SRS Watch and other Groups Write to Key members of Armed Services Committees about Wasteful Spending in National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, including on the Issue of Expanded Plutonium “Pit”
SRS Watch News
Plutonium Bomb Plant at SRS? Look at the Plutonium Mess Left by DOE at Rocky Flats
WARNING: DOE’s record on plutonium “pit” production (for nuclear weapons) is abysmal. Witness the Rocky Flats disaster and chronic plutonium-handling problems at Los Alamos National lab. Yet, DOE is a pushing the unfunded and unauthorized (by Congress) Plutonium Bomb Plant on the Savannah River Site,
SRS Watch Submits Comments on Proposed “Versatile Test Reactor”
SRS Watch has submitted comments for the “scoping” for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposed “Versatile Test Reactor.” DOE has proposed that SRS make the fuel for the reactor but SRS has no experience with such work since the production reactors at SRS closed in the 1980s.
DOE Requests License to Export More Bomb-Grade Uranium
The U.S. Department of Energy – National Nuclear Security Administration – has filed an export license request with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to export “highly enriched uranium” (bomb-grade uranium) to Europe.
SRS Watch in: “Lethal legacy – Why SC is likely stuck with a stockpile of the nation’s most dangerous nuclear materials”
Charleston (South Carolina) Post & Courier, July 7, 2019, front page print edition
Victory for SRS Watch and allied groups
Federal Government Meets Watchdogs’ Demand for Environmental Review of Expanded Plutonium “Pit” Production (for Nuclear Weapons), Including Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Proposed “Plutonium Bomb Plant” (PBP) at SRS
In a victory for transparency and legal compliance by the government,
“Noted Environmental Lawyers Warn Government Not to Expand Production of Plutonium Bomb Cores in Violation of National Environmental Policy Act and Public Review”
News release, June 4, 2019 – SRS Watch, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Tri-Valley CAREs
On behalf of three public interest organizations – Nuclear Watch New Mexico,
Summary of Classified Plutonium Pit Report Obtained, Outlines Challenges Facing Options Utilizing Savannah River Site and Los Alamos National Lab for Pit Production for Nuclear Weapons
>>> Public Forum on June 14 in Aiken, SC to Review Plans for Repurposing Closed MOX Plant at Savannah River Site into Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) <<<<
Columbia,
Savannah River Site Watch participated in the annual “DC Days” of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA)
On May 20-22, 2019, 70 participants from 20 states, mostly near DOE sites, held over 100 meetings on the Hill and with agencies.
On May 21,
Plutonium at SRS…
It’s old information, but see the SRS Watch Facebook page post of May 19, 2019 for the amount of surplus weapon-grade plutonium stored at SRS – something known for a decade and long publicized by SRS Watch.
The forum was a huge success!
Breaking News: SRS Watch media advisory, May 13, 2019:
Public Forum on June 14, Aiken, SC: “Plutonium Bomb Plant: Risky Project Targeted for Savannah River Site“
Savannah River Site Reveals “Occurrence” with Receipt of Radioactive Contamination on Incoming Waste Shipment Container from Unnamed University, Disposition Unknown
SRS Watch news release, May 10, 2019:
Questions Posed by SRS Watch about the Incident Go Unanswered
Columbia, SC – The U.S.
SRS Watch to participate in Earth Day Events
SRS Watch to participate in Earth Day Events at Aiken Technical College (ATC) on Wednesday, April 17, 2019 – Please stop by if you’re in the Aiken, South Carolina area!
SRS Watch news on continuing MOX debacle, March 29, 2019
Review of “Accuracy” of CB&I Areva MOX Services Payments to HVAC Contractor Intermech by DOE NNSA Reveals “Lack of Due Diligence,” Questionable Payments, Faulty Work; Document Obtained by SRS Watch Raises Similar Concerns as Federal Fraud Case involving MOX Services and Wise Services
“Concerns” and “Findings” in “Assessment Report” by NNSA of Management by MOX Services of Intermech Subcontract Underscores Need for Deeper Investigations into Possible Fraud,
DOE has posted the nuclear weapons budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year 2020 – it goes crazy over nuclear weapons-related activities, including pit production at SRS, but doesn’t mention the timeline for the required Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on the pit proposal.
Time for Congress to get the national security budget-cutting ax out to protect us from the threat of a new Cold War!
“Trump’s 2020 Nuclear Weapons Budget Escalates New Arms Race”
SRS Watch news, March 21, 2019
NRC Issues Final Inspection Report for MOX Plant Construction with Two Violations; Failure to Keep Records for Stored Equipment may Pose Challenges for its Future Use in a “Repurposed” Facility
Columbia,
South Carolina flips from “New Nuclear Ground Zero” to “Dead Nuclear Ground Zero!”
SRS Watch, March 13, 2019: VC Summer AP1000 “Combined Operating License” (COL) termination for halted units 2 and 3 – not something you’ll see every day! This is the final nail in the coffin of new reactors in South Carolina &
SRS Watch in “U.S. Pivots From Nuclear Reactor Fuel to Bomb Cores”
Environment News Service, posted
Feb. 19, 2019 – article linked here
DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) refuses, so far, to prepare the legally mandated Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on pit production.
SRS Watch shares the concern in this article about PACER: “Attacking a Pay Wall That Hides Public Court Filings”
As crazy and anti-transparency as it sounds, did you know the public must pay 10 cents per page to download federal court papers, via the court’s PACER system? SRS Watch –
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Terminates License (“Construction Authorization”) for Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Plant at DOE’s Savannah River Site; MOX Project now Officially Dead – Any Hope of Reviving Bungled Project is Shattered
SRS Watch news, February 11, 2019
See NRC letter and two enclosures linked in “notes” at end of release
Columbia,
Rock Out Against Plutonium Pit Production at SRS!
Thanks to the Guacamole Fund, SRS Watch will be tabling on Friday, February 8, 2019 at the Bonnie Raitt-James Taylor concert at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
Rock On!
Thanks to our friend Bonnie Raitt for requesting that Savannah River Site Watch table at the Bonnie Raitt/James Taylor concert on February 8, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina!
We gathered a bunch of letters against the unjustified expansion of nuclear weapons production –
Appeal by State of Nevada to block further plutonium shipments from SRS to South Carolina has on February 5, 2019 been assigned a case number by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but no hearing date yet set
“Office of the Clerk United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Post Office Box 193939 San Francisco, California 94119-3939 415-355-8000 February 05, 2019
Short Title:
State of Nevada v.
Filings by State of Nevada in Nevada district court, in plutonium shipment docket (3:18-cv-00569)
“Weapons-grade plutonium secretly sent to facility north of Las Vegas”
Las Vegas (Nevada) Review-Journal, January 30, 2019 – linked here
“DOE secretly ships plutonium to Nevada from SC”
>>> with news conference video – smaller box to the right – of Nevada governor & general: “DOE negotiations were a sham” – “irresponsible” -and misled the State of Nevada and Nevada federal district court –
“Secret shipment of Plutonium from SRS to Nevada revealed in court documents”
Articles on deceptive DOE’s secret plutonium shipment, with SRS Watch:
WJBF TV, Augusta, Georgia, January 30, 2019 – linked here
DOE Informs Nevada Court that Weapon-Grade Plutonium Shipment from DOE’s Savannah River Site to Nevada has taken Place; Unknown when Unjustified Shipment Occurred (but “before November 2018”)
SRS Watch news, January 30, 2019
Columbia, South Carolina – The U.S. Department of Energy has secretly shipped a large amount of weapon-grade plutonium from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to Nevada.
Where is DOE’s “missing” 1/2 tonne (500 kg, 1100 pounds) of weapon-grade plutonium?
Sounds like it may still be at SRS but who knows?! Let us know if you know: srswatch@gmail.com
DOE was going to remove 1 metric tonne of plutonium from the K-Reactor storage facility at SRS but the court document of January 30,
SRS Watch in “The government secretly shipped plutonium out of South Carolina. But tons remain”
Charleston (South Carolina) Post & Courier, Jan. 31, 2019
“This shipment does absolutely nothing to solve what happens to the plutonium at the Savannah River Site,” said Tom Clements,