URGENT! To members of the public in South Carolina: Your presence needed on Monday, July 31 & Tuesday, August 1 in Columbia, SC at historic meetings when fate of the SCE&G/Santee Cooper nuclear reactor boondoggle will be decided –
Blog
Please allow us to drone on…..SRS is pro-actively undermining its credibility by failure to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by SRS Watch in November 2016
See partial list of outstanding SRS Watch FOIA requests, July 24, 2017, linked here
Why is SRS refusing to release any evidence about the hyped up “Drone Scare of 2016”
2017 Nuclear Materials Management Plan for DOE’s Savannah River Site Reveals Plutonium Oxide Production in HB-Line is Halting – Setback for MOX as Main Source of Plutonium “Feedstock” Eliminated
SRS Watch news, July 20, 2017 – news release linked here
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board: Nuclear Material Shipment to H-Canyon and HB-Line Halted
Note: The news release posted on July 20 was clear in that processing of plutonium liquid in HB-Line would continue and that processing of plutonium from K-Area would cease.
MOX Showdown at High Noon, July 20, 2017:
MOX Termination on the Move in U.S. Senate
Senate Energy & Water chairman and ranking member vs $enator “MOXie” Graham, who stands alone in defending MOX waste for his client (CB&I AREVA MOX Services) —–
U.S. DOE Documents Obtained via FOIA Request Confirm “Mission Need” to Expand “Dilute and Dispose” Method of Plutonium Disposition at Savannah River Site, Replacing MOX
Dilute and Dispose Faces Hurdles, Including Capacity of WIPP Disposal Site in New Mexico
Columbia, South Carolina – U.S. Department of Energy documents confirm that DOE has officially justified disposition of larger amounts of surplus weapon-grade plutonium via “dilute and dispose,” an alternative to the mismanaged plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Savannah River Site.
MOX Workers Jumping Ship
July 10, 2017: We’re hearing turnover amongst workers at the MOX debacle remains high…they come…they get trained…they leave for higher-paying jobs where they can earn overtime = a formula for poor performance as termination of the project closes in.
MOX Albatross Weighing Heavier and Heavier on Necks of Senator Graham and Representative Wilson
The last quarter of the U.S. Government’s Fiscal Year 2017 has arrived and we expect more action by DOE to start shutting down the bungled plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
Combined News Posts April – June 2017
We are pleased to see that Senator Ed Markey placed a tribute to Paul Leventhal in the Congressional Record. Paul, founder of the Nuclear Control Institute, was a leader in development of sound US nuclear non-proliferation policies and one of our enduring inspirations.
House Armed Services Committee Sets Stage for Termination of Mismanaged MOX Project; Defense Spending Bill Stipulates that Continuation of the MOX Project can be Waived by Secretary of Energy
Columbia, South Carolina – A pathway to terminate the troubled plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) has been presented by the U.S.
Research reactor spent fuel from Peru to SRS – arrived late June, 2017. It’s not bomb-grade uranium so it wasn’t brought to the US for nuclear non-proliferation reasons….
Spent fuel from the RP-10 research reactor in Peru appears to have been transported on the ship Palermo, which left Peru on May 23 and went around Cape Horn –
Reminder, June 20, 2017: Loads of New Aerial Photos of the MOX Boondoggle at SRS
Posted on May 26 by ©High Flyer – on Google drive linked here
High Flyer says “Read Me First,”
Plutonium Oxide Production in H-Canyon: A Failure
Remember the SRS Watch report from November 2015: “H-Canyon Folly, Plutonium Failure?” (linked here) The Trump Administration budget request for DOE confirms we were correct in our assessment that SRS is falling far short of goals for plutonium oxide production in the aging H-Canyon reprocessing plant
In our report,
MOXy Bits, June 20, 2017
We’ve finally getting somewhere with our Freedom of Information Act request of January 3, 2017 for information about “rework” (of improper work) that has taken place at the MOX project.
SRS Watch news, June 13, 2017: NNSA Implies that SRS is being Analyzed for New Nuclear Weapons Mission: Production of Plutonium “Pits,” the Core of Nuclear Weapons; Reuse of Soon-to-be Mothballed MOX Building Likely a Focus
Comments by NNSA Official at DNFSB Hearing First Indication of Review of Pit Production Capability
Columbia, SC – The Department of Energy has confirmed that it is now conducting a review to determine which DOE sites might be appropriate for location of production of plutonium “pits,” the core of nuclear weapons.
US DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) affirms to SRS Watch that they are analyzing DOE sites for the production of plutonium “pits” (cores, or triggers) for nuclear weapons – June 13, 2017:
“NNSA is performing an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) to determine the most efficient and cost effective means of achieving pit manufacturing program goals over the next decade. Several NNSA and DOE sites with the capability of supporting nuclear operations are being considered in the AoA,
SHIM SHAM at MOX?! Rework Problems at the Mismanaged MOX Project Continue and Costs Mount….Will Taxpayers be Stuck with the Rework Bill or Not?
Please contact SRS Watch if you have more information about the MOX Shim Sham or other rework or construction problems at the MOX boondoggle: srswatch@gmail.com
Why aren’t Senator Lindsey Graham and Rep.
Zombie Project at Savannah River Site Looms like a $17-Billion Concrete Tomb
New Aerial Photos of Doomed Plutonium Fuel MOX Project at the DOE’s Savannah River Site Released, Legally Taken on May 26, 2017 – Can be Used with Approval by &
New Aerial Photos Released of Mismanaged, Massively Over-Budget AP1000 Experimental Nuclear Reactor Projects in South Carolina and Georgia, May 26, 2017 – Can be Used with Approval by & Credit to ©High Flyer
South Carolina Electric & Gas’ (SCE&G) VC Summer photos, May 26, 2017, Courtesy of High Flyer © 2017, have been linked by High Flyer on a public Google drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BwkyYyn8X-ySTHlYc0pwWDhCTWs
Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle May 26,
SRS Watch new release on Trump Administration Decision to Terminate the MOX Boondoggle – May 23, 2017
Department of Energy Budget Request Deals Budget-Cutting Blow to Plutonium MOX Project, $270 Million Request for Project “Termination” is $70 Million less than Current Spending Level; Cut would Speed Orderly Termination of Mismanaged MOX Program
Washington,
Fake News at SRS is Destroyed – Super Hyped-Up “Drone Scare of 2016” Goes Bust – SRS Confirms No Drones over SRS “located or confirmed”
Suspicious of the hyped-up drone reports in the summer of 2016, SRS Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request on the matter in November 2016. We still have received no documents.
SCE&G Replaces Cracked Nuclear Reactor Vessel Head during Current Refueling Outage; US NRC Confirms Replacement to SRS Watch
South Carolina Public Service Commission Denies Request for “Emergency Hearing” on Troubled VC Summer Nuclear Reactor Construction Project
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has confirmed is that the “degraded” vessel head at South Carolina Electric &
Why is DOE being so sluggish in responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by SRS Watch? Is this an endemic problem under Secretary Perry’s Department of Energy or is it just us?
Some of the outstanding FOIA requests we have pending with SRS and DOE/NNSA on important programs and matters – list linked here:
—
SRS Watch Meets on The Hill on MOX Boondoggle, DOE Clean-up
May 17, 2017: SRS Watch to Join with Sister Organizations to Meet with Congressional and Administration Offices in Washington, DC to Represent the Public Interest in DOE Funding and Policy Matters,
Why the On-going Informational Blackout on the MOX Project at SRS?
Why are DOE/NNSA and CB&I AREVA MOX Services Failing to Answer Basic Questions about the Mismanaged Project’s Viability at the Time the DOE Budget for Fiscal Year 2018 is Supposedly Set to be Released (on May 22 or 23…)?
DOE Oversight Agency Confirms Initial Receipt, Dumping of Canadian Liquid High Level Nuclear Waste at Savannah River Site; DNFSB Reveals Radiation Shielding Problems in Handling Liquid HLW in H-Canyon
DOE’s Failure to Release Information Prompts FOIA Request by SRS Watch
Columbia, SC – Receipt of controversial shipments of highly radioactive liquid waste from Canada has begun arriving at the U.S.
Reflecting Ongoing Plutonium MOX Project Problems, DOE Confirms Legally Required Annual Report on MOX Facility Not Prepared for Congress; Questions on MOX Project Viability Remain Unanswered
Link to FOIA Response Document Confirming no MOX Report: https://tinyurl.com/kfx6hgl
Columbia, SC – Reflecting disarray in the program to dispose of surplus weapons plutonium,
GLOOM over the Boondoggle….no, not an Irish folk song…
Congress Cuts MOX Funding for Fiscal Year 2017, Keeps Project on a Shut-down Track while Funding Alternative Plutonium Disposal Method (Dilute and Dispose) at Savannah River Site
Dreams of MOX boosters to get an Increase in funding not realized –
Combined News Posts February – March 2017
South Carolinians Against Monetary Abuse (SCAMA) news,
March 29, 2017 – news release linked hereSCAMA Obtains Records Indicating Liens Filed by Fluor, Company Constructing New Nuclear Reactors in South Carolina and Georgia,
SRS Watch Releases SRS Nuclear Materials Management Plans for Fiscal Years 2015 & 2016
DOE’s Savannah River Site to Continue Import of Plutonium, Research Reactor Spent Fuel; SRS Watch Appeals for Import Halt and fotr Focus to Remain on Clean-up and Disposition of Hard-to-Manage Materials already at SRS
“Plans” Obtained Under Freedom of Information Act Request by SRS Watch
full news release linked here
“More nuclear shipments to Savannah River Site likely,
Why is the US DOE’s Savannah River Site allowing the “drone scare” of the summer of 2016 to drag on and on without resolution?
If there was a real or potential drone threat to SRS, as implied in repeatedly passing drone overflight news to the media, why won’t SRS officials now discuss it?