SRS Watch News

We’ve finally getting somewhere with our Freedom of Information Act request of January 3, 2017 for information about “rework” (of improper work) that has taken place at the MOX project.

Comments by NNSA Official at DNFSB Hearing First Indication of Review of Pit Production Capability

Columbia, SC – The Department of Energy has confirmed that it is now conducting a review to determine which DOE sites might be appropriate for location of production of plutonium “pits,” the core of nuclear weapons. 

“NNSA is performing an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) to determine the most efficient and cost effective means of achieving pit manufacturing program goals over the next decade.   Several NNSA and DOE sites with the capability of supporting nuclear operations are being considered in the AoA,

Please contact SRS Watch if you have more information about the MOX Shim Sham or other rework or construction problems at the MOX boondoggle:  srswatch@gmail.com

Why aren’t Senator Lindsey Graham and Rep.

New Aerial Photos of Doomed Plutonium Fuel MOX Project at the DOE’s Savannah River Site Released, Legally Taken on May 26, 2017 – Can be Used with Approval by &

South Carolina Electric & Gas’ (SCE&G) VC Summer photos, May 26, 2017, Courtesy of High Flyer © 2017, have been linked by High Flyer on a public Google drive: 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BwkyYyn8X-ySTHlYc0pwWDhCTWs

Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle May 26,

Department of Energy Budget Request Deals Budget-Cutting Blow to Plutonium MOX Project, $270 Million Request for Project “Termination” is $70 Million less than Current Spending Level; Cut would Speed Orderly Termination of Mismanaged MOX Program

Washington,

Suspicious of the hyped-up drone reports in the summer of 2016, SRS Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request on the matter in November 2016.  We still have received no documents.

South Carolina Public Service Commission Denies Request for “Emergency Hearing” on Troubled VC Summer Nuclear Reactor Construction Project

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has confirmed is that the “degraded” vessel head at South Carolina Electric &

Some of the outstanding FOIA requests we have pending with SRS and DOE/NNSA on important programs and matters – list linked here:

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May 17, 2017:  SRS Watch to Join with Sister Organizations to Meet with Congressional and Administration Offices in Washington, DC to Represent the Public Interest in DOE Funding and Policy Matters,

Why are DOE/NNSA and CB&I AREVA MOX Services Failing to Answer Basic Questions about the Mismanaged Project’s Viability at the Time the DOE Budget for Fiscal Year 2018 is Supposedly Set to be Released (on May 22 or 23…)?

DOE’s Failure to Release Information Prompts FOIA Request by SRS Watch

Columbia, SC – Receipt of controversial shipments of highly radioactive liquid waste from Canada has begun arriving at the U.S.

Link to FOIA Response Document Confirming no MOX Report: https://tinyurl.com/kfx6hgl

Columbia, SC – Reflecting disarray in the program to dispose of surplus weapons plutonium,

Congress Cuts MOX Funding for Fiscal Year 2017, Keeps Project on a Shut-down Track while Funding Alternative Plutonium Disposal Method (Dilute and Dispose) at Savannah River Site
 
Dreams of MOX boosters to get an Increase in funding not realized –

DOE’s Savannah River Site to Continue Import of Plutonium, Research Reactor Spent Fuel; SRS Watch Appeals for Import Halt and fotr Focus to Remain on Clean-up and Disposition of Hard-to-Manage Materials already at SRS

“Plans” Obtained Under Freedom of Information Act Request by SRS Watch

full news release linked here
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“More nuclear shipments to Savannah River Site likely,

If there was a real or potential drone threat to SRS, as implied in repeatedly passing drone overflight news to the media, why won’t SRS officials now discuss it?  

The memo – linked here – outlines the host of difficult to manage nuclear waste forms that would have to go back to Germany in case a loophole is allowed in Germany’s nuclear waste management legislation for export spent fuel for conditioning,

SRS Watch Releases DOE’s Devastating FY 2016 Assessment of CB&I AREVA MOX Services’ Construction of Troubled Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Plant at Savannah River Site (SRS) – “Award Fee Determination”

A PROJECT IN DISARRAY:  MOX — Chronic Funding Problems, Construction Challenges and the Project’s Fate

PPT presentation by Savannah River Site Watch,

It’s been a very bruising week in federal court for the debacle known as MOX and now this devastating news about MOX nuts! 

We edge ever closer to finding out about the true extent of the “rework”

Will the DOE Swamp be Drained or Filled Up with More of Our $$$$$? 

Our readers will know that DOE has teamed up with Chalk River Labs in Ontario,

— Congress will initially keep the plutonium fuel MOX project at the shut-down funding level (of $340 million/year);
— Reports will underscore that the $17 billion MOX plant construction at SRS is not viable due to cost challenges and chronic design and construction problems;

On December 19, 2016, SRS released the bonus fee for Centerra-SRS, the private company providing security at SRS, for the period April 1, 2016 – September 30, 2016. But something is very odd with the bonus fee discussion:  there is no mention of the SRS “Drone Scare”

SRS Official States Delay in Shipment of Liquid High-Level Waste from Canada has DOE Headquarters “In a Lather”

full SRS Watch news release linked here

Documents obtained by SRS Watch on December 13,

December 10, 2015:  Is fuel containing highly enriched uranium (HEU) at the UK’s Dounreay site in Scotland on the way to SRS?  (see article linked below) 

Why doesn’t the UK deal with its own nuclear materials and send it to the Sellafield nuclear site (as has been the plan by the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority)?!  

MOX Construction Worker Stand Down on November 17 Due to Safety Incidents?  NNSA Won’t Confirm

SRS Watch Files FOIA Request for Documents,

SRS Watch Calls for Halt to Incoming Nuclear Waste Until an Exit Plan is Developed and Implemented

Columbia, SC – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is now reviewing the transport cask planned to be used for shipment of research reactor spent nuclear fuel from the University of Alberta,

Due to reports that some workers for CB&I AREVA MOX Services (and subcontractors) at the MOX plant were faking urine tests in order to appear drug-free and that the contractor was not implementing a proper drug-testing program,

SRS Watch letter of October 12, 2016 to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission about the proposal of the “Spent Fuel Reprocessing Group” to consolidate spent fuel from South Carolina reactors,