Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on surplus plutonium disposition? That’s the call in the new report (April 30) of the National Academies of Sciences on disposal of 48 metric tons of plutonium,
Blog
DOE Extends Comment Period on Draft EIS on SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP), in Response to Requests by SRS Watch and Others
DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration Extends by 15 Days Comment Period on Draft EIS on Proposed Savannah River Site Plutonium Bomb Plant, Period Extended from May 18 to About June 2
Columbia,
Important New Book: “Plutonium: How Nuclear Power’s Dream Fuel Became a Nightmare” – Why Spent Fuel Reprocessing and Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Use must be Terminated
“Plutonium: How Nuclear Power’s Dream Fuel Became a Nightmare”
by friends and colleagues of SRS Watch – by Frank von Hippel (Author), Masafumi Takubo (Author), Jungmin Kang (Author)
This book provides a readable and thought-provoking analysis of the issues surrounding nuclear fuel reprocessing and fast-neutron reactors,
Misguided Scheme to Dump German Spent Fuel at SRS Slipping Away from Profiteers?
“Nuclear waste could remain in Jülich for even longer”
“Der Atommüll könnte noch länger in Jülich bleiben”
WDR German radio,
Spent Nuclear Fuel from Germany to SRS? Dumping-for-Profit Scheme Drags On & On & Should be Terminated
FOIA Documents Confirm Profiteers Still Pursuing Scheme to Dump Highly Radioactive German Spent Fuel (Graphite “Pebbles”) at SRS – Should be Terminated
SRS and the German entity Jülicher Entsorgungsgesellschaft für Nuklearanlagen (JEN) are still working on the scheme to import German highly radioactive graphite spent fuel from the Jülich,
“Nuclear Cleanup Sites Can Endure Prolonged Use of Skeleton Crews, Sources Say” – in Response to COVID-19
SRS Watch in “Nuclear Cleanup Sites Can Endure Prolonged Use of Skeleton Crews, Sources Say”
Federal and industry sources said this week they don’t foresee major environmental or public safety concerns emerging if the current level of reduced staffing at Energy Department nuclear cleanup sites due to COVID-19 lingers for months.
Nuclear Bomb Plant Under Construction at Y-12 (Oak Ridge, TN) Subject to Earthquake Risks
“New earthquake report shows risks “ten times as high”
This is troubling – on a new analysis on the nuclear bomb plant under construction by NNSA at Y-12 in Oak Ridge,
Inadequate Environmental Study on Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) Draws Public Interest Criticism
“DOE Ignores COVID-19 Threat, Diverts Resources to Planning for Nuclear War by Releasing Draft Environmental Study on SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP)”
Today,
Groups Request Extension of Los Alamos Plutonium Pit Comment Period
Letter to DOE, April 1, 2020: Request for two-month extension of the April 24, 2020 comment deadline for the draft Supplement Analysis to the 2008 Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for continued operations of Los Alamos National Laboratory (DOEIEIS-0380- SA-06) in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
SRS: Operating in Inky Blackness of Unjustified Secrecy – Scared of the Public Knowing What’s Up?
SRS has slapped a lid of secrecy on “minimum mission-critical activities” that are occurring at the site – no explanation given for that terminology or what it covers. Shameful and potentially dangerous!
FOIA Filed for “Mission-Critical Activities” at SRS in Face of COVID-19 Threat
Why is Savannah River site management not telling the public what’s going on at SRS is response to the threat of the coronavirus?
As SRS management has failed to release a list of “mission-critical activities”
“Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements”
“Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements”
Congressional Research Service (CRS), updated March 26, 2020
report linked here: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL33865.pdf
When will Congress allow the CRS to post reports so the public can see them in a timely manner?
Stunning DOE admission to trigger more extensive environmental review: “New study says LANL nuclear pit production could go higher”
DOE admits Los Alamos National Lab to look at production of 80 plutonium pits/year – to fuel the new nuclear arms race – which underscores the requirement for preparation of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement ( PEIS) on the matter,
Dangerous Distraction: DOE Retreats from Virus Fight, Focuses on Nuclear War and $R$ Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP)
SRS Watch news, March 27, 202o: “While the Nation Rallies to Confront Virus, Savannah River Site Takes Eye Off the Threat and Focuses on Planning for New Nuclear Arms Race –
SRS Shows No Leadership, Lags Behind Public in Taking Action Against the Virus – Why?
This is Very Worrying: SRS Action Against the Virus Comes Late, After Public Already Acting
The DOE’s Savannah River Site (SRS) on the afternoon of Monday,
Groups Request DOE Publish “Notice” of Release of Plutonium Bomb Document in Federal Register
“Request to Publish Notice of Draft Supplement Analysis in the Federal Register, DOE/EIS-0380-SA-06: Draft Supplement Analysis”
Public interest groups working for US DOE to fully comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in its unjustified plans to produce more plutonium “pits”
Nuclear Industry Aims to Play Virus Relief into Bailout – NEI Letter of March 19, 2020
Well, some things in life are predictable. The US nuclear industry is seeking relief that goes far beyond immediate COVID-19 impacts.
In addition to seeking help for the floundering Votgle reactor construction project in Georgia,
SRS Still Acting like the Coronavirus is a Hoax – This Must Change!
It’s still looking like SRS thinks the COVID-19 virus situation is mostly a hoax. WHEN will SRS start acting responsibly and declare certain jobs “essential,” like high-level waste management and security of plutonium,
Are DOE, NRC Planning on Protecting Key Operations and Assuring Public Safety? Or Not?! Well, Not so Far….
We are hearing NOTHING about what DOE and the NRC are doing to protect public safety by working to make sure staffing at key operations – like SRS high-level waste management &
DNFSB Confirms SRS Denied Access to Facilities, Information – Report to Congress
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety board (DNFSB), mandated to oversight of certain DOE activities, confirms SRS “denied or delayed access to information, facilities, or personnel meetings that were necessary for the Board to perform its mission.”
SRS Watch Seeks Information on Dumping-for-Profit Scheme to Import German Spent Fuel to SRS
Is SRS and the German entity Jülicher Entsorgungsgesellschaft für Nuklearanlagen (JEN) still working on the scheme to import German highly radioactive graphite spent fuel from the Jülich storage site to SRS for reprocessing and dumping?
Is the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), to Process Liquid High-level Nuclear Waste at SRS, Facing Start-up Problems?
What’s the status of start up of a key SRS facility to process liquid high-level waste? DOE has said that the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) would start in March 2020 but then said April and then that it would be in Fiscal Year 2020.
DNFSB Oversight: “SRS experienced the three radiological events recently.”
“SRS experienced the three radiological events recently.”
DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD
February 21, 2020 report
SUBJECT: Savannah River Site Activity Report for Week
Radiological Protection: SRS experienced the three radiological events recently.
Will SRS Comply with COVID-19 Guidelines? Will Non-Essential Work of Nuclear War Planners Continue at SRS?
As the coronavirus spreads in the US and South Carolina – location of the Savannah River Site – what is the US Department of Energy doing concerning the 11,000 employees at SRS?
DNFSB Reschedules Meeting on SRS to June 1, 2020, in Aiken, SC
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) March 19 meeting on SRS was cancelled and has now been rescheduled for June 1, 2020, but we wonder if that will happen.
“Non-Proliferation Treaty turns 50 as US funds new nukes” – Opinion Piece by Nuclear Watch New Mexico, SRS Watch Ally, Exposes Efforts by US DOE for New and Costly Nuclear Arms Race
“Non-Proliferation Treaty turns 50 as US funds new nukes” — by Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a sister organization of SRS Watch in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA),
DNFSB March 19 Meeting on SRS Oversight Postponed to Summer, Due to Coronavirus
March 10 Update: The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has notified SRS Watch that due to the coronavirus “and other issues” that the March 19 “Public Hearing on the Status of the Savannah River Site”
NNSA Aiming to Spin Up Giant Black Money Hole on Nuclear Weapons Spending, including for the $R$ Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP)
“The White House gave this nuclear agency a giant funding increase. Can it spend it all?”
Uh, no…..
Article in Defense News, March 3,
What’s Up with the Start-up of the $2.3-Billion (and Rising?) SWPF at SRS? March, April or Not?
Is the scheduled start-up of the far over-budget, far behind-schedule Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at risk?
The SWPF facility is key to SRS high-level waste management.
GAO Underscores Rough Path Ahead for Overly Ambitious Plans for $R$ Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP)
Government Accountability Office (GAO), March 3, 2020: “NNSA’s Modernization Efforts Would Benefit from a Portfolio Management Approach”
“The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is conducting four programs to modernize nuclear weapons,