– 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”
Latest News
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.
Union of Concerned Scientists posts redacted version of plutonium disposition report delivered to Congress on May 10, 2018
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION Office of Cost Estimating and Program Evaluation (CEPE)
Surplus Plutonium Disposition Dilute and Dispose Option Independent Cost Estimate (ICE) Report
April 2018
And linked in UCS news release: Energy Department Makes the Right Decision to Kill MOX Program
SRS to have bigger role in new nuclear weapons arms race?
Plutonium “pit” production would unnecessarily expand the nuclear weapons role of SRS and result in import of plutonium into South Carolina and produce a host of toxic waste streams likely to be dumped on site.
U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee to “mark up” DOE & SRS spending legislation on Monday, May 7, 5:30 p.m. – to be webcast
Will funding in Fiscal Year 2019 for termination of the badly bungled MOX project be discussed?
Energy & Water Subcommittee website linked here
Subcommittee Markup –
OINK ALERT! Doom & Gloom hangs heavy for MOX profiteer$ and new managers coming into the MOX project from the new contractor McDermott International as the U.S. House Energy & Water Subcommittee affirms MOX termination language.
The funding request for Fiscal Year 2019, according to Chairman Simpson, would allow for only “a limited amount of construction at the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility” as termination details are developed and implemented.
Countdown to MOX boondoggle termination continues: Plutonium disposal “Dilute & Dispose” cost report is being finalized by DOE and may soon be delivered to Congress, as we have been saying
According to the May 4, 2018 edition of the Exchange Monitor, Virginia Kay, deputy director of the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Material Disposition, said that the report would be delivered in a “Juneish”
Disposal of SRS plutonium as nuclear waste & not via the bungled MOX project? The National Academies of Sciences is looking into that. A report is to be issued later this year.
“Meeting 7: Disposal of Surplus Plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board
Study in Progress: Public Meeting
Topics: Nuclear and Radiation Studies Nuclear and Radioactive Waste Management
May 2,
“McDermott and CB&I Stockholders Approve Proposed Combination” – company news release of May 2, 2018
How will the “combination” of McDermott and Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&) impact things at the MOX debacle, where CB&I Project Services Group is struggling with high worker turnover rates,
“Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility—753% Over Baseline Budget”
Why haven’t fiscal conservatives rallied earlier to kill this chronic abuse of taxpayers?
in “Nuke Agency Needs Budget Accountability —
Just like the Pentagon,
Wish we were there – protest in Germany on April 28, 2018 against shipment of German highly radioactive spent fuel – stored now at Juelich – to SRS, or to a facility in Ahaus, Germany.
The “dump on SRS option” may still officially be on the table but it’s looking more and more like it’s dead.
What’s up concerning preparation of plutonium oxide – from nuclear weapons “pits” – for disposition of plutonium as waste?
Report by Los Alamos National lab: “ARIES Oxide Production Program at LANL,” February 2015, for the Government Accountability Office audit – presentation linked here
“SCE&G Nuclear Reactor Construction Fiasco Overshadows Parallel Failure of DOE’s Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project at the Savannah River Site; New Nuclear Bomb Project Coming to SRS?”
Article in Spring 2018 edition of the Congaree Chronicle, South Carolina Sierra Club newsletter
Chronicle linked here (and here: https://tinyurl.com/y9esdzd4) see page 18 for article above;
Friends of the Earth, with SRS Watch staff support, has begun running ads on the SCE&G’s VC Summer nuclear reactor debacle.
See the April 26th hard copy of The State, Columbia, SC, or the April 27th edition of the Charleston (South Carolina) Post & Courier.
Digital adds, slightly different from the print ad are also being run –
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
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,
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,
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,
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.