According to communication fro m the NRC’s Region 2 to SRS Watch, Dominion Energy’s VC Summer unit 1 reactor north of Columbia, South Carolina has been shut down due to a transformer fir report on November 17.
Latest News
Based on SRS Watch Report: “Secretive defense plant operating in the shadow of atomic fuel factory near Columbia”
Article, behind paywall in The State news paper, front page Nov. 21, 2021, is based on the SRS Watch report released on November 19, 2021: “Crossing the Line: South Carolina Nuclear Weapons Secrets Exposed”
Article on SRS Plutonium Disposal, with SRS Watch Comments
“Plutonium could go to New Mexico next year. It will come from the Savannah River Site” – SRS plutonium has already been shipped to WIPP in New Mexico but the amounts could ramp up,
Former SCANA CEO Agrees to 24 Months in Prison, $5 Million Fine for VC Summer Reactor Construction Debacle – Sentencing on October 7, 2021; Judge Should Consider Larger Fine
The former CEO of SCANA, Kevin Marsh, has agreed to a 24-months prison sentence and a $5 million fine for his role in the fraudulent scheme to construct the VC Summer reactors in South Carolina.
SRS Employment in Fiscal Year 2021 Steady at Near 11,500, with 11,000 Contractors, 500 with DOE/NNSA
SRS employment holds steady near 11,500 during Fiscal Year 2021, with DOE having only about 500 employees out of that figure, with most of them being contractors.
There does not appears to be a significant uptick in employment by DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration for the proposed project to convert the never finished plutonium fuel (MOX) building into the SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant.
Inability of SRS to Pull Off the MOX Project Sows Doubt & Mistrust of SRS and its Ability to Build the Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP)
“Stumbling plutonium pit project reveals DOE’s uphill climb of nuclear modernization”
Opinion piece in The Hill, by Tom Clements, Director of SRS Watch
The inability of SRS to pull off the MOX project now haunts plutonium pit plans –
SRS Watch article: “US attorney details illegal acts in construction projects, sealing the fate of the “nuclear renaissance” – Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
US attorney details illegal acts in construction projects, sealing the fate of the “nuclear renaissance”
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, August 31, 2021
By Tom Clements | Savannah River Site Watch,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Affirms that a Little Radiation may be Bad for Health
Amazingly, the NRC denies industry friendly petitions that claim “a little radiation is good for you.”
“Petition for Rulemaking; Denial: Linear No-Threshold Model and Standards for Protection Against Radiation”
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Nuclear Ship Savannah: Failed Mission as Commercial Nuclear-Powered Ship but still a Beauty; NRC Inspection Report
NRC inspection report of the Nuclear Ship Savannah, August 10, 2021:
“U.S. Department of Transportation, N.S. Savannah – NRC Inspection Report 05000238/2021001”
https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML21222A096
“On July 12,
NRC Posts Updates, Photos on Construction of “Mega-Volume” Waste Disposal Facilities at SRS
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has posted updates, with many photos, on construction of two massive 32-million-gallon concrete “tanks” to hold redefined high-level nuclear waste processed via the new Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) from the SRS high-level waste tanks;
Make an Offer on Massive Crane Left Behind at Failed VC Summer Nuclear Reactor Construction Project!
Massive construction crane available! Start the bidding! Could be featured in a memorial to the two large, failed nuclear construction projects in the US: Vogtle in Georgia &
Forty-Year License Extension for Westinghouse Uranium Fuel Plant in Columbia, SC Not Justified in Quietly Released Draft EIS, July 30, 2021 – SRS Watch Comments
SRS Watch news, July 30, 2021: Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel Plant in Columbia, South Carolina Quietly Released by Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Groundwater Contamination Issues and Ever-Present Accident Threat Don’t Justify 40-Year License Extension
Draft EIS Glosses Over Current Contamination and Ignores Future Impacts;
Sentencing of Former SCANA CEO Kevin Marsh, for Fraud in Terminated South Carolina Nuclear Reactor Construction Project, Inching Closer – How Much Time will the Admitted Felon Get?
“DEFENDANT MARSH’S MOTION FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE OBJECTIONS TO THE PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATION REPORT”
Request granted by court: “WHEREFORE the Defendant, Kevin Marsh, respectfully moves this Court for an order extending the deadline in which he can file objections to the Presentence Investigation Report until August 2,
“Feds face suit over plan to build atomic weapons component factory in SC” & more articles on lawsuit against plutonium pit production
Feds face suit over plan to build atomic weapons component factory in SC
The State, Columbia, South Carolina, June 29, 2021
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/environment/article252441373.html
Documentation for SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant Delays to 2035 and Doubling of Cost to $11.1 Billion
Documentation from the U.S. Department of Energy that the 2030 Target Date for Production of 50 Pits Per Year at the Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) –
Trouble for Nuclear War Planners: SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) Cost Blasts Through the Roof: $11 Billion…$14 Billion…$18 Billion?!
Officially, the cost of the proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant doubled last week in DOE’s nuclear weapons budget request for Fiscal Year 2022, from $4.6 billion to a whopping $11 billion.
Great News! Sierra Club (South Carolina) Opposes SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant Funding Request for Fiscal Year 2022, Supports Programmatic EIS on $11-Billion Pit Plant – Advisory May 30, 2021
Great move! South Carolina Sierra Club opposes proposed $11-billion SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant, questions NNSA’s $603 million funding request for pit project in Fiscal Year 2022 budget released on May 28;
Release of Draft EIS on Westinghouse Uranium Fuel Plant near Columbia, South Carolina Delayed Again, to July 2021 & License Extension Likewise Delayed
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Revised License Renewal Schedule for the
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC
Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility
Docket 70-1151
SNM -1107
The schedule for the release of the draft EIS on the Westinghouse uranium fuel plant near Columbia,
US Nonproliferation Experts Express Concern about Moltex Plutonium Project and Proliferation Risks to Prime Minister Trudeau
US experts to Prime Minister Trudeau: Canada’s support for plutonium fuel undermines global efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons
The May 25, 2021 letter expresses concern about the Canadian government’s financial support of Moltex – a startup nuclear company that proposes to extract plutonium from CANDU irradiated nuclear fuel.
“Merits and Viability of Different Nuclear Fuel Cycles & Technology Options and the Waste Aspects of Advanced Nuclear Reactors,” May 17-18, 2021
Nonproliferation, security issues of advanced reactors & associated nuclear fuel cycles to be addressed by National Academies of Sciences (NAS) panel, May 17-18, 2021: “Merits and Viability of Different Nuclear Fuel Cycles &
Annual Report on Nuclear Ship Savannah (NS Savannah) Posted by NRC, Still Docked in Baltimore
The annual final safety report for the Nuclear Ship Savannah was publicly posted by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on May 10, 2021. The NS Savannah, defueled for decades, was the nation’s first and only nuclear-powered commercial vessel.
HALEU (High Assay Low Enriched Uranium) Poses New Security Risks: DOE; Centrus HALEU Project to be Permitted to Produce Weapon-Grade Uranium (HEU)?
In a just-released presentation, the US Department of Energy has outlined gaps in physical protection regulations to protect “High Assay Low Enriched Uranium.” HALEU is being touted for fuel for fanciful “advanced reactors”
Signs of Trouble at 66-Year-Old H-Canyon Reprocessing Plant; Bubble, Bubble, Toil & Trouble with SRS Spent Fuel Storage?
Looks like personnel at the aging H-Canyon reprocessing plant can’t even hang a warning sign correctly. If they don’t sweat the small stuff what about the big stuff?
SRS Watch Director Presented Community Service Award for Volunteer Efforts in Columbia, SC
SRS Watch director Tom Clements garners community service award in Columbia, South Carolina. Craig Currey, head of the Transitions homeless center, and a representative of United Way, presented the award at a luncheon on April 7,
DOE: Different Materials Usable for a Nuclear Explosion, Like Neptunium and 4 Kg Reactor-Grade Plutonium in a “DOE SQ” (New Term it Seems)
A report just made public by the U.S. Department of Energy confirmss that it’s not only weapon-grade plutonium that can be used for a nuclear device.
The report by Los Alamos National Lab and dated March 31,
Hype Shifts from SMRs to Illusory “Advanced Reactors,” Biden to Follow?
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) are slated to hold meetings on illusory “advanced reactors” and the fuels for them.
1.
DOE’s NNSA Reveals it’s Out of Money. Flat Broke. Busted. Nothing Left for Beneficial Nuclear Non-Proliferation Program to Convert Reactor from Weapon-Grade Uranium Fuel.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has revealed that it has spent all of our money. Busted flat. Nothing left. Nada. Zilch. Nichts.
Well,
New “Nuclear Posture Review” (NPR) to Assess Need for New Nuclear Warheads and Plutonium Pit Plan, including Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant
In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has confirmed that a new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) is getting underway., as anticipated. The NPR will review new nuclear warheads for which new plutonium pits will be made –
Articles: Plutonium pit production at proposed Plutonium Bomb Plant under review? Plutonium “disposition” at SRS via H-Canyon reprocessing plant into waste tanks
SRS Watch in two plutonium articles of interest, both posted in the Aiken Standard on March 17, 2021:
“Ongoing ‘review’ forces Pentagon official to pull out of SC pit production briefing”
Proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant Faces More Challenges – Appears to be Under Review
Plutonium pit project – initially to produce pits for new warheads (first W87-1, then W93) – under formal review? The unneeded, unjustified the SRS Plutonium Bomb plant is coming under increasing scrutiny.