This is what failure looks like. Photo by High Flyer – of canceled, in 2017 , VC Summer nuclear reactor units 2 & 3 in foreground and unit 1 (operating) by lake in background.
Blog
“Nuclear Weapons at Any Price? Congress Should Say No,” May 13, 2024 op-ed, Scientific American
Nuclear Weapons at Any Price? Congress Should Say No
Scientific American, May 13, 2024, By Sharon K. Weiner
Costs are skyrocketing to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Instead of turning a blind eye,
SRS Watch Brings “No New Plutonium Bomb Plant” Message to Bonnie Raitt Concert, with her Support, May 9, 2024
SRS Watch had a wonderful experience interacting with the public at a stupendous Bonnie Raitt concert on May 9 in North Charleston, SC.
We didn’t get back stage this time but we got a virtual hug and Bonnie gave us a shout from the stage.
SRS Watch in Ploughshares Podcast: “Atomic Assembly: Savannah River Site, South Carolina,” May 1, 2024
SRS Watch in Ploughshares Nuke Talk podcast, posted on May 1, 2024
“Atomic Assembly: Savannah River Site, South Carolina”
If you’re interested in the history of the Savannah River Site,
SRS Watch Comment to South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council about their Role, Pit Production
At the South Carolin Nuclear Advisory Council (NAC) meeting in Columbia, SC on April 29, 2024, SRS Watch made a hard-hitting comment questioning the role of the NAC in an energy bill now before the South Carolina legislature.
Obscure part of the new nuclear arms race: NRC approves increase in production of tritium gas used in all nuclear warheads, with resultant increase in processing at SRS
DOE image on front page: tritium canister (of classified size) & above: diagram of Tritium Producing Burnable Absorber Rod (TPBAR)
TVA gains NRC approval to increase production of radioactive tritium gas for nuclear weapons –
NNSA Delays Urgent Research on Plutonium “Pit” Aging, Heavily Redacted Plutonium Pit Aging Plan to Congress Obtained via Tardy DOE FOIA Response
U.S. DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Delays Urgent Research on Plutonium “Pit” Aging While Spending Tens of Billions on Nuclear Weapons Bomb Core Production; Heavily Redacted Document Obtained via Tardy Response to FOIA Request
Nearly three years after filing a Freedom of Information Act request,
Energy Legislation in South Carolina Radioactive, Must be Rejected; Document Reveals Dominion Customers Paying 5.6% of Bill for Failed V.C. Summer Reactor Construction Project
Energy Legislation before South Carolina General Assembly Includes Unjustified Giveaways to Nuclear Industry; in Ill-Advised Move, Elevates Role of Nuclear Advisory Council (Industry Promotional Body)
Unlearned Lesson: Current Dominion Energy Electricity Bill Includes Hidden Charge of 5.6% for Failed V.C.
Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant Cost Estimate Surges to $25 Billion, DOE Admits Design Challenges
U.S. Department of Energy Admits Design Problems with Controversial New Plutonium Bomb Plant at Savannah River Site as Cost Surges to a Stunning $25 Billion, Likely Most Expensive Building in U.S.
Absurd, Illogical Scheme to Reprocess Spent Fuel (to Remove Weapon-Usable Plutonium) will Fail but Backers may Grab Taxpayer Money
The Barnwell reprocessing plant in South Carolina, adjacent to the Savannah River Site, thankfully never operated, thus sparing South Carolina huge volumes of highly radioactive nuclear waste and separated weapon-usable plutonium.
Congress aiming to weaken nuclear power regulation of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Legislation merits opposition
Photo: Unit 3 at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle, Georgia, started operation in August 2023; cover photo: units 3 and 4 (unit 4 is due to start operation in the 2nd quarter 2024,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Paves Way for Increase in Production of Tritium for Nuclear Weapons, Further Undermining Nuclear Non-Proliferation Norms; Tritium Processing at SRS to Increase
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Paves Way for Increase in Production of Tritium for Nuclear Weapons, Further Undermining Nuclear Non-Proliferation Norms and Keeping U.S. on Nuclear War Footing
SRS Watch news,
BOOM goes South Carolina in Nuclear Blast?!
Was the confused orange candidate raising the specter of South Carolina being hit by a massive nuclear weapon – from whom? – due to the DOE’s Savannah River Site being located here?
Nuclear Reactor Construction Debacle: SRS Watch Views New Nuclear Reactors at Vogtle Site in Georgia
Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle: new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors – unit 4 on left (under criticality testing) and unit 3 on right (operating), reactor buildings are white, at the base of the cooling towers –
Nuclear Waste from Japan, Bearing Weapon-Grade Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium, Soon to be Processed at SRS, Dumped into Waste Tanks
Materials from Japan containing significant amounts of weapon-grade plutonium and bomb-grade uranium – so-called Fast Critical Assemblies (FCAs) – were shipped by sea to the Savannah River Site,
GAO Report Raises Possibility of More Plutonium-Contaminated Waste from 1996 Nuclear Bomber Accident in Palomares, Spain to US/SRS
Plutonium waste from Palomares, Spain to US? GAO report, Jan. 31, 2024 – “Nuclear Waste: Changing Conditions May Affect Future Management of Contamination Deposited Abroad During U.S. Cold War Activities”
“Tiger Team” Review of SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant Milestones Signals that Challenges Exist
The summary “Performance Evaluation Report” (PER) for the nuclear weapons programs at the Savannah River Site confirm that a special “Tiger Team” has reviewed documents for the planning of the proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant and that the team is helping implement new design and cost plans.
“Appalling” and “Abysmal” – “How the Department of Energy addressed Governor McMaster’s and Attorney General Alan Wilson’s conflicting and sometimes harsh opinions regarding the future of surplus plutonium”
“Appalling” and “Abysmal”
By Don Moniak, Aiken County, South Carolina – in The Aiken Chronicles, January 22, 2024
How the Department of Energy addressed Governor McMaster’s and Attorney General Alan Wilson’s conflicting and sometimes harsh opinions regarding the future of surplus plutonium.
DOE Issues Final EIS on Surplus Plutonium Disposition, January 19, 2024
See links below to the Final EIS on Surplus Plutonium Disposition and to the Federal Register notice about that (January 19, 2024). SRS could well be processing 34 metric tons (plus another 6 MT already addressed = 40 MT) of plutonium into transuranic waste (TRU) to be dumped in the Waste Isolation Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico.
Plutonium Waste from Pit Production (for New Nuclear Warheads) may have No Place to Go
“Cold War nuclear waste is prioritized at Carlsbad-area repository. How much is there?”
article in Carlsbad Current Argus, Carlsbad, New Mexico, December 28 2023; with SRS Watch Director Tom Clements
Concerns were raised by government watchdog groups for a plan to dispose of Cold War nuclear waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant repository in southeast New Mexico,
Federal Environmental Lawsuit Against Plutonium Pit Production at SRS, Los Alamos Proceeds, with New Schedule
The federal environmental lawsuit brought by public interest groups asking for the court to order DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to prepare a “Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement”
More Warnings for SRS: Plutonium contamination in New Mexico “Buried secrets, poisoned bodies,” Dec. 20, 2023 article
Buried secrets, poisoned bodies
December 20, 2023 – in Searchlight New Mexico, investigative journalism website (something we unfortunately do not have in South Carolina – all we get is SRS “SubStandard”
Warning to South Carolina & Georgia: As SRS Aims to Ramp Up Plutonium Operations, Los Alamos Suffers Plutonium Fire
Plutonium is flammable, so there will be risks to SRS workers, the environment and public if SRS ever processes plutonium into “pits” for new nuclear warheads, part of the US effort to stoke a new nuclear arms race.
“A New Nuclear Arms Race?” – Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant a key to the madness of a new nuclear arms race
Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant a key to the madness of a new nuclear arms race
“A New Nuclear Arms Race?”
article in Defense & Security Monitor, November 15, 2023
As the world faces another full-scale war in the Middle East,
DOE’s Office of Hearings and Appeals Compels the Savannah River Site to Release Key Documents Related to Failed Decade-Long Efforts to Import Highly Radioactive Spent Fuel from Germany
Emails Obtained from the Department of Energy via a Freedom of Information Act request Reveal Frantic Interactions with Germany in Misguided Attempt to Import Highly Radioactive Waste to DOE’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina,
Lawyers for SRS Watch & Allies Deal Blow to DOE Challenge to Admission of Key Documents in Federal Lawsuit concerning New Plutonium “Pits” (Cores) for New Nuclear Warheads
Attorneys for SRS Watch, Nuclear Watch New Mexico and Tri-Valley CAREs, plaintiffs in a federal court case demanding a “programmatic Environmental Impact Statement” (PEIS) on plutonium pit production,
Plutonium Pits for New Nuclear Weapons Trumps Plutonium “Disposal”: DOE Pumps Information from its Black Box to Selected Allies and Not the Public about Delays in Plutonium Disposition
The U.S. Department of Energy has quietly told friends that it’s program to “dispose of” 40 metric tons of surplus weapons plutonium has been delayed 10 years. Search as we might we can find no public information about this.
“U.S. Strategic Posture Commission Ratchets Up Nuclear Arms Race”
From Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a fellow organization with SRS Watch in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA):
U.S. Strategic Posture Commission Ratchets Up
Nuclear Arms Race
Today,
Was legal fee in lawsuit about plutonium storage at SRS lawful?
Dispute over $75M in legal fees SC attorney general paid to law firms now in judge’s hands
A decision is expected soon on whether to keep alive a lawsuit that questions the right of South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson to award $75 million in fees to private attorneys who helped secure $600 million for the state in a dispute involving the Savannah River Site.
“South Carolina nuclear plant gets yellow warning over another cracked emergency fuel pipe”
South Carolina nuclear plant gets yellow warning over another cracked emergency fuel pipe
Small cracks have been found a half-dozen times in the past 20 years.