Blog

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 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) —–

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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 –

Posted on May 26 by ©High Flyer – on Google drive linked here

High Flyer says “Read Me First,”

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,

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.

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. 

“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,

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.

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 &

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,

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,

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.

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 &

Some of the outstanding FOIA requests we have pending with SRS and DOE/NNSA on important programs and matters – list linked here:

—

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 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’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.

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,

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 –

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,

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?  

The memo – linked here – outlines the host of difficult to manage nuclear waste forms that would have to go back to Germany in case a loophole is allowed in Germany’s nuclear waste management legislation for export spent fuel for conditioning,

SRS Watch Releases DOE’s Devastating FY 2016 Assessment of CB&I AREVA MOX Services’ Construction of Troubled Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Plant at Savannah River Site (SRS) – “Award Fee Determination”