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).
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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.
Nevada says: “The Department of Energy is trying to turn the Silver State into the Radioactive State.”
— State of Nevada files with 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on March 11, 2019 to stop more plutonium shipments from SRS to Nevada and require removal of 1/2 tonne already shipped to the Nevada National Security Site
Filing of March 11,
SRS Watch in: “Lethal legacy – Why SC is likely stuck with a stockpile of the nation’s most dangerous nuclear materials”
Charleston (South Carolina) Post & Courier, July 7, 2019, front page print edition
Articles on US DOE’s “scoping” meeting on preparation of an EIS on the proposed Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) at SRS.
Things are getting off to a very shaky start on this process as DOE is rushing things without presenting justification for the questionable plutonium “pit” project – DOE’s typical recipe for failure with such complex,
PLEASE ATTEND DOE’s environmental impact meeting on the unjustified Plutonium Bomb Plant
June 27, 5-9 p.m., North Augusta Community Center, 495 Brookside Ave, N. Augusta, South Carolina
“Guest Column: New plutonium mission at SRS is the pits”
“NNSA collects comments on plutonium pit proposal at SRS”
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, June 27, 2019
“Opinions of SRS plutonium pit production clash at North Augusta public forum”
Aiken (South Carolina) Standard, June 27, 2019
June 27, 2019
“Locals divided on nuclear weapon program at SRS”
WFXG TV, Augusta, GA, June 27, 2019
https://www.wfxg.com/2019/06/28/locals-divided-nuclear-weapon-program-srs/
Meeting set for Thursday [June 27, 2019] on impact of SRS plutonium pit production
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, June 26, 2019, article linked here
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,
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board makes stunning allegations about risks of tritium operations – for nuclear weapons – at SRS
See Recommendation 2019-02, in Federal Register, June 19, 2019
– linked here:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-06-19/pdf/2019-12918.pdf
Effects of Tritium Release: Much of
the in-process tritium at the Tritium
Facilities may be in the form of gas,
“Proposed plutonium pit expansion raising questions”
WJBF TV, Augusta, Georgia
“Critics raise concerns over proposed atomic bomb factory near Aiken”
Front page article in The State newspaper, Columbia, SC,. June 15, 2019 on the forum on the Plutonium Bomb Plant proposed for SRS
print edition title: “Critics raise concerns over proposed atomic bomb factory near Aiken”
The forum on plutonium “pit” production – Plutonium Bomb Plant: Risky Project Targeted for SRS – will take place on Friday evening. June 14, 7-9 p.m.
EDT in Aiken, South Carolina. Please attend!
The event will (hopefully) be live streamed at this FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/elaine.cooper.98
FacebookB “event”
Victory for SRS Watch and allied groups
Federal Government Meets Watchdogs’ Demand for Environmental Review of Expanded Plutonium “Pit” Production (for Nuclear Weapons), Including Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Proposed “Plutonium Bomb Plant” (PBP) at SRS
In a victory for transparency and legal compliance by the government,
Markup of H.R. 2500 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020
June 4, 2019, 3:30 p.m., Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Markup of H.R. 2500 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 – To be Webcast- linked here
We’ll see what they have to say about two plutonium bomb plants,
Despite a propaganda push by DOE, boosters and Aiken, SC media for plutonium pit production in the Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) at SRS, for unjustified new and refurbished nuclear weapons, looks like the scheme has hit a big snag….
House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee mark-up is at 3:30 p.m. on June 4 — SRS pit production will NOT be authorized or funded by Congress
Mark-up language: “H.R.
“Noted Environmental Lawyers Warn Government Not to Expand Production of Plutonium Bomb Cores in Violation of National Environmental Policy Act and Public Review”
News release, June 4, 2019 – SRS Watch, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Tri-Valley CAREs
On behalf of three public interest organizations – Nuclear Watch New Mexico,
The DOE memo concerning the mysterious & sudden departure of Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management has been obtained but the reason for her departure isn’t clear.
It is likely related to the contamination with fission products at the Portsmouth enrichment plant, which could have been caused by re-enrichment of contaminated uranium (reprocessed uranium or RepU),
Looks like DOE is soliciting three gloveboxes for the plutonium dilute & dispose (D&D) method at SRS, for 34 metric tons of surplus weapon-grdae plutonium
Keep your eye open for the “Notice of Intent” by NNSA – in the Federal Register – to prepare some form of an EIS on D&D.
Solicitation from Federal Business Opportunities,
Summary of Classified Plutonium Pit Report Obtained, Outlines Challenges Facing Options Utilizing Savannah River Site and Los Alamos National Lab for Pit Production for Nuclear Weapons
>>> Public Forum on June 14 in Aiken, SC to Review Plans for Repurposing Closed MOX Plant at Savannah River Site into Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) <<<<
Columbia,
Savannah River Site Watch participated in the annual “DC Days” of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA)
On May 20-22, 2019, 70 participants from 20 states, mostly near DOE sites, held over 100 meetings on the Hill and with agencies.
On May 21,
Plutonium at SRS…
It’s old information, but see the SRS Watch Facebook page post of May 19, 2019 for the amount of surplus weapon-grade plutonium stored at SRS – something known for a decade and long publicized by SRS Watch.
The forum was a huge success!
Breaking News: SRS Watch media advisory, May 13, 2019:
Public Forum on June 14, Aiken, SC: “Plutonium Bomb Plant: Risky Project Targeted for Savannah River Site“
Savannah River Site Reveals “Occurrence” with Receipt of Radioactive Contamination on Incoming Waste Shipment Container from Unnamed University, Disposition Unknown
SRS Watch news release, May 10, 2019:
Questions Posed by SRS Watch about the Incident Go Unanswered
Columbia, SC – The U.S.
“Years of mismanagement, delays at nuclear waste sites could pose risk, report says”
SRS Watch in WSB-TV (Atlanta, Georgia) report o n challenges posed by high-level nuclear waste at SRS and other DOE site
JACKSON, S.C. – A scathing government report showed years of mismanagement of nuclear waste disposal could be creating a real risk to people living near decades-old nuclear waste sites.