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 –
Latest News
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.
Follow the money: “INSIDE THE ICBM LOBBY: SPECIAL INTERESTS OR THE NATIONAL INTERESTS”
Read why the proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant is not needed to make new plutonium pits for the new ICBM (with W87-1 warhead), while Northrop Grumman gets rich: “INSIDE THE ICBM LOBBY: SPECIAL INTERESTS OR THE NATIONAL INTERESTS”
“U.S. continues push to restart plutonium pit production” at SRS and Los Alamos, for Preparation for All-Out Nuclear War and not Deterrence
“U.S. continues push to restart plutonium pit production”
Physics Today, March 5, 2021
“The government is preparing two facilities to fabricate the cores of nuclear weapons despite concerns over the safety and necessity of the endeavor.”
34 Metric Tons of Plutonium – Yes, 34! – Could be Headed to SRS for Fabrication in K-Area into Fuel for Unjustified Reactor – But Trouble Awaits the Project
“New reactor fuel mission floated for SRS, DOE documents show”
Aiken (South Carolina) Standard, March 5, 2021, article linked here:
Comments on draft EIS on the VTR by Tom Clements,
U.S. Doom Machine Preparing for Full-Scale Nuclear War (hey, it’s very profitable!): “Nuclear Notebook: United States nuclear weapons, 2021”
All you’ll need to know about U.S. nuclear weapons – a force built to fight an all-out nuclear war, not just for deterrence, funneling massive amounts of our money into the pockets of war profiteers.
UK-Flagged Pacific Grebe Arrives Back in England after Dropping Spent Research Reactor Fuel in Savannah, GA, which was taken to USGS Reactor in Denver
Irradiated research reactor fuel from Finland’s FiR reactor was recently shipped into the U.S. port of Savannah, Georgia and then transported cross county to a TRIGA reactor in Denver,
South Carolina Environmental Law project (SCELP) takes on the issue of environmental review of production for plutonium pits for nuclear weapons!
Read about it and more admirable work of SCELP in their February 2021 news update.
“Groups ask Biden for wider environmental review of nuke work” for unjustified, new nuclear weapons
Groups ask Biden for wider environmental review of nuke work
Associated Press in Washington Post, February 17, 2021
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Watchdog groups want the Biden administration to reconsider a decision by a U.S.
Los Alamos National Lab’s Doom Machine – Planning for Full-Scale Nuclear War – Faces Challenge by Patriots
“Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Lab Opens Office in the City of the Santa Fe (“Holy Faith”) of Peace and Environmental Protection”
News from Nuclear Watch New Mexico,
SRS Aiming to Dump More Reclassified High-Level Nuclear Waste at Texas Low-Level Nuclear Waste Dump? Article in Texas Tribune
“West Texas is on track to get even more nuclear waste — thanks to the federal government”
A hazardous waste disposal company in Andrews County wants to handle more dangerous levels of nuclear waste.
How will Grout Poured into Empty High-Level Waste Tanks at SRS Perform? Will Degradation Lead to Groundwater Contamination?
“SUMMARY OF DECEMBER 9, 2020, WEBINAR CALL RELATED TO EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED BY THE SAVANNAH RIVER ECOLOGY LABORATORY AND THE CENTER FOR NUCLEAR WASTE REGULATORY ANALYSES TO SUPPORT TANK FARM CLOSURE AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE”
Safety Board: Radiation Does Rates High as a Nuclear Firecracker in New SRS High-Level Waste Facility
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) – thanks for their oversight! – reports high radiation levels in new high-level waste processing facility at SRS, now undergoing start up –
Future Well Drillers at What Was Once SRS -Beware! Rad Waste Vaults Below!
CAUTION urged to future well drillers at what was once the Savannah River Site and Idaho National lab – vaults with radioactive waste may lurk below! Subsurface material disposed of as “Waste Incidental to Reprocessing”
Plans to Dump German High-Level Nuclear Waste on SRS Remains on Life Support Due to Strong Citizen Opposition
“152 Jülicher Castoren stehen immer noch „an Ort und Stelle“ – Ein Erfolg für Westcastor?”
“152 Jülich Castors Still “in Place” – A Success for Westcastor?”
Plans to dump highly radioactive graphite spent fuel from Germany on SRS faces strong opposition in Germany.
NNSA’s “Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan” – Bring on the Nukes, Increase the Threats to Our Security & Hand Over the Cash!
“NNSA Nuclear Plan Shows More Weapons, Increasing Costs, Less Transparency”
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) new Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan (SSMP) doubles the number of new nuclear warhead programs compared with the previous plan from 2019.
Unjustified $R$ Plutonium Bomb Plant, Dangerous New Nuclear Warhead Programs to Face Strong Opposition in 2021
“Under Trump, the nuclear weapons industry has boomed – Expansion could be scaled back as President-elect Biden and Congress prioritize pandemic and recession problems.”
Article on Versatile Test Reactor (aka Virtual Test Reactor) – Given Cost & Risks How Long Can this Project Last?
SRS Watch in “DOE publishes reactor impact statement”
Idaho Falls Post Register, December 21, 2020
“The U.S. Department of Energy has released the draft environmental impact statement for a test reactor it would like to build at Idaho National Laboratory.”
DOE Funding Document Posted as Part of Omnibus Process, December 21, 2020
Congress has finally posted funding language for Fiscal Year 2021.
Full Omnibus bill: https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-116HR133SA-RCP-116-68.pdf
Division D – Energy & Water funding:
https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20201221/BILLS-116RCP68-JES-DIVISION-D.pdf
page 108
Plutonium Pit Production.-The agreement reiterates House direction regarding plutonium pit production and clarifies that the plan to complete a resource-loaded integrated master schedule shall include all pit production-related project and program activities that shall provide additional details within high-level milestones for projects based on GAO best practices.
Why the Continuous DOE Silence about Problems with SWPF Start-up at SRS?
DOE needs to fully reveal what’s going on with the start-up of the new high-level waste processing facility – Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) – at SRS.
Doubts Grow about Unjustified Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) at SRS: “‘Highly skeptical’: House Armed Services chairman concerned about SRS pit production”
Unjustified Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) proposed for SRS faces new challenges from key member of US House
News article in Charleston (South Carolina) Post &
DOE Announces Plan to Prepare EIS on Disposition 34 Metric Tons of Surplus Plutonium, Key Role for SRS
“Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program” – Federal Register on December 16, 2020
“Public scoping” comment period begins December 16,
The Courage of Greenpeace Needed to Confront Push for New Nuclear Arms Race and Proposed $R$ Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP)
Peace Train: Greenpeace brings half-century of sheer courage
The environmental nonprofit organization’s many voyages have made a mark on nuclear testing sites
Boulder (Colorado) Daily Camera,
Safety Board names degraded SRS facilities, cites DOE for “erosion in DOE’s nuclear safety framework”
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety (DNSB) is an independent agency providing invaluable oversight of DOE operations. A recent report on recommendations by the board points out numerous shortcomings by DOE in its operations.
Nuclear Ship Savannah, Docked in Baltimore, Still Contains Radioactive Material – First Commercial Nuclear-Powered Ship did Not Pave the Way to the Future
The Nuclear Ship Savannah, the world’s first commercial nuclear powered ship, remains at dock in Baltimore Maryland and awaits being fully decommissioned and possibly turned into a museum.
Safety Board Affirms Elevated Radiation Levels in New High-Level Waste Facility at SRS, DOE Remains Mum
The Defense Nuclear facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has confirmed that a potential radiation exposure concern is present in the newly started Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF). SRS Watch was alerted about this problem about two months ago but DOE has kept it on the down low.
Helping inform the Public about SRS: BREDL Podcast on Savannah River Site, with the SRS Watch Director
“Everything You Need to Know About the Savannah River Site (SRS)”
Want to learn about SRS? Listen to this BREDL podcast with the SRS Watch director,
US NRC Analyzes SRS High-Level Waste Tank “Closure,” Makes Recommendations to DOE
As SRS aims to fill more high-level waste tanks with “grout,” the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission submits an analysis on the approach DOE took with in-situ tank closure of Tank 12H.
SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant to be Reviewed by Biden Administration – Article in The State, Columbia, South Carolina
“Is jobs-rich nuclear plant in jeopardy? Biden expected to re-examine SC factory”
The State, Columbia, South Carolina, November 27, 2020
Earlier this month, efforts to build a jobs-rich nuclear weapons component factory in South Carolina reached a milestone that boosters hoped would keep construction plans on track over the next decade.