watch that it has failed to review its regulation of the plutonium fuel (MOX) debacle at SRS!
Federal, State Agencies Amp Up Pressure on NRC & Contamination from Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel Plant Near Columbia, SC
“Burned nuclear worker, troubled history raise EPA concern over SC atomic fuel plant”
Front page article in The State, Columbia, SC, December 6, 2021
linked here: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/environment/article256294532.html
SRS Watch report on role of the Westinghouse military-commercial dual-use facility in nuclear weapons:
Crossing the Line: South Carolina Nuclear Weapons Secrets Exposed –
Update on Opposition to Revving Up a New Nuclear Arms Race: “Plutonium Pits Lawsuit re: Savannah River Site in South Carolina, Los Alamos in New Mexico” – Nuclear Hotseat podcast, Dec. 1, 2021
Nuclear Hotseat podcast: “Plutonium Pits Lawsuit re: Savannah River Site in South Carolina, Los Alamos in New Mexico”
– with update on our lawsuit against DOE for failure to prepare a Programmatic EIS on expanded pit production at SRS (via the proposed Plutonium Bomb Plant) and at Los Alamos National Lab,
VC Summer Reactor Shuttered Due to Transformer Fire – NRC to SRS Watch
According to communication fro m the NRC’s Region 2 to SRS Watch, Dominion Energy’s VC Summer unit 1 reactor north of Columbia, South Carolina has been shut down due to a transformer fir report on November 17.
Based on SRS Watch Report: “Secretive defense plant operating in the shadow of atomic fuel factory near Columbia”
Article, behind paywall in The State news paper, front page Nov. 21, 2021, is based on the SRS Watch report released on November 19, 2021: “Crossing the Line: South Carolina Nuclear Weapons Secrets Exposed”
Article on SRS Plutonium Disposal, with SRS Watch Comments
“Plutonium could go to New Mexico next year. It will come from the Savannah River Site” – SRS plutonium has already been shipped to WIPP in New Mexico but the amounts could ramp up,
Details of Secretive Activities at Westinghouse Dual-Use Commercial-Military Facility Revealed in SRS Watch Report on Tritium & Nuclear Weapons
Details of Secretive Work at Westinghouse Commercial Nuclear Fuel Plant in Columbia, SC , Key to All U.S. Nuclear Weapons held by the Department of Defense, Revealed in SRS Watch Report Released Today
The Report Crossing the Line: South Carolina Nuclear Weapons Secrets Exposed,
DOE’s Ineffectual Challenge to NGO Lawsuit on Plutonium Pit Production – for New Nuclear Weapons – Elicits Strong Response
Groups Fire Back at Feds’ Move to Dismiss Plutonium Pit Lawsuit
Federal agencies continue to reject a full review of the public safety and environmental risks of producing nuclear bomb cores across multiple cross-country sites.
Former SCANA CEO Agrees to 24 Months in Prison, $5 Million Fine for VC Summer Reactor Construction Debacle – Sentencing on October 7, 2021; Judge Should Consider Larger Fine
The former CEO of SCANA, Kevin Marsh, has agreed to a 24-months prison sentence and a $5 million fine for his role in the fraudulent scheme to construct the VC Summer reactors in South Carolina.
SRS Employment in Fiscal Year 2021 Steady at Near 11,500, with 11,000 Contractors, 500 with DOE/NNSA
SRS employment holds steady near 11,500 during Fiscal Year 2021, with DOE having only about 500 employees out of that figure, with most of them being contractors.
There does not appears to be a significant uptick in employment by DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration for the proposed project to convert the never finished plutonium fuel (MOX) building into the SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant.
Inability of SRS to Pull Off the MOX Project Sows Doubt & Mistrust of SRS and its Ability to Build the Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP)
“Stumbling plutonium pit project reveals DOE’s uphill climb of nuclear modernization”
Opinion piece in The Hill, by Tom Clements, Director of SRS Watch
The inability of SRS to pull off the MOX project now haunts plutonium pit plans –
SRS Watch article: “US attorney details illegal acts in construction projects, sealing the fate of the “nuclear renaissance” – Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
US attorney details illegal acts in construction projects, sealing the fate of the “nuclear renaissance”
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, August 31, 2021
By Tom Clements | Savannah River Site Watch,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Affirms that a Little Radiation may be Bad for Health
Amazingly, the NRC denies industry friendly petitions that claim “a little radiation is good for you.”
“Petition for Rulemaking; Denial: Linear No-Threshold Model and Standards for Protection Against Radiation”
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Nuclear Ship Savannah: Failed Mission as Commercial Nuclear-Powered Ship but still a Beauty; NRC Inspection Report
NRC inspection report of the Nuclear Ship Savannah, August 10, 2021:
“U.S. Department of Transportation, N.S. Savannah – NRC Inspection Report 05000238/2021001”
https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML21222A096
“On July 12,
NRC Posts Updates, Photos on Construction of “Mega-Volume” Waste Disposal Facilities at SRS
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has posted updates, with many photos, on construction of two massive 32-million-gallon concrete “tanks” to hold redefined high-level nuclear waste processed via the new Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) from the SRS high-level waste tanks;
Make an Offer on Massive Crane Left Behind at Failed VC Summer Nuclear Reactor Construction Project!
Massive construction crane available! Start the bidding! Could be featured in a memorial to the two large, failed nuclear construction projects in the US: Vogtle in Georgia &
Profiting on Preparation for Full-Scale Nuclear War: SRS & Westinghouse – SRS Watch Fact Sheet for August 6, 2021 Hiroshima Event in Columbia, SC
Two Nuclear Weapons Facilities in South Carolina Play a Key & Intertwined Role in the Dangerous Preparation for Nuclear War: Savannah River Site (Aiken, SC) &
Forty-Year License Extension for Westinghouse Uranium Fuel Plant in Columbia, SC Not Justified in Quietly Released Draft EIS, July 30, 2021 – SRS Watch Comments
SRS Watch news, July 30, 2021: Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel Plant in Columbia, South Carolina Quietly Released by Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Groundwater Contamination Issues and Ever-Present Accident Threat Don’t Justify 40-Year License Extension
Draft EIS Glosses Over Current Contamination and Ignores Future Impacts;
FOIA Requests Filed by SRS Watch for Plutonium & Pit Aging Plan, MOX Debacle Lessons-Learned Report & Funding Plan for Troubled Versatile Test Reactor (VTR)
SRS Watch files two important Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) – on 1) plutonium aging and 2) lessons learned from the plutonium fuel (MOX) debacle:
#1.
Sentencing of Former SCANA CEO Kevin Marsh, for Fraud in Terminated South Carolina Nuclear Reactor Construction Project, Inching Closer – How Much Time will the Admitted Felon Get?
“DEFENDANT MARSH’S MOTION FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE OBJECTIONS TO THE PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATION REPORT”
Request granted by court: “WHEREFORE the Defendant, Kevin Marsh, respectfully moves this Court for an order extending the deadline in which he can file objections to the Presentence Investigation Report until August 2,
“Feds face suit over plan to build atomic weapons component factory in SC” & more articles on lawsuit against plutonium pit production
Feds face suit over plan to build atomic weapons component factory in SC
The State, Columbia, South Carolina, June 29, 2021
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/environment/article252441373.html
Lawsuit Filed by Public Interest Groups Against Biden Administration Over Nuclear Bomb Core Production Plans at SRS, Los Alamos
Lawsuit Filed Against Biden Administration Over Nuclear Bomb Core Production Plans
Federal agencies’ refusal to review cross-country expansion of plutonium pit production violates the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedures Act,
Advocacy Groups to Announce Legal Action on DOE’s Plans for Plutonium Bomb Plants at SRS, Los Alamos – June 29
Advocacy Groups to Announce Legal Action on DOE’s Plans for Plutonium Bomb Plants at Savannah River Site and Los Alamos National Lab – to Make Plutonium “Pits” (Cores) for New Nuclear Weapons,
Documentation for SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant Delays to 2035 and Doubling of Cost to $11.1 Billion
Documentation from the U.S. Department of Energy that the 2030 Target Date for Production of 50 Pits Per Year at the Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) –
Trouble for Nuclear War Planners: SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) Cost Blasts Through the Roof: $11 Billion…$14 Billion…$18 Billion?!
Officially, the cost of the proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant doubled last week in DOE’s nuclear weapons budget request for Fiscal Year 2022, from $4.6 billion to a whopping $11 billion.
Great News! Sierra Club (South Carolina) Opposes SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant Funding Request for Fiscal Year 2022, Supports Programmatic EIS on $11-Billion Pit Plant – Advisory May 30, 2021
Great move! South Carolina Sierra Club opposes proposed $11-billion SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant, questions NNSA’s $603 million funding request for pit project in Fiscal Year 2022 budget released on May 28;
Release of Draft EIS on Westinghouse Uranium Fuel Plant near Columbia, South Carolina Delayed Again, to July 2021 & License Extension Likewise Delayed
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Revised License Renewal Schedule for the
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC
Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility
Docket 70-1151
SNM -1107
The schedule for the release of the draft EIS on the Westinghouse uranium fuel plant near Columbia,
DOE Admits in Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request that Cost of SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant Soars to $11.1 Billion, but Annual Funding Levels Not Enough for Project Viability
Department of Energy Budget Roll-Out Bungled, Request for Fiscal Year 2022 Reveals Savannah River Site Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) Cost Soars to Staggering $11.1 Billion; SRS Plutonium Pit Project Requests $603 Million in FY22,
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability/SRS Watch: What to Look for in Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Waste in Fiscal Year 2022 DOE Budget on May 28, 2021
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S FY 2022 NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND CLEANUP BUDGET REQUEST of Friday, May 28, 2021 – Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (of which Savannah River Site Watch is a proud member)
The White House is releasing its detailed Fiscal Year 2022 budget on Friday,