Latest News

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”

“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 Nuclear Plan Shows More Weapons, Increasing Costs, Less Transparency”

 Federation of American Scientists blog, December 30, 2020

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.

“Under Trump, the nuclear weapons industry has boomed – Expansion could be scaled back as President-elect Biden and Congress prioritize pandemic and recession problems.”

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.”

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.

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.

Unjustified Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) proposed for SRS faces new challenges from key member of US House

News article in Charleston (South Carolina) Post &

“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,

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,

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.

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.

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. 

“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,

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. 

“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.

“Nuclear fiasco: SCANA ex-CEO to plead guilty to fraud, get prison, pay $5 million”

The State, Columbia, SC, November 24, 2020

article linked here:  https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article247398515.html

Kevin Marsh plea agreement,

For the last four year, DOE officials have been shaking in their fraidy-cat boots and have refused to meet with public interest organizations working on SRS and DOE issues.

“THE ALLIANCE FOR NUCLEAR ACCOUNTABILITY (ANA) TOP TEN LIST PRIORITIES FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMMUNITIES”

Advice of ANA – SRS Watch is a member –

“Poverty and the Pandemic: Ending Poverty, Creating Solutions and Fighting for Environmental Justice in SC”

Livestreamed program by the Sierra Club, Columbia, SC, Monday,

SRS Watch in: “DOE Activities Raise Safety Concerns about Plutonium at Three Facilities”

Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 30, 2020

According to the Department of Energy (DOE),

Will politicians comment on plans to bring another 35 metric tons of plutonium to SRS for processing as waste and for fabrication into “pits” for nuclear weapons? 

“Three takeaways from the 2020 World Nuclear Industry Status Report”

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, September 25, 2020 – article posted here: https://thebulletin.org/2020/09/three-takeaways-from-the-2020-world-nuclear-industry-status-report/

“The size of the global nuclear fleet has been stagnant for 30 years,

Please Attend News Conference on Savannah River Site Plutonium Disposition, Monday, August 31, 11 a.m., State House, Columbia, SC – Show Your Concern about Secrecy with Plutonium Processing

The Announcement by DOE and SC Attorney General Wilson Involves 11.5 Metric Tons of Plutonium Now at SRS but What Won’t be Said is that Another 35 Metric Tons of Plutonium is Destined for SRS –

“Dark Circle” movie to air on August 21, 8 p.m. EDT – https://metrograph.com/live-screenings/dark-circle/

“It’s been 75 years this month since the start of the Atomic Age, with the U.S.

Director of SRS Watch says a few words at the Hiroshima/Nagasaki 75th anniversary event in downtown Columbia, South Carolina on August 8, 2020 about the folly of planning for nuclear war,

August 9th Hiroshima/Nagasaki 75th anniversary video commemoration by the local Columbia Friends Meeting (Quakers), Columbia, SC: “Peace Now: Clean Up, Not Build Up at Savannah River Site”

“Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste Inventory Report”

“This report provides information on the inventory of commercial spent fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in the United States,

“Nuclear Weapon Accident Response Overview”

Flag Words for Accidents and Incidents Involving Nuclear Weapons

• NUCFLASH
• BROKEN ARROW
• EMPTY QUIVER
• BENT SPEAR
• DULL SWORD
• PINNACLE FADED GIANT
• BEELINE FADED GIANT

Nuclear weapon accident defined as

An unexpected event due to accidental circumstances involving
U.S.