See April 26, 2018 letter to SRS Watch linked here.
DOE news release of March 30, 2018:
Anne Marie White Sworn in as Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management
Blog
Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board (DNFSB), in report released on April 24, 2018, concludes that a undetected fire in the Solid Waste Management Facility could exceed the 2-hour response time, potentially posing a risk of higher radiation doses to workers
“Fire Detection and Response Time at the Solid Waste Management Facility at the Savannah River Site” – “Staff Issue Report” linked here
“Conclusion. The Board’s staff review team concluded that SWMF cannot adequately protect the assumption of a two-hour fire department response.
All Hail the Mothership! Nuclear Ship Savannah
“NUCLEAR SHIP SAVANNAH – ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT 15 TO REVISE
THE LICENSE TO ALLOW DISMANTLEMENT AND DISPOSAL”
In an April 23, 2018 letter and safety evaluation, the U.S.
“Was the 2007 law that jumpstarted S.C. nuclear project unconstitutional? Attorneys ask circuit judge to decide”
Charleston (South Carolina) Post and Courier, April 20, 2018
Article on US disposition of surplus weapons plutonium, with SRS Watch – has some errors in it and High Flyer was not credited with MOX plant photo
“America’s nuclear headache: old plutonium with nowhere to go”
Reuters, April 20, 2018
U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission, April 20, 2018 – assessment of DOE’s monitoring of environmental leaks from the high-level nuclear waste tanks at SRS.
The tanks and the highly radioactive waste in them are the biggest environmental threat at the site. See: “TECHNICAL REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING REPORTS FOR F-AREA [FTF] AND H-AREA TANK FARM [HTF] FACILITIES”
Friends of the Earth (with SRS Watch staff support) and Sierra Club in article on news event on Dominion Energy’s performance in Virginia
“Critics Warn SC Legislators Against Dominion, Citing Actions in Virginia”
Free Times, Columbia, South Carolina weekly, April 18, 2018
Attention MOX workers, April 12, 2018
Please let us know what expectations you have as the MOX project enters the termination phase. As we don’t hear a single politician or DOE manager speaking up for you,
Combined News Posts March & April 2018
Friends of the Earth (with SRS Watch staff support) mentioned in article on how Dominion Energy – which wants to take over SCANA/SCE&G – is not such a good actor back home in Virginia:
“Utility trying to buy SCANA draws fire for its influence,
Radioactive Mouse Found in High-Level Radioactive Waste Tank Area at Savannah River Site; Mouse Reported to have Radioactive Surface Contamination More than 10 Times Levels in Regulations
Radioactive Mouse Incident Rises to Level of being only “Occurrence” Reported in SRS “Quarterly Legacy Contamination Report, January 2018 Through March 2018”
Columbia, South Carolina – A mouse contaminated with a high level of radioactive material was found in a building located in the midst of tanks storing highly radioactive waste at the Savannah River Site,
NRC Confirms that it No Longer has Resident Inspector at Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Plant, Claiming Lack of Work; Admission Comes as Pro-MOX Senator States MOX Completion Far Below Earlier Claims
Memo on Needed “Rework” at MOX Plant Obtained via FOIA Request, Gives Hint at Extent of Construction Problems and Who Might Pay – Rework and Contractor Performance Merit Investigation
Columbia,
Congressional Funding Keeps Bungled MOX Project at Shut-Down Funding Level, Accepts Defense Committee Language for Conditions to Terminate MOX, Pursue Alternative and Remove Plutonium from S. Carolina
Columbia, SC – The budget deal revealed by Congress keeps the troubled plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Savannah River Site on life support and, in a significant new move,
ALERT TO MOX CRAFT WORKERS!
The spending agreement – linked in the SRS Watch news release below – allows Secretary Perry to terminate the MOX boondoggle 30 days after DOE has met the requirements for termination.
DOE Reveals it has No Plans to Receive Plutonium or Weapon-Grade Uranium (“Special Nuclear Material”) or Nuclear Weapons from North Korea, in Surprise Response to FOIA Request
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Response to SRS Watch linked here
Is Response Accurate or is there No Formal DOE Plan for Fate of N.
DOE Posts NNSA Budget Request, Confirms Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Fiasco “Final Termination” at Savannah River Site in 2021, Focus on “Dilute & Dispose” for Plutonium Disposition
Budget Request States Plans is to Ramp up Dilute & Dispose to Remove “1 metric ton (MT) of Plutonium from the State of South Carolina” and Dispose of 34 Metric Tons
National Nuclear Security Administration Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2019:
https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2018/02/f49/DOE-FY2019-Budget-Volume-1.pdf
Columbia,
Combined News Posts February 2018
Is operation of the H-Canyon reprocessing plant safe as long as it remains a question if the radiation exhaust tunnel can perform its safety function?
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board for February 23,
SRS Documents Debunk its Own Hyped Up “Drone Scare of 2016”
Does this SRS photo look like a drone to you? If so, please call the Savannah River Site and apply for a security job.
SRS Watch news,
SRS Watch Congratulates Trump Administration for Sticking with Sound Policy to Terminate Plutonium MOX Construction Fiasco at Savannah River Site
SRS Watch news release linked here
—– Friends of the Earth 2013 – Oink! youtube video on MOX fiasco – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2PTwods3Y4
New Aerial Photos of Our 3 New-Nuclear Construction Debacles Released: MOX, Vogtle, VC Summer
February 5, 2018, Columbia, S.C. – New aerial photos of the three U.S. nuclear construction fiascos located in South Carolina or on the border have been released.
This Cool Cat Smells a Stinky MOX Rat
President Trump: RELEASE THE MOX MEMO!!!!
It’s February 2, 2018 and it’s time to release the memo outlining how the the plutonium MOX project at SRS failed and can never be made to work!
Combined News Posts January 2018 & December 2017
South Carolina Public Service Commission Spanks South Carolina Electric & Gas and Dominion- Request for “Expedited Hearing” in VC Summer Nuclear Debacle is Denied
On January 31, 2018,
Picture SRS Watch Director Wins Conservation Award
Tom Clements, the director of Savannah River Site Watch and senior adviser with Friends of the Earth, was presented the “Conservationist of the Year” award by the South Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club at its annual awards banquet in Columbia,
December 19, 2017: SRS Watch Files FOIA Request for Plans to Bring Nuclear Weapons and Special Nuclear Materials from North Korea to DOE Sites, including Savannah River Site – For Storage and Disposition
In Event of an Avoidable, Unnecessary War with N. Korea and if Nuclear Weapons and Plutonium, Highly Enriched Uranium are Seized or Obtained, What would be the Role of NNSA and DOE Sites?
NNSA Document Confirms MOX Plant at SRS being Reviewed for Production of Plutonium “Pits” for Nuclear Weapons; Would be Controversial Mission for SRS – Opposed by SRS Watch
NNSA’s Review of MOX Plant “Refurbishment” for Pit Production another Indicator that MOX is in Trouble and Facing Eventual Termination
Columbia, SC – A leaked 1-page document confirms that the U.S.
Combined News Posts November 2017
Plutonium “pit” production at SRS, for nuclear weapons? Is the
Pentagon driving the train to build the plutonium core of US nuclear weapons at SRS ? Article with SRS Watch (based on our news release of December 6,
As MOX Remains on Shut-down Track, National Academies of Sciences Review of Non-MOX Disposal of Surplus Plutonium Gets Under Way with Meeting in Washington; Public Meeting to be Held Near Savannah River Site in Early 2018
NAS Committee to Review “Dilute & Dispose” of Plutonium as Nuclear Waste, in WIPP Facility; Plutonium Immobilization not Revived but has been best Disposal Option Since Inception of Surplus Plutonium Project
Columbia,
Seeing nothing but RED for a mismanaged MOX project that continues to teeter on the congressionally mandated precipice of oblivion
As we know and as is unavoidable due to on-going construction and management problems, the US Department of Energy again awards the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site a failing grade.
Congressional Armed Services Committees Set Path for Termination of $17 Billion Plutonium Fuel (MOX) construction Boondoggle at DOE’s Savannah River Site
MOX Debacle can be Terminated by Secretary of Energy if Requirements Met for “Alternative Option”
Columbia, SC – The Armed Services Committees in Congress have laid out an approach that could lead to the termination of the mismanaged plutonium fuel (MOX) plant at the Savannah River Site.
Quote of the month, which backs up our reporting that production of plutonium oxide in the HB-Line, for the failed MOX project, has ceased:
“Plutonium dissolution activities [in HB-Line] are on hold right now…[we] don’t anticipate that moving in the future.”
— Tony Polk, Director Nuclear Material Programs Division
DOE Savannah River Operations Office,
DOE Affirms Bungled Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project at SRS is Not Sustainable and Must be Terminated
See October 12, 2017 presentation by Robert Raines, NNSA, Associate Administrator for Acquisition and Project Management to the South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council:
Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF)
“Latest Government estimate [on MOX plant construction cost and schedule]: $17.2B and 2048 completion date”