Do challenges in plutonium pit fabrication for a new ICBM pose the risk of a return to nuclear weapons testing in Nevada?
“As America’s Nuclear Arsenal Upgrades, Usual Testing is Scrapped”
Latest News
Difficulties of finding plutonium pit workers in New Mexico; but plutonium pit staffing problems worse at SRS has no nuclear-bomb manufacturing experience & no experience since 1980s in processing molten plutonium
This article about new nuclear bomb production at the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico is of importance because the same thing is happening at SRS. The “defense”
DOE Breaks 6 Years of Unjustified Silence, Finally Complies with Environmental Commitment Concerning Now-Terminated German Spent Fuel Import Scheme
Embarrassed DOE Forced to Finally Publicly Admit Failure in Scheme to Dump German High-Level Nuclear Waste on SRS, But SRS Watch Learned Much Earlier that the Project was Dead and Informed the Public Months Ago,
DOE Belatedly Admits it Stiffed Congress on Plan for Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), More Confirmation VTR is Dead
DOE finally confirms that the congressionally required public-private funding plan for the plutonium-fueled Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) doesn’t exist.
Why did it take over two years to make this embarrassing admission?
“Dealing with a debacle: A better plan for US plutonium pit production” at SRS & Los Alamos National Lab
If you are following the issue of production of plutonium “pits” for new nuclear weapons, you will want to check out this April 27, 2023 article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists:
Dealing with a debacle: A better plan for US plutonium pit production
By Curtis T.
Cancel SRS plutonium bomb plant: “Dealing with a debacle: A better plan for US plutonium pit production”
Read why there is no “need” for a nuclear bomb factory (to make plutonium cores for new nuclear weapons) at SRS:
“Dealing with a debacle: A better plan for US plutonium pit production“
Congressman raises spectre of exploding costs for SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant
As always, complex nuclear projects for DOE are always delayed and run far over budget. Now we see that happening with the proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant and the missile for which new pits would be supplied (for the W87-1 warhead).
A warning on the Biden budget proposal for FY24: “Biden Releases Record NNSA Nuclear Weapons Budget”
Nuclear Watch New Mexico reviews proposed Fiscal Year 2024 federal budget and finds some very alarming things, March 13, 2023:
Biden Releases Record NNSA Nuclear Weapons Budget
Santa Fe,
SCANA Official in Charge of Construction of Failed VC Summer Nuclear Project to be Sentenced on March 8, 2023
SRS Watch news: SCANA Official in Charge of Construction of Failed VC Summer Nuclear Project to be Sentenced in Federal Court on March 8, 2023; Admitted Felon Faces 5-Years in Prison but Asks for 15-Month Sentence;
US NRC authorized export of uranium to Russia, license expires December 31, 2023
Will export of uranium from the United States to Russia help pay for the war? How long will uranium export and import go on? Will a new export license be sought after the current license expires on December 31,
Japan’s Efforts to Stockpile yet more Weapon-Usable Plutonium Suffers Setback
Those aiming to proliferate weapon-usable plutonium suffer yet another setback:
“Japan’s Rokkasho reprocessing plant, 25 years behind schedule, delayed again”
On 26 December 2022, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited announced another delay in completion of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant.
New Mexico Governor Opposes Holtec Spent Fuel “Interim” Storage in State
Governor Michele Lujan Grisham of New Mexico has sent a letter, dated November 16, 2022, to President Biden in opposition to private plans for “interim” storage of highly radioactive commercial spent fuel in southeastern New Mexico.
Like the Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant, Pursuit of New Plutonium “Pits” at Los Alamos is Fueling a New Nuclear Arms Race
New plutonium pit production facilities at the Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) in New Mexico and the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina are being pursued to initially make pits (cores,
Westinghouse Official Headed to Trial Over VC Summer AP1000 Nuclear Reactor Debacle
Schedule for federal court proceedings against top Westinghouse official – Jeffrey Benjamin – at the VC Summer construction site for felony conspiracy & fraud in the failed construction of two Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors –
Public Interest Victories at SRS: Import of German Spent Fuel Off the Table; H-Canyon Reprocessing Plant Closure Set on Track for 2033
More public interest victories to add to the list of victories over 40 years!
In July 2022, there have been two significant developments at the U.S.
Effort to dump highly radioactive German spent fuel on SRS dealt blow by new state government in NRW
The new CDU-Green coalition in the North Rhine-Westphalia government has negative implications for the decade-long effort to dump German spent fuel on the Savannah River Site. That spent fuel is from the long-closed AVR gas-cooled reactor and the spent fuel is stored at Jülich.
Requirements placed on plutonium pit production by House Armed Services committee
A skeptical Congress is finally beginning to put some requirements on plutonium pit production, for new nuclear weapons, in the face of DOE’s effort to move forward without constraints.
Will DOE dare issue EIS “Record of Decision” on Zombie Reactor? The Versatile Test Reactor, project killed by Congress, merits investigation by DOE’s OIG
Zombie project stays in the crypt: The Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) was defunded by Congress in March 2022 and therefore killed. But some die-hard backers in DOE still keep after the reactor,
SRS Watch Rocks Against Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) at Bonnie Raitt Concerts
SRS Watch staff and volunteers were asked to table at the Bonnie Raitt/Lucinda Williams concerts in Charlotte, NC on June1, 2022 and in Columbia, SC on June 4,
Nuclear Bombs Lost Over Spain in 1966 – Plutonium Waste Dumped at SRS – Free Film through May 29, 2022
Film about air crash over Spain, with four lost nuclear weapons – THE PLUTONIUM WASTE & CONTAMINATED EQUIPMENT WAS DUMPED in LOW-LEVEL WASTE BURIAL GROUND AT the US DOE’s SAVANNAH RIVER SITE in SOUTH CAROLINA.
NRC Again Delays Issuance of EIS on Westinghouse Fuel Fabrication Plant License Extension, Columbia, South Carolina
Issuance by US Nuclear Regulatory Commission of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Westinghouse nuclear fuel plant in Columbia, SC is delayed again – to July 2022. Final decision on operating license extension scheduled for August 2022.
“Los Alamos Lab: More Plutonium, More Nuclear Weapons” – Same Dangerous Situation for SRS
Given the proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) to build plutonium pits for new, provocative nuclear weapons, an integral part of a dangerous US policy to fight a full-scale nuclear war,
Safety Board Concerned about Safety of Plutonium Pit Storage at DOE’s Pantex Site in Texas – Implications for Unsafe Production at Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP)?
Storage of plutonium “pits” (core of nuclear weapons) aren’t being stored to safety requirements at DOE’s Pantex site in Texas.
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) staff report “Pantex Plant Pit Inventory Review”
DOE Nuclear Weapons Plan Admits Few SRS Personnel Working on Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant – Challenges Increase
On March 16, 2022, the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) released its annual plans for nuclear weapons. Called the “Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan,” it lays out NNSA support for keeping the US on the footing to fight a full-scale nuclear war.
Confirmation that SRS Plutonium was taken to DOE’s Pantex Site in Texas
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), which conducts oversight of DOE projects , has confirmed that plutonium from SRS was taken to the Pantex site in Texas,
DOE’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) Project Terminated in Omnibus Spending Bill – Budget Slashed to $0; VTR Plutonium Fuel Fabrication Possibility at SRS Goes Down the Tubes
UPDATE on March 9, 2022: Looks like the end is at hand for the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR). It is due to get knocked out of the House Omnibus funding legislation for Fiscal Year 2022 funding &
Request to NRC for Important Schedules for Vogtle Nuclear Reactor Construction Milestones Falls on Deaf Ears
SRS Watch has requested of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that key construction completion dates be released to the public about the construction of the $30+ billion Vogtle nuclear reactors by Southern Nuclear (parent of Georgia Power) in Georgia,
DOE/NRC/TVA Aim to Ramp Up Production in Commercial Nuclear Reactors of Tritium Gas for All Nuclear Weapons – Part of Plans to Stay on Footing for Full-Scale Nuclear War – Please Join January 19 Meeting & Coment
As anticipated, the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), serving its Department of Defense (DOD) client, has instructed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to take steps to increase production of tritium gas in the commercial Watts Bar Nuclear Bomb Reactors (WBNBRs) in Tennessee.
Federal, State Agencies Amp Up Pressure on NRC & Contamination from Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel Plant Near Columbia, SC
“Burned nuclear worker, troubled history raise EPA concern over SC atomic fuel plant”
Front page article in The State, Columbia, SC, December 6, 2021
linked here: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/environment/article256294532.html
SRS Watch report on role of the Westinghouse military-commercial dual-use facility in nuclear weapons:
Crossing the Line: South Carolina Nuclear Weapons Secrets Exposed –
Update on Opposition to Revving Up a New Nuclear Arms Race: “Plutonium Pits Lawsuit re: Savannah River Site in South Carolina, Los Alamos in New Mexico” – Nuclear Hotseat podcast, Dec. 1, 2021
Nuclear Hotseat podcast: “Plutonium Pits Lawsuit re: Savannah River Site in South Carolina, Los Alamos in New Mexico”
– with update on our lawsuit against DOE for failure to prepare a Programmatic EIS on expanded pit production at SRS (via the proposed Plutonium Bomb Plant) and at Los Alamos National Lab,