Citizens in South Carolina express opposition to unjustified, costly, dirty production of plutonium “pits” (for nuclear weapons) in the shuttered plutonium fuel (MOX) plant at the DOE’s Savannah River Site –
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SRS Watch update, January 25, 2019
Nuclear Weapons Profiteers Beware: This will not stand – $94 billion increases in cost of nuclear weapons over next decade – to $494 billion, a 23% increase since 2017
While DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) keeps digging a hole in avoiding preparing the legally required Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on expanded pit production,
SRS Watch tidbit – January 24, 2019 – “Pit Production Pitfalls”
Good to see that an invitation-only briefing has been scheduled in Congress about problems and obstacles associated with ramped up production of plutonium “pits” (for nuclear weapons).
Expanded pit production at Los Alamos National Lab and/or Savannah River Site (which has never produced pits),
State of Nevada filing in federal court in Nevada
State of Nevada filing in federal court in Nevada – against the State of South Carolina’s request to have a hearing on the unjustified removal of 1 metric ton of plutonium from SRS to Nevada be moved from federal district court in Nevada to South Carolina federal district court,
WOW! “Significant dose and contamination rates”
Stunning admission by SRS in receiving, processing and dumping unnecessary shipments of Canadian liquid high-level nuclear waste from Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario.
SRS mislabels the highly radioactive liquid as “Target Residue Material”
Hidden cost of Department of Energy operations
Hidden cost of Department of Energy operations – massive payment to former DOE workers via Department of Labor worker-exposure program
As of January 21, 2019, in 19,226 cases of worker exposure to chemical and radiation,
SRS Watch in “Rainwater contamination discovered at SRS processing plant”
SRS Watch in “Rainwater contamination discovered at SRS processing plant” [H-Canyon spent fuel reprocessing plant]
WRDW TV, Augusta, Georgia, January 17, 2019
&
Nevada federal court allows intervention by State of South Carolina in in case involving unnecessary plutonium shipment from SRS to Nevada
On January 17, a hearing is slated to go forward in federal court in Nevada on the unjustified shipment of 1 metric ton of surplus weapon plutonium from SRS to the Device Assembly Facility (DAF) at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site.
Shipment of SRS plutonium to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico – salt mine dump for transuranic waste – faces opposition:
“Permit changes at WIPP face challenges”
Albuquerque (New Mexico) Journal, January 13, 2019
“Government shutdown won’t delay Nevada plutonium hearing” [about shipment of 1 metric ton of plutonium from SRS for “staging” at the Device Assembly Facility in Nevada]
Associated Press, Jan. 11, 2019
article linked here:
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/south-carolina/article224278610.html
Redefine, Dump & Go? DOE challenged on plan to redefine high-level nuclear waste
8 public interest groups that work on DOE issues send group extensive comments on DOE’s effort to end run Congress & redefine high-level waste (HLW) as something less, part of DOE’s effort to speed disposal and cut “clean-up”
SRS Watch in “Appeals court issues final ruling allowing DOE’s termination of MOX project”
– see SRS Watch news release of Jan. 8, 2019
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, January 8, 2019
“State of Nevada request to stop SRS plutonium shipment goes to federal court”
SRS Watch in
“State of Nevada request to stop SRS plutonium shipment goes to federal court”
WXGF TV, FOX 54< Augusta, Georgia, January 7, 2018
SRS Watch in Las Vegas newspaper article on senseless plutonium shipment:
”Hearing set for lawsuit to block shipment of plutonium to Nevada”
Las Vegas, Nevada, Review-Journal, Jan. 7, 2019
More worker layoffs at MOX boondoggle: South Carolina WARN Act notice of January 7, 2019
105 employees by CB&I Project Services Group and 13 employees by Orano Federal Services, to be laid off by March 4, 2019
The MOX termination crew must be getting fairly lean in size.
Another WARN Act layoff notice
nother WARN Act layoff notice – dated January 4, 2019 – given to an additional 105 workers of CB&I Project Services Group at the terminated MOX boondoggle, with “layoff”
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on US DOE’s (mis)management of MOX boondoggle:
“DOE and NNSA Should Improve Their Lessons-Learned Process for Capital Asset Projects”
GAO-19-25: Dec 21, 2018.
Looks like the outgoing secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has approved DOE’s request of the new method to calculate container volume going into WIPP.
Given the legal volume cap of the amount of TRU waste WIPP can receive, such a license amendment would allow more plutonium disposal, by counting the volume of only the inner container and not the larger outer container.
SRS Watch in: “Progress report on plutonium removal from SRS filed; reclassification of high-level nuclear waste discussed”
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, December 19, 2018
SRS Watch director, in dual role as senior adviser to Friends of the Earth, comments on pending December 14 vote by South Carolina Public Service Commission on SCE&G nuclear reactor debacle and who will pay billions of dollars in stranded costs.
SCE&G ratepayers should not pay a dime more for the failed AP1000 nuclear rector project and be refunded the $2 billion already spent in financing costs.
“Commission expected to decide new SCE&G rates on Friday –
New Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the MOX boondoggle?
Be alert to a report likely to come out soon on NNSA’s (mis)management of the MOX debacle. Before the end of 2018? Doesn’t sound like the report will take the essential step to review and investigate any fraud,
On December 11, 2018, another 70 layoffs were announced for the MOX boondoggle, by Orano Federal Services (formerly the plutonium-proliferation company AREVA):
See those layoffs, to be carried out by Feb. 4, 2019, and other layoffs in the updated WARN notice for South Carolina:
CB&I and Orano layoffs so far = 502 + 114 + 111 + 372 + 70 = 1168.
“Trump Wants to Reclassify Radioactive Waste from Nuclear Weapons to ‘Low Level’ so Disposal Is Cheaper”
The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA), of which SRS Watch is a member, has challenged this approach: “Trump Wants to Reclassify Radioactive Waste from Nuclear Weapons to ‘Low Level’
Criminals who defrauded the MOX project have property seized by the feds. Will the criminals soon report to federal prison in Ohio to serve their time?
Will in-depth investigations into MOX fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement root out more such criminal activity? Will the spotlight focus on the behavior of CB&I and Areva/Orano?
US District court document on property seizure linked here
Shutdown of plutonium fuel (MOX) boondoggle at US DOE’s Savannah River site continues – more worker layoffs announced on December 7, 2018
372 CB&I Project Services Group, LLC – likely craft workers at the bungled project – to be laid off on February 4, 2019
“WARN Notification Report” of December 7,
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) questions methodology of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) in evaluating functionality of the aging H-Canyon reprocessing plant’s radioactive gas exhaust tunnel (HCAEX).
Can this decrepit facility, used to reprocess DOE-controlled highly radioactive spent fuel, be operated safety in case of a seismic event or other unusual event?
DNFSB letter &
Will the Greek GRR-1 research reactor spent fuel be dumped on SRS – in the L-Basin – or on Canada?
The spent fuel does not contain weapon-grade uranium (highly enriched uranium, HEU) so would not be shipped for nuclear non-proliferation reasons.
Letter from DOE to NRC, November 30,
More problems at the aging, decrepit H-Canyon reprocessing plant at SRS: violation of the Technical Safety Requirements (TSRs)
DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD (DNFSB) weekly report,
November 30, 2018
TO: Christopher J. Roscetti, Technical Director
FROM: M. T. Sautman and Z. C. McCabe, Resident Inspectors
SUBJECT: Savannah River Site Activity Report for Week Ending November 30,
Is the US DOE’s 63-year old H-Canyon reprocessing plant, the last such facility in the US, safe to operate?
The jury’s out on that question. the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) thankfully continues to monitor the status of the aging H-Canyon’s radioactive air discharge tunnel
DNFSB weekly report for November 23,
Good for a laugh: whiny, extremely ignorant rant conceding defeat over the MOX boondoggle – another “journalist” who fell prey to his own fake “news” about the failed plutonium fuel project
“Scuttlebiz: After five years of bureaucratic strangulation, MOX is dead”
Sadly DOE will figure out more ways to pry money out of the hands of hard-working taxpayers,