Columbia, SC – The House and Senate have agreed to language in the defense bill which would allow termination of the problem-plagued MOX project now under increasing duress at the DOE’s Savannah River Site.
SRS Watch News
DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) releases key document to SRS Watch on plutonium “pit” (core) production at Savannah River Site and Los Alamos – for unneeded nuclear weapons – via a July 3, 2018 response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request
Final Report for the Plutonium Pit Production Analysis of Alternatives,
October 2017, linked here
FOIA response cover letter to SRS Watch, July 3, 2018, linked here
Federal Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Allowing Construction of Bungled Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project at SRS to Continue for Now, halting Formal Termination
Judge Fails to Understand that the Failed MOX Project will Not Result in Plutonium Removal from South Carolina, with link to key documents – SRS Watch news here
June 18,
Federal Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Allowing Construction of Bungled Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project at SRS to Continue for Now, halting Formal Termination; Judge Fails to Understand that the Failed MOX Project will Not Result in Plutonium Removal from South Carolina
SRS Watch News Flash
Ruling Throws Spanner into NNSA’s Effort to Convert MOX to an Unneeded Nuclear Bomb Facility (to Make Plutonium “Pits” For Nuclear Weapons)
With Court Ruling,
Nuclear Watch of New Mexico & SRS Watch
Nuclear Watch of New Mexico & SRS Watch news release, May 31, 2018:
Groups Release Key DOE Documents on Expanded Plutonium Pit Production,
Termination of the plutonium fuel (MOX) fiasco (now Ex-MOX) is being implemented & partial stop-work order at MOX construction site is in effect!
Will a permanent stop work order be issued by August 13 – 90 days after the May 14 “partial stop work order” – to halt all construction on the the failed MOX project?
Thanks to the Guacamole Fund for arranging tabling by SRS Watch at the James Taylor concert in Charleston, South Carolina on May 15, 2018!
It was good to interact with the public about the failed SCE&G nuclear reactor construction project, the plutonium fuel (MOX) debacle at the Savannah River Site & the sketchy plans by DOE to build a new nuclear bomb plants at SRS (for production of “pits”
Picture The COUNTDOWN has begun for the release of DOE’s Pit Analysis Report, due to Congress on May 11, 2018
The analysis of DOE facilities to manufacture the plutonium cores (pits) for nuclear weapons is due to Congress in less than a month. That report will, in part, analyze DOE sites for location of a facility to produce about 50 pits per year.
NUCLEAR WAR ALERT! SRS to HAVE MAJOR ROLE in NEW NUCLEAR ARMS RACE MADNESS?
DOE aims to trade MOX debacle for nuclear weapons production
SRS Watch news release, May 10, 2018 – linked here
Initial DOE Decision Expected on New Nuclear Bomb Plant;
You’ve waited a decade for MOX TERMINATION. Keep calm – it will soon happen!
May 9, 2018 alert: DOE’s 2nd COUNTDOWN relevant to SRS is about to begin – delivery to Congress of the costs analysis of MOX vs. “dilute & dispose” for disposition of surplus weapons plutonium.
DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) reaffirms no plans to receive North Korean plutonium or highly enriched uranium (bomb-grade uranium) at SRS or DOE sites
Freedom of Information Act response, April 24, 2018, to SRS Watch – citing no documents found by NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (NA-20) – linked here
SRS Watch news release of March 15,
As Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project-Termination Countdown Begins, More Problems with Project Revealed by DOE via FOIA Responses to Savannah River Site Watch
DOE Confirms Award Fee for MOX Services has been Terminated Starting with FY 2017; Annual Report on MOX Plant Not Delivered to Congress by February 15, as Legally Required,
In letter to SRS Watch, the new DOE site clean-up boss, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White, acknowledges the importance of hearing the views of the “local communities surrounding SRS”, congratulates SRS Watch for our work and looks forward to working together.
See April 26, 2018 letter to SRS Watch linked here.
DOE news release of March 30, 2018:
Anne Marie White Sworn in as Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management
Attention MOX workers, April 12, 2018
Please let us know what expectations you have as the MOX project enters the termination phase. As we don’t hear a single politician or DOE manager speaking up for you,
Radioactive Mouse Found in High-Level Radioactive Waste Tank Area at Savannah River Site; Mouse Reported to have Radioactive Surface Contamination More than 10 Times Levels in Regulations
Radioactive Mouse Incident Rises to Level of being only “Occurrence” Reported in SRS “Quarterly Legacy Contamination Report, January 2018 Through March 2018”
Columbia, South Carolina – A mouse contaminated with a high level of radioactive material was found in a building located in the midst of tanks storing highly radioactive waste at the Savannah River Site,
NRC Confirms that it No Longer has Resident Inspector at Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Plant, Claiming Lack of Work; Admission Comes as Pro-MOX Senator States MOX Completion Far Below Earlier Claims
Memo on Needed “Rework” at MOX Plant Obtained via FOIA Request, Gives Hint at Extent of Construction Problems and Who Might Pay – Rework and Contractor Performance Merit Investigation
Columbia,
Congressional Funding Keeps Bungled MOX Project at Shut-Down Funding Level, Accepts Defense Committee Language for Conditions to Terminate MOX, Pursue Alternative and Remove Plutonium from S. Carolina
Columbia, SC – The budget deal revealed by Congress keeps the troubled plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Savannah River Site on life support and, in a significant new move,
ALERT TO MOX CRAFT WORKERS!
The spending agreement – linked in the SRS Watch news release below – allows Secretary Perry to terminate the MOX boondoggle 30 days after DOE has met the requirements for termination.
DOE Reveals it has No Plans to Receive Plutonium or Weapon-Grade Uranium (“Special Nuclear Material”) or Nuclear Weapons from North Korea, in Surprise Response to FOIA Request
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Response to SRS Watch linked here
Is Response Accurate or is there No Formal DOE Plan for Fate of N.
DOE Posts NNSA Budget Request, Confirms Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Fiasco “Final Termination” at Savannah River Site in 2021, Focus on “Dilute & Dispose” for Plutonium Disposition
Budget Request States Plans is to Ramp up Dilute & Dispose to Remove “1 metric ton (MT) of Plutonium from the State of South Carolina” and Dispose of 34 Metric Tons
National Nuclear Security Administration Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2019:
https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2018/02/f49/DOE-FY2019-Budget-Volume-1.pdf
Columbia,
SRS Documents Debunk its Own Hyped Up “Drone Scare of 2016”
Does this SRS photo look like a drone to you? If so, please call the Savannah River Site and apply for a security job.
SRS Watch news,
SRS Watch Congratulates Trump Administration for Sticking with Sound Policy to Terminate Plutonium MOX Construction Fiasco at Savannah River Site
SRS Watch news release linked here
—– Friends of the Earth 2013 – Oink! youtube video on MOX fiasco – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2PTwods3Y4
New Aerial Photos of Our 3 New-Nuclear Construction Debacles Released: MOX, Vogtle, VC Summer
February 5, 2018, Columbia, S.C. – New aerial photos of the three U.S. nuclear construction fiascos located in South Carolina or on the border have been released.
This Cool Cat Smells a Stinky MOX Rat
President Trump: RELEASE THE MOX MEMO!!!!
It’s February 2, 2018 and it’s time to release the memo outlining how the the plutonium MOX project at SRS failed and can never be made to work!
Picture SRS Watch Director Wins Conservation Award
Tom Clements, the director of Savannah River Site Watch and senior adviser with Friends of the Earth, was presented the “Conservationist of the Year” award by the South Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club at its annual awards banquet in Columbia,
December 19, 2017: SRS Watch Files FOIA Request for Plans to Bring Nuclear Weapons and Special Nuclear Materials from North Korea to DOE Sites, including Savannah River Site – For Storage and Disposition
In Event of an Avoidable, Unnecessary War with N. Korea and if Nuclear Weapons and Plutonium, Highly Enriched Uranium are Seized or Obtained, What would be the Role of NNSA and DOE Sites?
As MOX Remains on Shut-down Track, National Academies of Sciences Review of Non-MOX Disposal of Surplus Plutonium Gets Under Way with Meeting in Washington; Public Meeting to be Held Near Savannah River Site in Early 2018
NAS Committee to Review “Dilute & Dispose” of Plutonium as Nuclear Waste, in WIPP Facility; Plutonium Immobilization not Revived but has been best Disposal Option Since Inception of Surplus Plutonium Project
Columbia,
Seeing nothing but RED for a mismanaged MOX project that continues to teeter on the congressionally mandated precipice of oblivion
As we know and as is unavoidable due to on-going construction and management problems, the US Department of Energy again awards the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site a failing grade.
Quote of the month, which backs up our reporting that production of plutonium oxide in the HB-Line, for the failed MOX project, has ceased:
“Plutonium dissolution activities [in HB-Line] are on hold right now…[we] don’t anticipate that moving in the future.”
— Tony Polk, Director Nuclear Material Programs Division
DOE Savannah River Operations Office,
DOE Affirms Bungled Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project at SRS is Not Sustainable and Must be Terminated
See October 12, 2017 presentation by Robert Raines, NNSA, Associate Administrator for Acquisition and Project Management to the South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council:
Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF)
“Latest Government estimate [on MOX plant construction cost and schedule]: $17.2B and 2048 completion date”