Hearing before federal court in Columbia, South Carolina on State of South Carolina’s weak case to stop termination of the MOX project, postponed until June 5, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.
Latest News
Update of 1:45 p..m. on June 5 – Judge Childs did not rule yet. State of SC to file more documents on June 6.
Judge has a heavy lift trying to force DOE to prepare NEPA documents on plutonium disposition and it appears she can’t force mediation between the state & feds,
“Judge doesn’t rule on plan to scrap MOX; jobs still in limbo”
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, June 5, 2018
Correction to article: SRS has about 13 metric tons of plutonium stored (in the old K-Reactor) and not 8 MT.
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) questions safety basis and worker exposure at SRS facilities that process tritium (for nuclear weapons).
Tritium is what now makes SRS a key nuclear weapons site.
DNFSB letter of june 4, 2018 about “concerns regarding the revised tritium facilities safety basis and analyses identified thus far.”
Key document on unneeded and unjustified production of nuclear weapons “pits” (“plutonium core” in above diagram) at SRS and Los Alamos publicly released on June 4, 2018 as a DOE filing in federal court proceeding on the failed MOX project:
Final Report for the Plutonium Pit Production Analysis of Alternatives, October 2017, DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration
Opppsss! Truck pulling empty spent fuel cask out of L-Area – where spent fuel is stored in a pool – drops trailer with empty spent fuel cask on board.
We’re don’t know but betting the cask had transported damaged NRU reactor fuel from from Chalk River Laboratories in Canada to SRS. Shhh….DOE doesn’t like to talk about that damaged fuel being dumped on SRS….
“Report: MOX project dead, more waste and 1,800 jobs from replacement”
Important article on news released on May 31, 2018 by SRS Watch and Nuclear Watch of New Mexico:
“Report: MOX project dead, more waste and 1,800 jobs from replacement”
“Report: MOX project dead, more waste and 1,800 jobs from replacement”
SRS Watch & Nuclear Watch of New Mexico news release on DOE documents on plutonium “pit” production covered in article:
“Report: MOX project dead, more waste and 1,800 jobs from replacement”
“NM senator, reps fight back on ‘pits’ plan” [to produce pits at SRS & on SRS plutonium to WIPP]
Albuquerque (New Mexico) Journal, May 26, 2018
South Carolina Takes Last-Ditch Longshot to Save MOX Zombie Project: “Attorney General Alan Wilson files for injunction to stop shutdown of MOX project in SC”
May 25, 2018 filing by the State of South Carolina to stop the termination of the MOX fiasco at SRS by DOE, the White House & Congress. All of a sudden,
We’ll check the federal court calendar but this article reports that the hearing on the injunction to halt termination of the plutonium fuel (MOX) fiasco will be held on Friday, June 1, at 10:00 a.m. in the federal court in Columbia, South Carolina.
If you’re in Columbia, please attend.
“S.C. attorney general files motion for injunction to stop MOX shutdown”
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, May 25, 2018
AIKEN — South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson filed a motion in federal court Friday seeking an injunction to stop the U.S.
$enator MOX (Lindsey Graham) Aims to Halt All Spending at the Failed MOX Project, Leading to Termination of All Employees and Site Abandonment –
Last Shot at Saving his Favorite Boondoggle Next Year, but his Approach could Backfire, Spelling Doom for Workers who would be Involved in Project Termination and Facility Repurposing
The bogus save-MOX amendment by Senator Graham in the Senate Armed Services Committees would disallow any funds from being spent on project termination or reuse of the MOX plant.
Senate Appropriations Committee “Markup” on May 24, 2018 of Energy & Water Spending – for DOE in Fiscal Year 2019 – Termination of MOX is Affirmed
Chair of Energy & Water Subcommittee – Senator Alexander – and Ranking Member – Senator Feinstein – stand by MOX termination; Senator Lindsey Graham rants in support of the MOX fiasco with various Inaccurate and misleading statements (hoping nobody notices),
For the first time, on May 24, 2018 the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee voted to fund the MOX fiasco at a “closeout” level of $220 million for Fiscal Year 2019, dealing big spenders and Senator “MOXie” Graham a stinging defeat.
See the “REPORT” that goes with “ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2019,” page 107:
“MOX Construction.—The Committee recommends $220,000,000 for closeout costs associated with the termination of MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility construction,
“Source to Sea” – video of hike & paddle of the entire Savannah River, passing SRS and nuclear plant Vogtle (across from SRS)
“2015 marked the 70th anniversary of the Atomic Age. The Savannah River Watershed is host to 5 commercial nuclear reactors, a nuclear bomb complex, a radioactive waste dump. and 2 new reactors under construction.
“U.S. Department of Energy takes steps to halt construction of partially finished MOX plant at Savannah River Site”
blog by Tom Clements, SRS Watch, for International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), May 23, 2018 – with links to key documents
posted on IPFM website at:
http://fissilematerials.org/blog/2018/05/us_department_of_energy_t.html
Massive waste of money on components stockpiled for the failed MOX plant.
Where’s the MOX termination plan?
McDermott/CB&I/Orana/Areva MOX Services documents massive amounts of material stored in warehouses via its “MOX TV.” For example, see video for February 28,
Belated Doom & Gloom Efforts being Planned by MOX Boo$ters to Waste Yet More of Our Money on the MOX Fiasco: Far Too little & Far Too Late
1. The State of South Carolina claims – in a May 22 letter linked here – that it will bring a lawsuit to try and save MOX,
This May 21, 2018 meeting of the South Council Nuclear Advisory Council, where a “MOX Update” will be given by the blindly pro-MOX chair should be fun.
We’ll get to see how the broken MOX spin machine is reacting to the bitter defeat of MOX termination. SRS Watch will be there to observe and comment.
SOUTH CAROLINA NUCLEAR ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING
Oconee Nuclear Station
Operations Training Center,
Nuke Groups Call for Analysis of Justification for New Plutonium Facility” [at SRS – in EX-MOX facility or at Los Alamos National Lab]
May 21, 2018 letter to Congress on new nuclear bomb facility to make plutonium “pits” for nuclear weapons – letter led by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and signed by SRS Watch and Nuclear Watch of New Mexico
Dear Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Feinstein:
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced last week that it plans to repurpose the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina to produce plutonium pits used in nuclear weapons.
“Road to failure for MOX plant eerily similar to V.C. Summer – Project has faced inflated price tag, lengthy delays, ruined materials, deign woes”
Charleston (South Carolina) Post & Courier, front page print edition, Sunday, May 20, 2018
The article compares MOX termination to the failed construction by South Carolina Electric &
While Eyes are Now Focused on the Long-Predicted & Stunning Failure of the Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project at SRS – the Termination of which was No Surprise – other Programs at SRS Continue and Problems are being Reported by an External Oversight Agency, May 19, 2018
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) notes problems at the Savannah River National Laboratory – Matters not revealed by DOE and (as far as we know) not covered by local media,
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) meets at SRS on May 17, 2018
– meeting looks to be closed to the public – to discuss concerns about safe operation at the Savannah River Site
“Savannah River Site Conduct of Operations Safety Management”
H-Canyon reprocessing plant: can radioactive gas “exhaust tunnel” withstand a seismic event? If not – what will be done about it and operation of the aging H-Canyon facility?
DOE oversight entity – Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety board – raises more question with SRS about safety of the radioactive gas “exhaust tunnel” from the H-Canyon reprocessing plant. Would the tunnel collapse under seismic stress?
U.S, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Affirms Inadequate Groundwater Monitoring Near “Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF),” where Concrete Material Containing Liquid Radioactive Waste is Dumped at SRS
see “TECHNICAL REVIEW: GROUNDWATER MONITORING AT AND
NEAR THE PLANNED SALTSTONE DISPOSAL FACILITY
(DOCKET NO. PROJ0734),” May 17, 2018 – linked here
Conclusion: “The Z Area groundwater characterization study documented a plume in SRNS-RP-2015-00902.
MOX Construction is Going, Going and in less than 30 Days will be Gone….
20 Year of Fighting this Misguided Boondoggle has Finally Paid Off for the Public!!!
Union of Concerned Scientists, May 14, 2018 new release on mismanaged MOX project termination –
DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration Deals Bungled Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project a Near-Fatal Blow – but Misguided Plans for a New Nuclear Bomb Plant at SRS Proposed
MOX Boondoggle Backers Senator Lindsey Graham and Representative Joe Wilson Staggered by Shameful Lo$$
With official MOX termination looming, who in Congress, DOE and MOX Services will be held accountable for MOX fraud,
Meet the New MOX Project Bo$$, Same as the Old Bo$$?
UPDATE of the afternoon of May 10: McDermott may now be the contractor to oversee MOX termination
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission informs CB&I AREVA MOX Services that it has received CB&I notice that ownership is changing to McDermott International,
FINAL DAY FOR SPENDING ON CONSTRUCTION OF THE BADLY BUNGLED, MISMANAGED MOX PROJECT COULD BE IN MID-JUNE 2018!
Who will be held accountable for this massive rip-off of US
taxpayers?
Secretary of Energy Perry delivered to Congress the “waiver” – in the form of a memo on the lifecycle cost estimate of the non-MOX “dilute and dispose”
Letter by Secretary of Energy Perry to “waive” spending money on the MOX fiasco – May 10, 2018.
The last MOX funds for construction will be spent 30 days after delivery of this letter – on June 10, 2018. Letter linked here.
Perry sent his waiver letter on MOX construction and we wave goodbye to MOX and say good riddance.