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,
Latest News
“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”
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,
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.
“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.
“Savannah River Site ash cleanup aims to protect wetlands”
SRS not only has nuclear and chemical waste problems its got
COAL ASH problems….
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, April 28, 2019 – article linked here
Savannah River National Lab memo, April 23, 2019 – inching towards “in situ decommissioning”
– filling the facility with concrete – of the 235-F building, where Plutonium-238 was processed into fuel pellets for space probes. About 400 grams of that nasty isotope remains in the building.
Who me?! Wise Services responds to fraud charge brought by the U.S. Government as it relates to improper billing via CB&I Areva MOX Services for the MOX debacle.
Wise claims that employee Phillip Thompson was a rouge, criminal operative and that Wise knew nothing about his engagement in fraudulent behavior. Thompson should now be in federal prison in Ohio if he reported as promised.
“Study on plutonium pit mission delivered to Congress”
Looks like DOE/NNSA is well on its way to mismanage any plutonium “pit” project at SRS & maximize costs and schedule delays. If anyone gets the report, which may be marked “Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Information”
MOX zombie worth more dead than alive?! “Repurposing” of the shuttered MOX plant at SRS to plutonium pit production via funding from the “plutonium sustainment” slush fund hits a snag at House Armed Services Committee hearing on April 9, 2019
Representative Jim Cooper, who several years ago rightly deemed MOX a “zombie project,” calls out DOE for pouring money into the unauthorized, dangerous project to “repurpose” the shuttered MOX plant into nuclear bomb production (for plutonium pits).
“There are Faster, Cheaper, Safer and More Reliable Alternatives to the Energy Department’s Proposed Multibillion Dollar Test Reactor”
More revealed about DOE and its unneeded, costly “advanced” reactor project:
“There are Faster, Cheaper, Safer and More Reliable Alternatives to the Energy Department’s Proposed Multibillion Dollar Test Reactor”
DOE’s plan for new, “advanced” reactor stumbles into the usual cost overrun mire even before the “Versatile Test Reactor” gets off the ground
Well, no surprise here as DOE and its contractors always aim to run far over budget with new, large and complex projects. Think MOX. Thankfully, we beat back the “Energy Park”
“Guest column: Dangerous history of pit production”
See the op-ed on risks of plutonium “pit” production (for nuclear weapons) at SRS. The op-ed exposes the sad story of pit production at the now-closed Rocky Flats site near Denver,
In Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 28, 2019, the administrator of DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) admits pulling off plutonium pit production, for nuclear weapons, will be a challenge in the repurpsed MOX plant at SRS – beyond conceptual work that project has not been authorized or funded by Congress
To underscore that the plutonium fuel (MOX) project is totally dead, DOE Secretary Perry congratulates Congress for having the courage to terminate the MOX project
DOE has posted the nuclear weapons budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year 2020 – it goes crazy over nuclear weapons-related activities, including pit production at SRS, but doesn’t mention the timeline for the required Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on the pit proposal.
Time for Congress to get the national security budget-cutting ax out to protect us from the threat of a new Cold War!
“Trump’s 2020 Nuclear Weapons Budget Escalates New Arms Race”
DOE posts its Fiscal Year 2020 budget request to Congress – volume #5 – for Environmental Management (clean-up).
The document is extremely thin on details. See page 237+ for cursory SRS discussion. Note on page 270 that DOE intends to stop payment-in-lieu of taxes to local communities: “The decrease is associated with reduction of discretionary payments in-Lieu-of-Taxes to support the focus on cleanup mission.”