We are pleased to see that Senator Ed Markey placed a tribute to Paul Leventhal in the Congressional Record. Paul, founder of the Nuclear Control Institute, was a leader in development of sound US nuclear non-proliferation policies and one of our enduring inspirations.
Congressional Record, April 27, 2017 – linked here
REMEMBERING PAUL LEVENTHAL
Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, this year we mark the 10th anniversary of
the untimely passing of our friend Paul Leventhal. Paul was a trailblazer when it came to addressing the dangers of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. I personally relied on Paul’s insight to craft my approach to preventing the spread of dangerous nuclear technology
and nuclear weapons.
As a Senate staffer during the 1970s, Paul made major contributions to our
Nation’s security.
….
All of these challenges will require us to take inspiration from Paul’s work to promote nuclear security and nonproliferation. To honor Paul, we must
rededicate ourselves to fighting these threats to international peace and
human survival.
read more at the link above….
“Paul Leventhal; Led Nuclear Control Institute,” obituary, Washington post, April 14, 2007 – linked here
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South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) makes weak case for continued, inexplicable secrecy about status of faltering SCE&G nuclear construction project. Just who is ORS trying to protect? South Carolina Electric & Gas? The Vow of Silence amongst decision makers in South Carolina about the troubled project continues to day by day erode public confidence
Update posted on ORS website:
7-5-2017 Status Update on Nuclear Construction—–
South Carolina Public Service Commission Reschedules Hearing on SCE&G’s Troubled Nuclear Construction Project to October 2, In Response to Request by Friends of the Earth & Sierra Club”
linked here: http://www.huntingtonnews.net/150152
“SOUTH CAROLINA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
STANDING HEARING OFFICER DIRECTIVE
DOCKET NO. 2017-207-E ORDER NO. 2017-44-H
JULY 6, 2017″ – changing hearing date from August 14, 2017 to
October 2, 2017 – linked here
photo: new reactor construction at inept SCE&G’s VC Summer site in Fairfield County, South Carolina, May 26, 2017, ©High Flyer
“KNOW WHEN TO HOLD ‘EM, KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM: Stop the Construction of Plant Vogtle 3 and 4” – video of citizens speaking up at Georgia Public Service Commission about Georgia Power’s Vogtle reactor construction debacle, June 29, 2017 – linked here
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Tritium Puts the Bang in US Nuclear Weapons and makes SRS a Nuclear Weapons Site
DOE solicits contractor to carry irradiated tritium rods (TPBARs) from Watts Bar Nuclear Bomb Reactors (WBNBR) in Tennessee to the Tritium Extraction Facility (TEF) at the Savannah River Site, July 5, 2016 – to support nuclear weapons activities (tritium processing and packaging in reservoirs at SRS, to go into nuclear weapons)
Solicitation “Purpose Built Tritium Transport Cask” – linked here
DOE document – “Tritium Supply Chain” – on tritium and nuclear weapons – linked here
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”The Boys of Summer” – how to lose the nuclear game
Cartoonist Robert Ariail hits a home run on SCE&G mismanagement of the VC Summer nuclear reactor construction project
cartoon in The State, Columbia, SC, July 5, 2017 print edition, linked here
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“Nuclear gunships sail from Barrow [UK] on plutonium voyage to Japan”
Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment (CORE) – Great Britain, July 2, 2017 – news release linked here
Did the US review and approve the security plan for this unnecessary MOX shipment – containing US-origin weapon-usable plutonium – from the UK to Japan?
“At a time of heightened and increasingly sophisticated action by terrorists we re-iterate our condemnation of the trans-world shipment of such dangerous material by sea. This voyage not only foists needless risks on the marine environment and communities along the route, but also raises additional and significant concerns in Japan on the use of MOX fuel in the Takahama reactor (as also used in the fated Fukushima reactors) which has only just re-started after the overturning of a court injunction by local activists which kept the reactor off-line for inadequate safety standards”
CORE photo: Unloading ammo boxes on Pacific Heron, July 1, 2017
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Senator Claire McCaskill sens letter to Secretary of Energy Perry, June 29, 2017, questioning contracting at DOE’s Hanford site and massive cost overruns with the Waste Treatment Plant ( WTP).
The WTP is to to vitrify high-level nuclear waste removed from the Hanford tanks – waste that’s a by-product of 67 metric tons of weapons plutonium production. With long schedule delays and a baseline cost estimate of $16.8 billion, WTP is another DOE boondoggle in the “big leagues of failures” along with the MOX debacle .
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MOX Fraudster to the Slammer?!
Sentencing in South Carolina federal court for party pleading guilty to providing low quality rebar to MOX project has not been set. When will the court impose a fine and prison sentence on fraudster Aaron Vennefron?
Recent relevant documents filed with the court:
Plea Agreement of May 31, 2017
Change of plea to guilty (for one count, a felony) , May 31, 2017
Lawyer for guilty party not available July 23-29, 2017, filed June 28, 2017
We still wonder if other criminal investigations into MOX fraud, waste and abuse are proceeding. For example, is there an investigation into Superior Air Handling, rumored to have badly botched the HVAC work, negatively impacted sequencing of other craft work at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). If you have information, please let us know.
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The League of Women Voters of South Carolina supports the complaint to the South Carolina Public Service commission (SC PSC) by Friends of the Earth/Sierra Club requesting a hearing on SCE&G’s botched nuclear reactor construction project
letter, June 26, 2017, linked here
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South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) – supposed to watch out for the “public interest” in utility matters – posts two letters to show it was concerned abut the schedule for the VC Summer project – looks like a little CYA….
Dec. 29, 2016 letter from ORS to SCANA CEO Kevin Marsh regarding Nuclear Project Schedule
ORS says hearing requested by Friends of the Earth/Sierra Club “may be helpful”:
6-22-2017 Response of ORS to FOE and Sierra Club
ORS assessment of Westinghouse bankruptcy situation, dated June 28, 2017 – linked here
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VC Summer reactor construction debacle…Charleston (South Carolina) Post & CourierJune 25, 2017, Sunday, front page print edition
Missing documentation throws Santee Cooper, SCE&G nuclear project timeline, costs in doubt
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SCE&G-Westinghouse “assessment period” on reactor project extended 45 days, to August 10, 2017; court document:
17-10751-mew Doc 778 Filed 06/27/17 Entered 06/27/17 11:04:03
NOTICE OF FILING OF AMENDMENT NO. 2
TO VC SUMMER INTERIM ASSESSMENT AGREEMENT
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Utilities could scrap billion dollar nuclear project by early August
WACH TV (Fox), Columbia, South Carolina, June 26, 2017, linked here
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The State Columbia, South Carolina
June 25, 2017, Sunday, front page print edition
SCE&G nuclear project may stay afloat past Monday deadline
http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article158070374.html
The board of the SC Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper), the 45% partner in the grossly mismanaged VC Summer project, meets on Monday, June 26, 2017. A “VC Summer Authorization” resolution is on the agenda. Given that 8 years into construction there is still NO construction schedule and NO cost estimate, we doubt this resolution will be little more than “we’ll wait and see” what happens next as things unravel. See board meeting information linked here.
Photo: Inept SCE&G’s VC Summer site, May 26, 2017,
©High Flyer; more photos linked here – can be used with credit
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Interesting document on the storage and properties of plutonium:
“Plutonium Packaging”
Los Alamos National Lab, June 14, 2017 – linked here
see photo on slide 10 of plutonium stoareg containers stacked high in the old K-reactor at SRS: “Current Storage Configuration…3013s
stored at Savannah River Site in 9975 Type B shipping containers” – SRS now stores about 13 metric tons of non-pit plutonium, awaiting disposition…
article in Aiken (SC) Standard, June 24, 2017, linked here
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Did DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) fly plutonium via aircraft? It’s not legal to fly plutonium – a “special nuclear material” (SNM) – over the US in a container that has not been crash-certified. NNSA news release, June 23, 2017 – linked here
Improper Shipment from Los Alamos National Laboratory
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has been informed by Los Alamos National Laboratory that proper procedures were not followed in shipping small quantities of special nuclear material to both Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Savannah River National Laboratory last week.
full news release on illegal flights linked above
photo: DOE cans used to hold plutonium
— article in Aiken (SC) Standard, June 24, 2017, linked here
Improperly packaged nuclear materials sent from Los Alamos to Aiken County
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Developments in the SCE&G (VC Summer) and Georgia Power (Vogtle) nuclear reactor construction debacles – June 23, 2017
1. Friends of the Earth & South Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club file request with South Carolina Public Service Commission(SC PSC) to stop SCE&G’s unauthorized spending on the VC Summer project – $120 million/month – and request hearing on the mismanaged SCE&G project, including for “reparations” (rebates) to SCE&G customers,
June 22 – news release linked here (with link to briefing document)
photo at news conference at SC PSC, June 22: Abandon ship on the failed project! She’s hit the rocks and going down fast as pirates from the PSC and ORS help loot ratepayers!
2. SC PSC responds on the afternoon of June 22 and grants the request for a hearing and establishes Docket 2017-207-E – see key documents under “matters”
3. South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) filed letter stating hearing requested by FOE and the Sierra Club could be “helpful,”
June 22 – linked here
4. Georgia Power & Westinghouse extend “assessment period” in New York bankruptcy court to June 28 – linked below:
NOTICE OF FILING OF AMENDMENT NO. 6
TO VOGTLE INTERIM ASSESSMENT AGREEMENT
Article in The State, Columbia, South Carolina, on line June 22 and in print edition June 23, 2017:
“End $14 billion S.C. nuclear plant project, pay customers back for overruns, critics say”
WIS-TV, Columbia, SC, “PSC Schedules Hearing on Nuclear Plant Future,”
linked here
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Aiken (South Carolina) Standard, June 21, 2017full editorial linked hereextracts:
A recent nuclear symposium yielded several tidbits concerning an intriguing, albeit far from final, suggestion that plutonium pit production might shift to the Savannah River Site in Aiken County.
It’s an intriguing topic because not only would plutonium pits potentially open new economic opportunities at SRS, it also delves into the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, or MOX, debate.
MOX was thrust into the debate by virtue of a recent news release from Tom Clements with Savannah River Site Watch, in which Clements posed a theory that the beleaguered MOX facility might be converted into a plutonium pit production plant. As designed, MOX is supposed to convert defense plutonium into fuel for commercial reactors. It’s about 70 to 75 percent complete, according to unofficial estimates.
Clements’ concerns are understandable, and not without some degree of logic.
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“2016 Annual Groundwater Monitoring Report
For the F- and H-Area Radioactive Liquid Waste Tank Farms (U)” [at SRS]
dated March 2017, but posted week of June 19, 2017
5.0 CONCLUSIONS
In 2012, USEPA and SCDHEC approved new groundwater monitoring plans and corresponding SAPs for the FTF and HTF. SRS performed monitoring in 2016 according to the approved plans and performed sampling twice at 59 wells (13 wells at FTF and 46 wells at HTF). In 2016, UAZ background well FBG 1D was dry during both sampling events. Overall, the 2016 monitoring results show no indications of new releases.
H Tank Farm
At the HTF, tritium exceeded the MCL at HAA 12C. Tritium has been identified as the prevalent groundwater contaminant at the HTF based on historical monitoring. A small dilute tritium plume is located north of the HTF and has been regularly monitored since 2000. The plume is located near and down gradient of the Off-Site Fuels Receiving Basin facility and the HIPSL, both potential sources of historical tritium releases. The downgradient extent of the tritium plume is delineated and monitored by the General Separations Area Eastern Groundwater Operable Unit monitoring program. In 2016, tritium exceeded the MCL in the LAZ at well HAA 12C. Tritium concentrations were below the MCL in the UAZ. The 2016 results for tritium and manganese are lower than historic levels at the HTF.
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”Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth to File Formal Request with S.C. Public Service Commission for Hearing on the Prudency of V.C. Summer Nuclear Reactor Construction Project, Mired in Massive Cost Overruns and Delays and Facing Termination”
June 20, 2017 media advisory on joint press conference – linked here
Photo Opportunity: Supporters to be Present with Signs and Visuals
COLUMBIA, SC – On Thursday, June 22, 2017 at 12:30 p.m., in front of the S.C. Public Service Commission (PSC) office, the south carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth (FOE) will jointly announce via a press conference the filing of a formal request for a PSC hearing on the prudence of the twin V.C. Summer reactors under construction by South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) and Santee Cooper. The groups, who will file the complaint after the press event, will request that the PSC direct SCE&G to “immediately cease expending further capital costs on the project.”
WHEN: Thursday, June 22, 12:30 p.m.
WHERE: South Carolina Public Service Commission, 101 Executive Center Dr., #100, Columbia, South Carolina 29210 (see directions: http://www.psc.sc.gov)
WHO: Mr. Guild and Mr. Clements will explain the reasons for the filing and review the state of affairs with the troubled project, with FOE and Sierra Club supporters in attendance
photo: SCE&G’s problem-plagued VC Summer project, May 26, 2017, ©High Flyer
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“Troubled SCE&G nuclear plant could mean higher bills for rural co-op customers”
The State, Columbia, SC, June 20, 2017, linked here
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Posted by South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS), June 19, 2019, SCE&G’s VC Summer nuclear reactor construction debacle
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY CASE OF
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY, LLC, ET AL.
DURING THE PERIOD OF JUNE 8, 2017 – JUNE 15, 2017
2-page document linked here
Stay tuned for the end of SCE&G-Westinghouse bankruptcy “assessment” period on June 26, 2017. Watch for the date be extended or for inept SCE&G to announce that it will decide in the future about the fate of the VC Summer reactor project, for which which NO cost estimate and NO schedule has yet been presented 8 years after the project was approved by the South Carolina Public Service Commission (in Docket 2008-196-E – see Order 2009-104 from February 27, 2009, amended on March 2, 2009 in Order 2009-104-(A)). Nine years officially into the project and construction is only about 37% complete (see SCE&G report of May 5, 2017)!
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“Safety lapses undermine nuclear warhead work at Los Alamos”
Washington Post, June 18, 2017
The end of the article – linked here – affirms what SRS Watch reported on June 13, 2017 – that SRS is being analyzed for plutonium “pit” production for nuclear weapons (possibly in the soon-to-be-mothballed MOX plant).
Note: The problem-plagued Los Alamos facilities covered in this article are where the ARIES is located – that project produces plutonium oxide from weapons pits, for plutonium disposition purposes.
See Los Alamos report dated April 25, 2017: ARIES Oxide Production Program Assessment of Risk to Long-term Sustainable Production Rate – linked here
This report describes an assessment of risks and the development of a risk watch list for the ARIES Oxide Production Program conducted in the Plutonium Facility at LANL. The watch list is an active list of potential risks and opportunities that the management team periodically considers to maximize the likelihood of program success. The initial assessments were made in FY 16. The initial watch list was reviewed in September 2016. The initial report was not issued. Revision 1 has been developed based on management review of the original watch list and includes changes that occurred during FY-16.
The report reveals no plutonium oxide shipments from ARIES to SRS have taken place:
Unknown external shipment date for oxide product shipments to South Carolina.
Current program requirements state that LANL will be able to ship oxide to SRNS no later than 2023, but this is contingent on smooth resumption of WIPP operations, thee outcome of a lawsuit by the state against DOE, and other unpredictable factors. This requires LANL to store all oxide produced onsite. (page 11)
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New York Bankruptcy Court Sets Hearings for Westinghouse Bankruptcy, including on South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) Motion Concerning its Mismanaged Reactor Construction Project at V.C. Summer
Two court filings, dated June 15, 2017:
1. FIRST NOTICE OF ESTABLISHMENT OF OMNIBUS
HEARING DATES PURSUANT TO CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER
IMPLEMENTING CERTAIN NOTICE AND CASE MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES
July 25, August 24 & September 13
2. NOTICE OF ADJOURNMENT OF CERTAIN MATTERS TO JULY 25, 2017
to address: Motion of South Carolina Electric & Gas Company for Entry of an Order pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 362(d)(L) Granting Relief from the Automatic Stay (ECF No. 487)
— looks like the above matter may concern Motion of Cives Corporation
for Allowance and Immediate Payment of Administrative Expense Claim
As the SCE&G-Westinghouse extended assessment period ends on June 26, unless extended, these court hearing dates may indicate that decisions by the the bankruptcy court will not be in sync with the pressing timeline concerning fate of SCE&G’s troubled V.C. Summer project. Cost of construction by bumbling SCE&G of two Westinghouse experimental AP1000 reactors appears to have skyrocketed to around an untenable $20 billion. (See news posted June 15, 2017 – to the left and linked here.)
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SRS operations radiation impact during 2016
Radiological Impact of 2016 Operations at the Savannah River Site, Savannah River National Lab, June 2017
Dose to the Offsite Representative Person
The 2016 dose to the offsite representative person from SRS liquid releases was 0.15 mrem and from SRS air releases was 0.038 mrem. To show compliance with the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) all pathway
dose standard of 100 mrem/yr, SRS conservatively adds these two doses for a total representative person dose of 0.19 mrem which is 0.19% of the DOE standard.
Sportsman Doses
Onsite Hunter: SRS conducts annual hunts to control onsite deer and feral hog populations. The estimated dose from consuming harvested deer or hog meat is determined for every onsite hunter. During 2016, the maximum potential dose an onsite hunter received was 13.5 mrem, or 13.5% of DOE’s 100 mrem/yr all‐pathway dose standard.
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Presentation on nuclear fuel cycle to US NRC’s Fuel Cycle Information Exchange (FCIX 2017) – shows no place for MOX fuel or reprocessing of commercial spent fuel (to remove weapon-usable plutonium)
See “The U.S. Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Looking Forward to 2025” –
June 13, 2017
Support in the U.S. or any claim of need for uneconomic MOX fuel and reprocessing has essentially died, to the consternation of proliferators who aim to make a profit at the taxpayers’ expense. Pursuit of a MOX plant at the Savannah River Site is totally out of sync with reality: there is absolutely no demand for expensive MOX fuel.
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”South Carolina Electric Cooperatives Report Stunning $8.9 Billion Already Sunk into Troubled VC Summer Nuclear Reactor Construction Project”blog linked here
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Supporters of SRS Watch who live in South Carolina near ground zero of the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse: FREE ECLIPSE GLASSES!
We have a limited number of ISO-rated glasses for supporters & nature lovers in the Greenvillle-Columbia-Charleston swath of eclipse totality. Send a self-addressed, legal sized, stamped envelope – on first class stamp – and if you are indeed a supporter and if we have enough glasses, we’ll return one pair to you. We guarantee at least ten pairs to be given in this amazing free offer! To: S RS Watch, 1112 Florence Street, Columbia, SC 29201
What a deal! Act now! Only catch is that we have affixed a “Savannah River Site Watch” sticker to the glasses and we request you leave it on them as you use them.
Eclipse over South Carolina will be around 2:40 p.m. on August 21, with totality lasting around 2 minutes 40 seconds. Use your glasses & save them for the next total eclipse over central & northern US on April 8, 2024.
Also see this amazing offer posted on the SRS Watch Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/SavannahRiverSiteWatch
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June 15, 2017: US DOE finally releases Fiscal Year 2018 budget request for the Office of Environmental Management (EM) – includes Savannah River Site (SRS) clean-up programs
EM Budget volume 5 linked here
A few items of interest concerning SRS:
(September 2017) Continue down blending and packaging surplus EM owned plutonium for disposition to Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
(September 2017) Continue to support Department’s nonproliferation program through receipt of foreign plutonium
Nuclear Material Management
SR-0011C / NM Stabilization and Disposition
•The increase reflects the merging of scope from PBS SR-0012, Spent Nuclear Fuel Stabilization and Disposition, into this PBS; resumption of support for spent (used) nuclear fuel and target material processing through H Canyon; an increase in the planned receipts of foreign and domestic research reactor spent (used) nuclear fuel; resumption of the L-Area Basin life extension activities; and down blending of EM-owned plutonium. Some of this increase is offset by the transfer of work scope to newly-created PBS SR-0041, Surveillance, Maintenance, and Deactivation.
This one caught our eye – page 368: “Develop and verify protectiveness levels of alternative waste forms for management of nuclear materials (non-MOXable Plutonium)”
https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/06/f34/FY2018BudgetVolume5.pdf
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Top US DOE Official Testifies to US Senate Committee on Plans to Terminate Mismanaged MOX Project at SRS – June 14, 2017Link to documents and webcast of hearing – interesting comments and discussion about MOX termination: linked here
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is on the Energy & Water subcommittee (of Appropriations), which funds DOE, appears not to have attended the hearing. So, there was no defense during the hearing of the MOX project. We are hearing that Graham is growing more and more isolated in his protection of his favorite boondoggle. How can he circle his wagons when he’s riding the last one left? The wheels on Graham’s protection of the mega-debacle are getting very wobbly and about to come off….
Statement of Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, USAF (Ret)
Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration
U.S. Department of Energy
on the Fiscal Year 2018 President’s Budget Request
Before the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
Senate Committee on Appropriations
June 14, 2017
“Nonproliferation Construction consolidates construction costs for DNN projects. The FY 2018 budget request is $279 million, a decrease of $56 million, or 16.7% below the FY 2017 Omnibus level. The Administration proposes to terminate the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication (MFFF) project and to pursue the dilute and dispose option to fulfill the United States’ commitment to dispose of 34 metric tons of plutonium. If supported by Congress, $270 million would be used to achieve an orderly and safe closure of the MFFF. The scope and costs will be refined in subsequent budget submissions when the termination plan for the MFFF project is approved. In addition, $9 million is provided for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition project to support the dilute and dispose strategy.”
testimony linked here:
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/061417-Klotz-Testimony.pdf
&
Chairman Lamar Alexander Opening Statement
Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
Hearing to Review the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget
for the National Nuclear Security Administration
June 14, 2017
“The MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility, a major construction project in South Carolina, has also raised several concerns because of growing costs. Senator Feinstein and I asked for a Red Team review of the MOX project in 2015 to get the project back on track.
The Red Team concluded that the MOX project would cost about twice as much each year as an alternative, known as the Dilute and Disposal Alternative. The cost to build the MOX facility is over $17 billion. Once the MOX facility is built, the cost of the MOX option would be $800 million to $1 billion per year. The Dilute and Disposal option will require up to $500 million to build the processing lines and will cost less than $400 million per year to operate.
The Red Team also found that the Dilute and Disposal Alternative would get the plutonium out of South Carolina faster than the MOX project.
Your budget request proposes termination of the MOX project and includes $9 million to build additional facilities for the Dilute and Disposal Alternative. I look forward to hearing more from General Klotz on this today.”
Chairman Alexander’s statement linked here:
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/061417-Chairman-Alexander-Opening-Statement.pdf
photo: SRS MOX plant, May 26, 2017, ©High Flyer
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In German, June 14, 2017: “With the support of the Federal Government: URENCO uranium for US nuclear weapons program” – on Bundestag member Hubertus Zdebel’s website: linked hereThe U.S. Demonstrates that Military & Civilian Nuclear Power = Nuclear Weapons; Watts Bar Nuclear Bomb Reactor (WBNBR), Operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Produces Key Nuclear Weapons Material: Tritium (sent to SRS for Processing)
Story in English, May 19, 2017:
US nuclear weapons: Military tritium with support from URENCO?
URENCO Deutschland website linked here
photo: Bundestag member Hubertus Zdebel at the URENCO Deutschland facility, Gronau, August 2014 – http://www.hubertus-zdebel.de/
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Wow! Bad News for Georgia Power’s Nuclear Reactor Debacle:
Georgia Public Service Commission Public Advocacy Staff Files Testimony Stating that “it would be uneconomic to complete the Vogtle Project“!
SNL article of June 13, 2017, on testimony linked below:
“Vogtle completion ‘uneconomic,’ Ga. PSC consultants say ”
article linked here
DIRECT TESTIMONY AND EXHIBIT of PHILIP HAYET and LANE KOLLEN
ON BEHALF OF THE GEORGIA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY STAFF – filed June 8, 2017
Q. WHAT ARE YOUR CONCLUSIONS REGARDING THE HYPOTHETICAL CASES DESCRIBED IN TABLES 5 AND 6?
A. With a 36-month delay and $3 billion in added capital costs, even with the Parental Guarantee and the Stipulation in place, Table 5 above indicates it would be uneconomic to complete the Vogtle Project. Staff’s case that excludes these ratepayer benefits (Table 6) indicates continuing Vogtle 3 and 4 would be even more uneconomic. This case indicates that if the ratepayer benefits of the Stipulation did not exist and if the risks associated with the Parental Guarantee were shifted to ratepayers and the payments were not ultimately collected, then the economic harm increases by over $2 billion on a 2016 present value basis. Based on these assumptions, it appears that it would be uneconomic for the Project to be continued. Once the Company completes its evaluation and provides its results and workpapers to Staff, Staff will review the analyses and develop its own economic analysis. (page 28)
testimony linked here and also in the Georgia PSC docket (# 29849) linked here:
http://www.psc.state.ga.us/factsv2/Docket.aspx?docketNumber=29849
photo: Plant Vogtle, May 26, 2017, ©High Flyer; wooded area in background is the US DOE’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina (home of another nuclear construction debacle: MOX)
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Radioactive tritium gas for nuclear weapons – flown in and out of Augusta, Georgia public airport?On June 12, 2017, DOE issued a “notice of intent” to solicit a company to load and unload cargoes being transported by the Savannah River Field Office in government-owned aircraft by DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration. Given the key role of SRS in the nuclear weapons complex, this may well include transport of classified tritium “reservoirs” filled at SRS – see photo below – for shipment to nuclear weapons staging facilities & return of reservoirs to to SRS to be recharged with radioactive tritium gas (12.5 year half-life) processed at SRSJune 12, 2017 solicitation:
“CARGO LOADING AND UNLOADING IN SUPPORT OF SHIPMENTS FOR SAVANNAH RIVER FIELD OFFICE” – from Bush Field, the Augusta, Georgia public airport The SRFO has a requirement for loading and unloading DOE/NNSA cargo shipments. This involves the moving and securing of cargo between vehicles and aircraft. Limited life components and other generally sensitive cargo are transported to and from DOE/NNSA contractors, SRFO, and military facilities in the United States on government-owned aircraft flown by contractor employees. It is not the responsibility of the aircraft crew to handle the cargo. As SRFO does not have adequate manpower to perform this task, a contractor with appropriately cleared employees is required to perform these functions. It is essential to the mission of the SRFO to have these cargo shipments promptly loaded and unloaded utilizing the nearest airport possible to ensure appropriate security and safety measures are undertaken. The nearest airport capable of supporting this critical mission is the Augusta Regional Airport at Bush Field, Augusta, GA. Additionally, market research has shown that only one contractor is capable of performing this service at Augusta Regional Airport, the County of Augusta-Richmond, Augusta, Georgia, DUNS: 094079472.
Solicitation linked on Federal Business Opportunities, with links to more details on FedConnect – linked here
Update, 6:05 p.m., June 13, 2017: For unknown reasons, the solicitation has been cancelled and “Revision will be issued” – linked here.
Update, June 19, 2017, Solicitation reissued: CARGO LOADING AND UNLOADING IN SUPPORT OF SHIPMENTS FOR SAVANNAH RIVER FIELD OFFICE – NA-SV. Posted at: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=087c5d21d72df44480aef82a3f9fc596&tab=core&_cview=0
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Recognizing that SRS is a nuclear bomb facility due to tritium processing this paper is worth a read
History of U.S. Production of Tritium 1948-1988
June 12, 2017, Gregory Jones
“This history demonstrates that though the U.S. tested its first boosted nuclear weapon in 1951, it did not quickly decide to deploy such weapons which the U.S. did not produce until 1957. The history also shows that at the peak of the U.S. nuclear stockpile in the 1960s, the U.S. tritium stockpile was roughly 100 kilograms. To produce tritium the U.S. initially used natural lithium but later used lithium enriched up to 50%.”
The main source of tritium production before 2003 was Savannah River. Since 1956 the tritium extraction facilities have been and still are at Savannah River. As I have written elsewhere, the current U.S. tritium stockpile is about 20 kilograms and may be expanded to about 30
kilograms.
photo: reservoir of that earlier type filled at SRS and inserted into a nuclear weapon
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Nuclear weapons role at abandoned MOX plant at SRS?
Is a role for SRS in “pit” production – for the core of nuclear weapons – included in the study mentioned in this article? In part due to engagement by sister NGOs in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA), SRS and all other DOE sites were rejected for the Modern Pit Facility over a decade ago . Given the current role of SRS in handling plutonium and that a $5-billion concrete building (MOX plant) will soon be available for other use causes us to wonder if bomb makers are eyeing MOX for a pit-related role….
“Will production of nuclear ‘pits’ leave LANL?”
Albuquerque (New Mexico) Journal, June 12, 2017 – linked here
Note: We’ve also picked up a rumor about another weapons-related mission for the MOX plant but won’t yet mention that here…
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Extreme Caution Advised about the “deal” between Georgia Power and near-bankrupt Toshiba for money for the failing Vogtle nuclear construction project – the math to continue the bungled project still doesn’t add up; Ratepayers get ready to play the chump on skyrocketing rates to bail out this mess; Could the deal with Georgia Power mean SCE&G and its VC Summer debacle have been thrown under the bus?
Georgia Power news release, June 9, 2017 – linked here
“Georgia Power enters into new agreements with Toshiba and Westinghouse for Vogtle nuclear expansion “
Toshiba, June 10, 2017 news release, linked here
“Toshiba and Vogtle Owners Reach Agreement on Nuclear Power Plant Construction Project in Georgia”
Photo: Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle, ©High Flyer, May 26, 2017; more Vogtle photos posted by High Flyer here – can be used with credit (read credit request in the list of photos posted):
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BwkyYyn8X-ySUzJKSWZzdWYzdkk
Meanwhile, the South Carolina Office of Regulatory staff (ORS), legally charged with looking out for the “public interest” remain silent and is not doing anything visible to protect the public interest. We suspect they are in communication with SCE&G and yet won’t muster any effort to show they have good intentions on behalf of ratepayers. See ORS posting of June 8, 2017 – just a passive observation of things that are public:
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All the nuts in the nuclear fruitcake? SRS Watch staff once had an interaction with Alex Copson, when he was touting a scheme to place US spent nuclear fuel in the lagoon at Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific Ocean – No kidding!
Michael Flynn, Russia and a Grand Scheme to Build Nuclear Power Plants in Saudi Arabia and the Arab World
Newsweek, June 9, 2017 – article linked here
“To Russia with love and $15bn,” The Guardian, July 28, 2001, article linked here – another slice of what appears to be the Copson-NRDC love affair with spent nuclear fuel dumping schemes
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We welcome the release of these documents by the National Security Archive (NSA) on June 8, 2017 about Japan’s plutonium program. SRS Watch staff warned about the proliferation concerns of Japan’s plutonium stockpiling program as early as 1992 Japan Plutonium Overhang Origins and Dangers Debated by U.S. Officials
Proliferation Risks of Japanese Plutonium Surpluses Troubled U.S.
Officials
Origins, Dangers of Japan’s Excess Supply Dates Back Decades,
Forward to 2018
Controversy Continues Today Over Whether Reprocessing by Japan Should Continue
NSA narrative and documents linked here
Japan has stockpiled over 47 metric tons of weapon-usable plutonium – in Japan and Europe – see Japan’s most recent INFCIRC 549 declaration to the IAEA – but still wants to stockpile more by operating the Rokkasho reprocessing plant. There is no excuse to continue the costly, proliferation-prone efforts to start the Rokkasho plant.
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SRS Official: Material reportedly flown from the Dounreay nuclear facility in Scotland to the US “did not come to the Savannah River Site” – Maxcine Maxted, Spent Nuclear Fuel Program Manager at SRS, for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM)
For comments by Ms. Maxted, see video archive of SRS CAB Nuclear Materials Committee Committee meeting on June 6, 2017 – at about 5′ 40″
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHvcxEqgg1Y
Article about flight – mistakenly says SRS was the place to which Dounreay, UK HEU (waste?) was taken:
“UK airport on LOCKDOWN as ‘Doomsday’ jet secretly flies nuke bomb ingredient to US”
Daily Star, June 3, 2017 – linked here
SRS Watch believes the HEU material, being brought here under a US-UK agreement signed at the Nuclear Secuirty Summit in 2016, was taken to DOE’s Oak Ridge/Y-12 HEU storage facility. Other materials transported under that agreement may come to SRS. We have posted some information about that in the past on this website.
Presentation to SRS CAB by Maxcine Maxted, May 23, 2017, about research reactor/medical isotope reactor spent fuel at SRS:
Spent Nuclear Fuel Program Overview/Update Presented by Maxcine Maxted, DOE-SR
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Assessment Period between Georgia Power and Westinghouse on Failing Vogtle Nuclear Reactor Project Extended in New York Bankruptcy Court until June 9, 2017
NOTICE OF FILING OF AMENDMENTS TO VOGTLE INTERIM ASSESSMENT AGREEMENT – June 7, 2017 – linked here
AMENDMENT NO. 4 TO INTERIM ASSESSMENT AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the recitals, the Parties, each intending to be legally bound hereby, agree to amend the Interim Assessment Agreement as follows:
1. Paragraph 2 of the Interim Assessment Agreement shall be deleted and replaced in its entirety to read as follows: “This Agreement shall extend from the Effective Date to and through the earlier of (a) 5:00 p.m. EST on June 9, 2017, and (b) termination of the Interim Assessment Agreement by any Party upon five (5) business days’ notice (the “Interim Assessment Period”). The Interim Assessment Period may be extended by agreement of all the Parties.”
photo: Plant Vogtle, on Savannah River near Waynesboro, Georgia, across the river from DOE’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, May 26, 2017, ©High Flyer 2017
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Wow! First, SRS ignorantly comes after SRS Watch for a bogus drone “scare” in 2016 and now it’s DOE flying drones over their sites! Will SRS be next? Or maybe they are already flying them….hmmmmm
“DOE conducts training every year to support its specialized aviation missions”
Idaho National Lab News Release, June 5, 2017, linked here
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SRS Citizens Advisory Board Committee Votes NO to US Commercial Spent Fuel Storage at SRS & NO to Bringing German Spent Fuel to SRS. Public Attendees Speak in Strong, Unified Voice Against Bringing More Nuclear Waste to SRS – Enough is Enough!
On Tuesday night, June 6, 2017, the Nuclear Materials Committee of the SRS Citizens Advisory Board overwhelmingly passed two recommendations to send to the full CAB to be voted on at the next meeting (July 24-25, in New Ellenton, SC). The recommendations were:
1. Against highly radioactive commercial spent fuel storage at SRS;
2. Against bringing highly radioactive German graphite spent fuel to SRS.
There was an enthusiastic group of concerned citizens in attendance at what turned out to be a contentions meeting due to not allowing all members of the public an opportunity to speak before votes were taken. Minus one or two, the crowd was uniformly and vocally in support of the recommendations and against bringing more waste to SRS for processing and dumping.
The meeting was not run well and CAB management showed lack of respect to the energized public wanting to participate in the meeting and comment before votes were taken. DOE must ensure that the meetings must be run in a more respectful, fairer way in the future and all members of the public who want to speak must be allowed to do so before any votes are taken.
Letter of April 14, 2017 from South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster – stating opposition to turning South Carolina into a dumping ground for nuclear waste: linked here. This letter was made part of the record of the June 6 CAB committee meeting.
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SRS “Great Drone Scare of 2016” Crashed & Burned but now being Revived by the SRS Citizens Advisory Board? Face-Saving Effort for SRS?
At the SRS CAB meeting on May 22, 2017, SRS admitted in a presentation that there was no drones confirmed over SRS. But now, the SRS CAB’s Strategic & Legacy Management Committee is set to consider a draft recommendation on June 13, 2017 entitled “Drone Spotting Over SRS.” That draft recommendation presents a host of undocumented allegations:
During the summer of 2016, eight drones were spotted flying over the Savannah River Site. According to releases from the Department of Energy (DOE), several reports of UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) flying over K-Area, H-Area, E-Area and MOX were made. At the time, airspace over the site was unrestricted, although the devices did pose a safety and security concern.
As the CAB sites SRS as the source of this “news” then we’d like to see documentation. Where is such documentation? SRS is still not providing any documents about the “drone scare,” as requested by SRS Watch in a Freedom of information Act request of November 14, 2016.
>>>> Oh my Gosh, Looks like it has come to this: the FBI should be investigating this matter as fake news planted by, well, you know, the Russians…
Uh oh, hold the presses – does DOE or its contractors use drones for radiation detection or other purposes? “The new face of Radiation Detection with this new UAV“:
http://rf.berkeleynucleonics.com/PheonixRADuav
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TERRORISM/PROLIFERATION ALERT! Weapon-Usable Plutonium Transport a Slap in the Face of Norms Against Terrorism, Nuclear Proliferation – Thanks to Greenpeace for this News
Are SRS Officials Involved in this “Plutonium Proliferation for Profit” Scheme?
With the world on high alert for terrorist attacks and due to growing concerns about nuclear proliferation, why is a shipment of US-origin weapon-usable plutonium (in the form of MOX) fuel about to get underway from France to Japan?! Did the US approve the security plan for this totally unnecessary shipment?
The FBI and international law enforcement agencies should investigate who is involved in this risky scheme and why Japan is still pursuing stockpiling and use of US-origin weapon-usable plutonium. Are SRS officials in any way involved in this plutonium-proliferation project?
We will stand by for news about investigations, arrests and convictions.
Greenpeace news release, June 6, 2017 – linked here:
“Secret Plutonium Fuel Shipment Planned for Japan’s Takahama Reactors” プレスリリース – 2017-06-06
Tokyo, 6 June 2017 – With today’s restart of the Takahama 3 reactor in Fukui Prefecture, Greenpeace revealed that the nuclear operator Kansai Electric and the French nuclear company AREVA are planning a secret plutonium fuel shipment from France to the Takahama plant. Plutonium fuel (MOX) reduces the safety of the reactor, increasing both the risk of a severe accident and its radiological consequences. The shipment is scheduled to depart Cherbourg France on 7 July.This also presents serious security issues, both as it is a potential terrorist target and that the plutonium in the MOX fuel is direct use nuclear weapons material. Due to these risks, the U.S. State Department and other agencies are required to approve the security plan for plutonium shipments to Japan under the terms of the US – Japan Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Agreement of 1988. The Trump administration has approved this shipment, despite the increasingly unstable conditions in the region.
“Kepco restarts second Takahama reactor as Greenpeace warns of French MOX fuel shipment”
Japan Times, June 6, 2017 – article linked here
photo: PNTL nuclear proliferation transport ships, with Pacific Egret and Pacific Heron in left foreground, June 2016, thanks to colleagues at ©Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment (CORE) – ever stalwart against the UK’s stockpiling of a massive amount of weapon-usable plutonium
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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission filing in Westinghouse bankruptcy case confirms that the NRC is monitoring the situation and that NRC licenses, such as for the troubled AP1000 experimental reactor design, can’t be transferred without NRC approval – filed May 30, 2017
Filing with New York bankruptcy court: (before Judge Wiles (case number – 17-10751-mew)
The United States of America, on behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”), hereby provides notice that debtor Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC (“WEC”) is prohibited from transferring its NRC licenses without prior written approval from NRC. WEC is also subject to obligations as the holder of nuclear materials licenses, export licenses, certificates of compliance for nuclear materials packages, and other regulatory requirements. WEC is further subject to obligations as the applicant for the AP1000 reactor design certification and pursuant to the regulations at 10 C.F.R. Part 21 as an entity that provides designs, components, and services to the nuclear industry. Although a debtor in bankruptcy, WEC remains responsible for complying with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, including the prohibition on transfer of its licenses without NRC’s prior written approval and the requirement to provide and maintain adequate decommissioning financial assurance, as set forth herein.
E. AP1000 Design Certification
15. WEC is the applicant for the Design Certification for the AP1000 nuclear power reactor. NRC codified this Design Certification in its regulations at 10 C.F.R. Part 52, Appendix D.
16. As the applicant for this Design Certification, WEC is subject to regulatory requirements including but not limited to those at 10 C.F.R. Part 52, Appendix D, Sections X(A)(1) and X(A)(4)(a).
image: from US NRC, of AP1000 reactor shield building and associated structures – for the VC Summer AP1000 reactors, according to SCE&G’s quarterly construction reported filed on May 5, 2017, construction was only an abysmal 34.3% complete as of the end of March 2017 (after over nine years of construction)!!!!
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Pro-MOX editorial in Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle underscores why MOX is being terminated: MOX boosters are totally incapable of presenting a path forward with the mismanaged project. They know it can’t be made viable and don’t even attempt the meekest of proposals
Read the editorial and note, as usual, there is no effort to present a plan, it’s just the usual rhetoric to keep the wasteful spending going:
“Let us finish the job
SRS helped win the Cold War; let it now win the peace with the MOX facility”
Augusta Chronicle, June 4, 2017 linked here
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Action Alert! On June 6, 2017, speak up at the Nuclear Material Committee of the SRS Citizens Advisory Board in favor of two recommendations against bringing highly radioactive spent fuel to SRS.
SRS already has a massive problem with existing nuclear waste and plutonium – time to Halt Nuclear Waste Imports to SRS!
SC Governor Henry McMaster stands with us and stated on April 14, 2017 that “I will continue to stand against any action to make South Carolina a dumping ground for nuclear waste.” (see letter posted here)
>> One recommendation to be discussed on June 6 expresses opposition against commercial US spent fuel storage at SRS – linked here.
>> The other recommendation is against bringing German spent fuel to SRS (via the port of Charleston) – linked here.
The CAB committee meets on Tuesday June 6, 2017 at 6:30 pm at the Village at Woodside, 230 Village Green Blvd, Suite 220, Aiken, SC 29803. Arrive early.
Can’t Attend? No problem! Email your comments to SRSCitizensAdvisoryBoard@srs.gov. CAB website linked here.
Once the recommendations pass the CAB committee, they will likely go before the full CAB on July 23-23, 2017 in Aiken, SC. We’ll also need members of the public there to support them.
graphic above: thanks to South Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club
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SRS Watch in “Once-secret records reveal pattern of costly mistakes at troubled nuclear project” [in South Carolina]
The State (Columbia, South Carolina), June 4, 2017 print edition
This article only gets at a small amount of the cost overruns for the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor project by South Carolina Electric & Gas. The failed “modular” construction, mismanagement by a host of companies – Westinghouse, CB&I and SCE&G included – and the unjust Baseload Rview Act – removes costs and risks from the company and shareholders and places them on the backs of SCE&G customers – account for the build of cost overruns for this sad debacle. SCE&G payers in South Carolina already face amongst the highest rates in the US and this failed projects is going to bust them down to their knees. Will new business locate in South Carolina when the full costs hit?
— from New-Nuclear Ground Zero (MOX + VC Summer and Vogtle AP1000 projects – all failing badly – $$$$$$$$$$$$$$+++++)
— photo: VC Summer site, May 26, 2017, ©High Flyer 2017 – more VC Summer aerial photos linked here, read “credit to” statement first
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SRS Watch may have to test the new FOIA law in South Carolina as we are being assessed “excessive fees” by a state agency for a request on the SCE&G nuclear reactor boondoggle. Stay tuned & contact us for more details.
‘[Gov.] McMaster: Public records law ‘step forward’ in transparency”
Associated Press, May 31, 2017 – article linked here
SRS Watch has filed dozens and dozes of FOIA requests with DOE. We have met the criteria for a fee waiver and have never been charged for any request. But our first FOIA request to a certain SC state government entity has yielded a demand for a $125 down payment and charges already of $500. Uh, this reflects the new law that excessive fees can’t be levied?!
Here’s a partial list of outstanding FOIA requests by SRS Watch to DOE.
It’s time for DOE to act in the public interest and stop the usual stonewalling and respond to our requests.
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June 2, 2017: SRS Watch wishes Jim Giusti, former Director of the Office of External Affairs at SRS, the best on his retirement after many years at the site.
A thanks to Jim, who retired last week, for always striving to respond to our many requests and for his efforts to serve the public interest concerning SRS and DOE issues! We are looking forward to the Office of External Affairs continuing to serve the public in an open, helpful manner.
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A view from Japan on the Westinghouse-Toshiba collapse and its impact on the beleaguered US nuclear reactor construction projects in South Carolina and Georgia – from colleagues at the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC), in NUKE INFO TOKYO, released June 2, 2017
Toshiba’s Nuclear Ambitions Crumble
— Collapse of the Toshiba-WEC Alliance
“A major Japanese conglomerate with a corporate history of 142 years is on the verge of collapse. The main cause of this crisis is huge losses incurred by its U.S. nuclear subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Company LLC. (WEC). What is happening within Toshiba?”
CNIC newsletter for May/June 2017 linked here
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The South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) posted a summary of the status of the Westinghouse bankruptcy on May 31, 2017:
STATUS OF WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY, LLC, et al.
CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY CASE
http://www.regulatorystaff.sc.gov/Documents/NND-update-5-31-17.pdf
ORS, a state agency, is supposed to look out for the “public interest” in the case of the financial meltdown of SCE&G’s AP1000 experimental reactor construction project. So far, ORS is empty handed in showing that it will fight for ratepayers as the mismanaged VC Summer project languishes in chaos and as SCE&G continues unauthorized cost overruns.
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Liquid High-Level Nuclear Waste from Canada to SRS Creates “High Radiation Area (HRA)” in H-Canyon Due to Failure of Lead “Pig” to Protect Workers from Radiation DoseCanada’s Chalk River National Lab and US DOE recently initiated a scheme to dump liquid high-level nuclear waste (liquid HLW) at SRS, with SRS as a willing partner due to a $60 million payment to receive up to 150 liquid HLW shipments.In an April 21 report, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board revealed that the nuke waste dumping had begun and that problems were encountered in off-loading the liquid HLW containers into the aging H-Canyon reprocessing plant at SRS.
Now, the DNFSB reveals, in an April 28 report, more details of potential worker radiation exposure during the liquid HLW off-loading:
Target Residue Material (TRM): During the second evolution, RP measured the location of the previously identified hotspot (see 4/21/17 report) at greater than 100 mrem/hr at 30 cm, which constitutes a High Radiation Area (HRA). After they measured the dose rate, TRM personnel moved the container so the hotspot would be facing the wall. Because of the potential to encounter HRA dose rates during container handling, the resident inspector believes it would have been prudent to invoke HRA controls during subsequent activities.
Note that DOE and biased media use the DOE term “Target Residue Material” to downplay that liquid is a brew of highly radioactive fission products. The liquid is a by-product of processing of medical isotope targets irradiated in the NRU reactor at Chalk River and is not simply a “residue.” DOE has staunchly refused to analyze viable options to manage and treat the liquid HLW in Canada – including downblending of the US-origin HEU in it – and has chosen the unprecedented shipment of it over our highways. SRS Watch position: DOE must halt the liquid high-level nuclear shipments to SRS and analyze management of this dangerous material at Chalk River.
On May 15, 2017, SRS Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request on the matter: FOIA Request for any Documents or Reports Related to Receipt, Off Loading and Handling of Canadian Liquid High-Level Waste at H-Canyon, Especially as it Applies to Radiological Shielding Problems
Article in Buffalo (New York) News, May 18, 2017:
[Senator] Gillibrand, [Representative] Higgins petition Energy Department to rethink N-waste transportarticle linked here
See SRS presentation to the SRS Citizens Advisory Board on May 23, 2017 – note photos of workers using long poles to manipulate the container – trying to reduce radiation exposure?
Target Residue Material Presented by Tony Polk, DOE-SR
http://www.srs.gov/general/outreach/srs-cab/library/meetings/2017/nm/Presentation_on_TRM.pdf
There they go again with misleading terminology designed to camouflage that this material is highly radioactive. Hmmm.,,,if not fake news it’s at least fake terminology.
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Lack of Media Coverage of the VC Summer Reactor’s Cracked Vessel Head Replacement Underscores Importance of “Non-Traditional” News Sources, such as SRS Watch…. Is this Story Too Hot to Handle?Update, June 6: Looks like the reactor was back at full power on June 5, 2017. Still no news coverage about the vessel head replacement.
SCE&G’s VC Summer nuclear reactor in South Carolina is still down due to replacement of the “degraded” (cracked) vessel head and refueling. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports that the reactor was still down as of May 31. (see NRC’s Current Power Reactor Status Report for May 31, 2017)
SRS Watch reported the cracked vessel head replacement on May 19:
SCE&G Replaces Cracked Nuclear Reactor Vessel Head during Current Refueling Outage; US NRC Confirms Replacement to SRS Watch
We don’t hesitate to reveal such VC Summer news at a time when construction of two new, experimental reactors by SCE&G descends into chaos.
Rely on SRS Watch for occasional news tips not tainted by SCE&G or SRS/DOE. If you want SRS or NRC news releases we suggest that you sign up for them but we pledge not to just repeat them as breaking news.
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Guilty! MOX Fraudster Admits Guilt in $4 Million Theft
MOX defendant Aaron Vennefron changes plea to guilty in MOX wire fraud case before federal judge, May 31, 2017, 11:00 a.m., federal courthouse in Columbia, South Carolina
Court document filed on May 31, 2017 – Aaron Vennefron changing plea to guilty for MOX wire fraud – linked here
In the court proceeding, Vennfron agreed to terms presented by federal attorneys in a “factual basis of the plea” and in a “plea agreement” – admits defrauding US government of around $4 million via submission of fraudulent receipts for services not delivered to MOX project. Crime holds up to a sentence of 5 years in prison, $250,000 fine, forfeiture of property and restitution of the amount stolen. A trial will not be held and no date was set for sentencing. Contact Tom Clements of SRS Watch, who was present in the court room, for details: 803-834-3084.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
NOTICE of PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE and/or JURY SELECTION
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the following cases, which are assigned to the Honorable J. Michelle Childs, U.S. District Judge, are scheduled for Pre-trial Conference on May 31, 2017, at 11:00 a.m., in U.S. District Courthouse, Courtroom #3, 901 Richland Street, Columbia, S.C.
Nagging questions about MOX ripoff remain: As the wire fraud crime went on for years, how did the main MOX contractor – CB&I AREVA MOX Services – allow it to go on? We hope federal investigators are looking into that and also reviewing other potential fraud at the MOX project. Crime or nor, many are feasting on the mismanaged MOX project, which is $ billions over budget. Senator Lindsey Graham is dragging out the failed MOX project, which the Trump administration has realized is not viable, to make sure that the legally sanctioned feasting of tax payer funds continues.
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Hot Rumor from VC Summer Site – May 29, 2017 – SCE&G to concentrate on finishing only one of two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors? This would cause the massive cost of one over-budget, mismanaged unit to hit beleaguered ratepayers like a ton of nuclear bricks. If you have information from the site, please pass it on: srswatch@gmail.com
VC Summer Unit 1 – operated by South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) – still off line after lengthy refueling and vessel head replacement outage
see Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s daily report of May 30 for US commercial reactor power status: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/reactor-status/ps.html
SRS Watch news of May 19, 2017:
SCE&G Replaces Cracked Nuclear Reactor Vessel Head during Current Refueling Outage; US NRC Confirms Replacement to SRS Watch
Photo of VC Summer reactor site, May 26, 2017: Courtesy of High Flyer @ 2017; Unit 1 in background on lake, units 2 & 3 under troubled construction in foreground
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MOX wire fraud case before federal court, May 31, 2017, 11:00 a.m., federal courthouse in Columbia, South Carolina – for defendant Aaron Vennefron
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
NOTICE of PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE and/or JURY SELECTION
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the following cases, which are assigned to the Honorable J. Michelle Childs, U.S. District Judge, are scheduled for Pre-trial Conference on May 31, 2017, at 11:00 a.m., in U.S. District Courthouse, Courtroom #3, 901 Richland Street, Columbia, S.C.
Second MOX wire fraud defendant Phillip Thompson, who pleaded guilty, ordered to pay $4,403,948.28 – court documents:
MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY ORDER OF FORFEITURE, May 24, 2017
PRELIMINARY ORDER OF FORFEITURE, May 25, 2017
List of Seized Assets, May 25, 2017
US District Attorney, South Carolina, news release on MOX wire fraud charges, December 16, 2015: “Two Men Charged With Wire Fraud”
>>> We suspect that other investigations into fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement at the MOX boondoggle are secretly under way….. Hmmm…is Superior Air Handling – the company rumored to have badly botched the HVAC work at the MOX plant, thus setting back the entire project – under investigation and/or being required to pay the government back for “rework” that is having to be performed? (See CB&I Project Services Group “rework definitions memo” directing classification of rework for payment purposes – is the taxpayer having to pay twice for bad MOX construction work? Has CB&I AREVA MOX Services profited from rework since the MOX construction debacle began in August 2017???)
photo: @216 Sierra Club and Carolina Peace Resource Center, federal court hearing on State of SC vs US Government on plutonium removal from SRS and MOX project failure, June 30, 2016
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Finally, the MOX plant “rework” issue is cracking open…..DOE Inspector General issues report on MOX construction “rework” problems, May 24, 2017
DOE IG report: “Construction Rework at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility”
“Additionally, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Hotline received and referred to NNSA an allegation that construction rework contributed to the cost issues at the MOX Facility and resulted in a waste of Department of Energy funds. In response to the OIG Hotline referral, NNSA performed an assessment that substantiated the allegation….We found that NNSA had directed MOX Services to establish an effective management system to address construction rework at the MOX Facility. As a result, MOX Services developed and implemented a comprehensive new desktop procedure. NNSA also increased its oversight of rework. Because the construction rework procedure and oversight processes were recently implemented, we determined that it was too early to fully assess their effectiveness. However, we noted that NNSA was still in the process of resolving the alleged waste of Department funds related to construction rework substantiated in its assessment.”
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Trump budget calls for MOX termination at Savannah River Site
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, May 23, 2017
US DOE Budget Request to Congress linked here:
https://energy.gov/cfo/downloads/fy-2018-budget-justification
DOE/NNSA Budget Volume 1, with MOX, Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Nonproliferation:
https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/05/f34/FY2018BudgetVolume1_0.pdf
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SRS DRONED On and On and turns out it was all BOGUS…..
SRS Watch in “SRS drone update leaves questions unanswered”
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle,
May 22, 2017
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The release of the US Department of Energy budget request to Congress appears to be coming on Tuesday, May 23 – when a SRS Watch representative will be in Washington. One thing seems clear, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has apparently axed the usual budget briefing in DOE HQ for public stakeholders, a very swampy thing to do by a politician who is becoming a Beltway insider…..
“White House says full fiscal 2018 budget to be released on May 23”
Reuters, May 17, 2017 – article linked here
The test is now on: if DOE really wants to “drain the swamp” they should closely pay attention to recommendations by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability and member group SRS Watch in the just-released report Accountability Audit, to be distributed in Washington during the week of May 22 – report linked here.
Check Office of Management and Budget website for overview of FY 2018 budget request: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget
The US DOE’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget request was posted here, so on the day the budget request is released try checking a URL with “2018” in it rather than “2017.”: https://energy.gov/cfo/downloads/fy-2017-budget-justification
Concerning the MOX debacle, we anticipate that the DOE/NNSA/CB&I AREVA MOX Services project at SRS will be kept on a termination budget of less than $500 million/year. If you have news about this, please pass it on: srswatch@gmail.com
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South Carolina Public Service Commission Abrogates its Responsibility – Sits on its Hands in Face of Nuclear Reactor Project Meltdown, Denies Request for Urgently Needed “Emergency Hearing”
In the face of the financial meltdown of the construction of new nuclear reactors in South Carolina – by South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) – the South Carolina Public Service Commission (PSC) voted on May 17 to deny a petition (Docket 2017-99-E) for a badly needed “emergency hearing” on the state of affairs with the mismanaged SCE&G-Westinghouse project!
In denying the petition, the PSC claimed that a briefing by SCE&G on April 12, 2017 and a possible future briefing by SCE&G, at a time of its own choosing, was enough to deal with the crisis at hand. The PSC made no proposal on its own to get to the bottom of the crisis and made no requirements on SCE&G to explain how the construction of two Westinghouse AP1000 experimental reactors has fallen apart.
GET THIS: Nine years into construction there is still NO SCHEDULE and NO COST ESTIMATE to complete the projects. You got it right – untold $billions would be wasted if the project continues but SCE&G has gone silent and the PSC is not demanding answers. A stunning situation that reflects badly on the ineffectual PSC, always willing to rubber stamp anything SCE&G sticks in front of it in order to keep slamming ratepayers (already paying 18% of the bill just for reactor financing costs).
PSC order dismissing the request for an emergency hearing : https://dms.psc.sc.gov/Attachments/Order/710b3bbe-804a-498d-9841-95464f0178be
NO, the request was not satisfied. The PSC is frozen in its tracks regarding the financial nuclear meltdown and what to do and is not asking serious questions or demanding answers of SCE&G! More affirmation that this is a do-nothing body in the pocket of SCE&G.
Photo: PSC hearing room during brief – about a minute – disposal of emergency hearing request, May 17, 2017. If you blinked you missed how the PSC dealt with one of the most urgent matters now facing South Carolina and the nuclear industry worldwide. A twin project by Georgia Power at Plant Vogtle in Georgia is also being addressed in a do-nothing manner by the Georgia PSC.
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“Why US nuclear sites are a ticking time bomb”
The Department of Energy needs to prioritize the clean-up of nuclear waste.
Nature magazine, 17 May 2017 – editorial linked here
Meanwhile, the waste continues of $340 million/year on the MOX construction debacle at SRS – far below what is needed to make the mismanaged project viable – siphoning money away from the urgent clean-up of the high-level nuclear waste tanks.
OK, OK, MOX is beyond viability – the wasteful, dead-end project must be terminated and officials at DOE/NNSA, CB&I AREVA MOX Services and Superior Air handling (rumored to have botched the HVAC work) must be held accountable. Hey, is all that rework of the HVAC work being billed to Superior Air?!
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“Hot Spot” found in container when handling liquid high-level nuclear waste from Canada! SRS Watch in articles on the unprecedented shipment of Canadian liquid HLW to SRS, as part of a dumping-for-profit scheme ($60 million payoff from Canada to DOE….OINK!)….
“First N-waste shipment from Canada arrives at South Carolina facility”
Buffalo (New York) News, May 15, 2017
“Hot spot’ found in liquid uranium container at Savannah River Site”
Aiken (South Carolina) Standard, May 15, 2017
“Container emits radiation during liquid nuclear waste transfer”
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, May 15, 2017
More photos of lead “pigs” for sale linked here
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SRS Watch in “DOE responds to fears of potential disasters at Savannah River Site”
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, May 14, 2014 – linked here
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Georgia Power-Westinghouse come to last minute agreement to extend assessment period for fate of mismanaged Vogtle reactor project to June 3, 2017 – late-night filing with New York bankruptcy court linked here
Georgia Power news release, PR Newswire, May 12, 2017 – linked here
article: “South Carolina, Georgia nuclear plants face $15.5 million in new liens” – Aiken (South Carolina) Standard, May 12, 2017 – linked here
“Tom Clements with Savannah River Site Watch has requested an emergency hearing concerning V.C. Summer and the Westinghouse bankruptcy.Public records state the commission will vote on the request on May 17, but Clements said he expects the request to be denied.”
See “emergency petition” Docket 2017-99-E linked here & South Carolina PSC agenda for May 17 linked here
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SRS Watch in “Savannah River Site watchdog group says MOX report past due”
Aiken (South Carolina) Standard, May 11, 2017
Link to DOE Letter of May 10, 2017 – in Response to SRS Watch Freedom of Information Act Request – Confirming DOE Actively Chose Not to Prepare Legally Required MOX Report: https://tinyurl.com/kfx6hgl
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South Carolina Public Service Commission to rule on request for “emergency hearing” on SCE&G nuclear financial meltdown – May 12,
2 p.m – PSC hearing room in Columbia, SC
COMMISSION ACTION ON THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:
7. DOCKET NO. 2017-99-E – Request of Tom Clements for an Emergency Hearing Regarding South Carolina Electric & Gas Company’s Nuclear Construction Project and Westinghouse Bankruptcy Impacts – Staff Presents for Commission Consideration Tom Clements’ Request for an Emergency Hearing Regarding South Carolina Electric & Gas Company’s Nuclear Construction Project and Westinghouse Bankruptcy Impacts.
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Quarterly construction report just dispatched from SCE&G’s AP1000 nuclear black hole – a SCE&G-Westinghouse debacle teetering on the very brink of self-destruction – May 5, 2017:
“V.C. Summer Nuclear Station Units 2 & 3
Quarterly Report to the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff –
Submitted by South Carolina Electric & Gas Company
Pursuant to Public Service Commission Order No. 2009-104(A) Quarter Ending March 31, 2017′
SCE&G states that the mismanaged twin-unit AP1000 reactor project at the VC Summer site is 34.3% complete, yet both units have to be finished and go through start-up testing and be placed in service by the official PSC-approved August 2019 and August 2020 dates (stipulated in PSC order of Nov. 28, 2016 in Docket 216-223-E). SCE&G has not corrected those bogus dates. No wonder this whole mess is melting down….
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Another monumental failure of a large, costly DOE program: Vitrification of high-level nuclear waste at DOE’s Hanford site.
Vitrification of HLW tank waste at SRS, in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), has been a success and this approach must remain the Hanford
GAO report – May 4, 2017
Opportunities Exist to Reduce Risks and Costs by Evaluating Different Waste Treatment Approaches at Hanford
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SRS Watch in “House appropriations bill cuts MOX funding, slight increase for SRS overall”
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, May 1, 2017 – article linked here
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SCAMA – South Carolinians Against Monetary Abuse – releases new WANTED Poster & update as pressure grows on SCE&G’s mismanaged nuclear reactor project, April 24
full SCAMA release linked here
SCE&G’s Mismanaged Nuclear Reactor Construction Project Enters Decisive Week; Calendar, Information and Schedule Update Below
SCAMA Obtains Westinghouse Memo Confirming no Payment to Reactor Project from Bankruptcy Fund; Releases New Version of WANTED POSTER with SCE&G, Electric Cooperatives & Santee Cooper Officials Responsible for Nuclear Project Cost Overruns, Delays & Who Ignored Warnings since 2008
New WANTED POSTER, with officials from SCE&G, Santee Cooper sand SC Electric Cooperatives – linked here
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Fake MOX Rebar False Claims Act Case Against Energy & Process Corp. Dismissed by Federal Court Due to Settlement between Parties, Terms of Settlement Unknown, April 21, 2017
court order linked here & text:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION
UNITED STATES ex rel.
DEBORAH W. COOK,
Relator, CIVIL ACTION FILE
v. NO. 1:13-CV-4023-SCJ
ENERGY & PROCESS CORP.,
Defendants.
O R D E R
Counsel having advised the Court that the parties to this matter have reached a settlement in principal, but it appearing that documentation of the settlement has not yet been concluded, it is therefore ORDERED that this action be DISMISSED without prejudice to the right, upon good cause shown within sixty (60) days to reopen the action if settlement is not consummated. The Clerk is DIRECTED to ADMINISTRATIVELY TERMINATE this action. If this matter is not reopened by the parties within sixty (60) days it will be deemed to have been dismissed with prejudice.
IT IS SO ORDERED, this 21st day of April, 2017.
s/Steve C. Jones
STEVE C. JONES
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) now has an attorney registered in the Westinghouse bankruptcy case in the NY bankruptcy court, April 21, 2017
“Notice of Appearance” of Julio Mendoza, Esq, with Nexsen Pruet, LLC for ORS in the case, which relates to the inability of South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) to move forward with construction of two experimental Westinghouse AP1000 reactors
ORS has a conflicting role and is directed to serve “public interest as a balance among three essential components: the concerns of the using and consuming public; the financial integrity of public utilities; and the economic development of South Carolina.” ORS has uniformly represented the interests of SCE&G in dockets before the South Carolina Public Service Commission since the nuclear project was proposed in 2008. There is hope that the ORS will now reverse course and truly act in the public and ratepayer interest.
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UPDATE – April 21, 2017
MOX Fraud Case Settled
“Energy & Process Corp. agrees to pay $4.6 Million for alleged False Claims Regarding Defective Steel Rebar and Quality Control Failures in Nuclear Waste Treatment Facility
[MOX plant]”
U.S. Attorney’s office, North Georgia District, April 21, 2017 – news release linked here
Settlement coming on April 20 in federal court case concerning improper construction rebar supplied in MOX plant construction by defendant Energy & Process Corporation (“E&P”)?
April 21 Update: No documents were filed by April 20 – we’ll be
checking the docket over the coming days
Settlement in this False Claims Act case may avoid court may well be an admission that inferior rebar was knowingly supplied for MOX plant construction with intent to defraud, as was claimed by the claimant and US attorney’s office. We remain concerned that the US attorney’s office let MOX Services, which had apparently improperly certified E&P to provide nuclear quality rebar, off the legal hook….
United States ex rel. et al v. Shaw Areva Mox Services, LLC et al
Assigned to: Judge Steve C Jones
Cause: 31:3730 Qui Tam False Claims Act
CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:13-cv-04023-SCJ
See pertinent documents filed in the docket in the in the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION:
Order by Court to delay settlement filing until April 208435099-0–24363_court_order_2_week_stay_of_april_6_until_april_20_2017.pdf
ORDER
Before the Court in this False Claims Act case is Relator Deborah Cook’s
motion to stay proceedings for two weeks. Doc. 50. Cook states that the
Government and Defendant have reached a settlement agreement in principle, and that some additional time will allow the parties to present the Court a “unified resolution of the action.” Id. at 1. Particularly since neither the Government nor Defendant oppose the request, the Court GRANTS Cook’s motion. This matter is stayed for two weeks from the day this Order is served.
SO ORDERED, this 6th day of April 2017.
US attorney’s no opposition to extension of proceeding, April 6, 2017
DEFENDANT’S RESPONSE OF NON-OPPOSITION TO RELATOR’S
PETITION FOR A LIMITED TWO (2) WEEK STAY OF PROCEEDINGS,
April 6, 2017
And, in the court case of the State of South Carolina vs DOE, for removal of plutonium from SRS:
“MOX injunction delayed until at least July 31”
Aiken (South Carolina) Standard, April 20, 2017 – article linked here
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Faulty plutonium-handling gloveboxes supplied by Robatel to the SRS MOX facility?
April 7, 2017 letter from CB&I ARVA MOX Servcies to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission – linked here: “This letter provides an interim report in accordance with §21.21 concerning an evaluation being performed by CB&I AREVA MOX Services, LLC (MOX Services) regarding a nonconformance identified at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. The nonconformance being evaluated pertains to undersized vendor welds on the gloveboxes associated with the Pellet. Repackaging (PAD) and Scrap Box Loading (PAR) units.”
from “Interim Report Notification Information per §21.21″:
“The Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility is evaluating a nonconforming condition related to undersized vendor welds on the gloveboxes associated with the Pelle Repackaging (PAD) and Scrap Box Loading (PAR) units. No basic components have been determined to contain a defect….The gloveboxes were supplied to MOX Services as a basic component by Robatel, Rue de Geneve, 69740 Genas, France.”
Note: Usually the NRC sweeps these Part 21 interim reports – on vendor problems – under the rug and we expect that same behavior with this report. The NRC doesn’t even bother, despite our request, to post information about resolution, or not, of the Part 21 problems on its website: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/part21/
photos in DOE slide: SRS glovebox and hot cell
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SRS Watch in WJBF-TV (Augusta, Georgia) report, April 18, 2017:
MOX contractor passes safety inspection for 2016, faces harsh criticism for lack of transparency and efficiency
SRS Watch did not attend the NRC’s annual NRC meeting on April 18 on the MOX plant construction as, predictably, there would be no new information shared and the comments about inspection by NRC staff would be robotic and totally uninformative about what’s really happened at construction of the mismanaged facility. The generic “poster sessions” the NRC now holds, with no formal presentations and no attendance by DOE or CB&I AREVA MOX Services, are, unfortunately for the public, almost worthless. The NRC’s main mission appears to be to claim it did its inspection job (of a tiny sample of things at the MOX plant), even as the project has crumbled around it. Kind of a CYA operation, if you know what we mean.
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South Carolinians Against Monetary Abuse (SCAMA) Stands up for Beleaguered Ratepayers and Demands Much-needed Accountability in the Nuclear Financial Meltdown Facing South Carolinians!
PDF of Wanted Poster available here
On April 12, 2017, SCAMA leads the call to hold the South Carolina Public Service Commission (SC PSC) and the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) accountable for enabling South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) to ripoff ratepayers since the mismanaged reactor project began in 2008. Not once has the PSC or ORS raised serious questions about the endless rate hikes, cost overruns, schedule delays and construction problems related to the construction on a Westinghouse AP1000 experimental reactor. When SCE&G asked, the PSC and ORS ignored the continuous warnings from public interest groups!
SCAMA says it’s time that the PSC and ORS were held accountable!
See SCAMA letter to South Carolina legislators linked here.
>> Transcript of SCE&G briefing to S.C. Public Service Commission, April 12, linked here – lots of crazy stuff here, including newly hired Fluor works not showing up for training
See SCAMA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/affordableenergyforsc/
South Carolina Slim sez: “True to their real nature, those goldarn lowdown polecats at SCE&G and them bootlicking members on the SC Public Service Commission totally ignored the huge negative impacts to SCE&G ratepayers at the financial meltdown briefing on April 12. As those slickbacked corncrackers are buried in the financial mess they created, their goals are all about saving their own guilty hides, continuing to gouge ratepayers for more money and trying to dodge responsibility. They ain’t nothin’ but a bunch of self-serving scalawags! Working solely in the public interest, SCAMA has it right: members of the PSC and SC Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) should accept responsibility for the nuclear mess and resign. (see the SCAMA letter in Docket 2008-196-E) At the same time, SCE&G officials who are shoveling up an endless load of pasture coal should be run out of town and their bank accounts seized!”
South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) files a host of “mechanics liens” against the SCE&G VC Summer project – posted April 17, 2017 on the South Carolina Public Service Commission’s website under “matters” in record for ex parte briefing of April 12, 2017 (ND-2017-12) at https://dms.psc.sc.gov/Web/Ndi/Detail/292
Request by Nuclear Watch South for a “emergency public hearing” with the Georgia Public Service Commission on the Vogtle project financial meltdown: news release linked here & filing linked here (after 11 a.m. EDT on April 18, 2017)
New York bankruptcy court hearing on Wednesday, April 26, 2017: “17-10751-mew Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, et al., and Toshiba Nuclear Energy Holdings (UK) Limited Ch. 11,” with Judge Michael E. Wiles – see calendar linked here
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South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) heads to the South Carolina Public Service Commission on April 12 to make a desperate pitch that it can magically pull its nuclear reactor construction project at the VC Summer site out of the ditch. Good luck with that mission! Will SCE&G officials grow a backbone and, along with the enablers – SC Public Service Commission and SC Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) – accept responsibility for this disaster? (We all know the answer to that key question, but we predict it will one day be answered.)
Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse, it appears that SCE&G efforts are too little too late as Toshiba now appears to be headed towards bankruptcy, caving in on top of the Westinghouse bankruptcy of March 29. (See devastating Toshiba document here.)
We are aware that $CE&G (55% owner of the VC Scammer reactor project) and $antee Cooper (45% owner) are desperately trying to devise ways to stick mounting costs to ratepayers, it looks like the game may be over and that ratepayers are tired of being made the chumps.
More key documents on the situation in South Carolina:
Nuclear update by Santee Cooper (Public Service authority of South Carolina, not regulated by the PSC), April 7, 2017 – overlooks that construction is maybe only 35% complete but admits a whopping $3.8 billion already spent on their 45% share!: – linked here
Rate revision update by Santee Cooper, April 7, 2017 – hmm, they are going to open a public comment period to ask customers how many $$$billions in cost overruns they can tolerate?! – linked here
Scorching letter from Central Electric Power Cooperative board to Santee Cooper board, April 16, 2017 – stop the endless BSing and reveal what the heck is happening, BTW we aren’t a partner in your disaster, we’re an electricity purchaser – linked here
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SRS Watch – Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), South Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club media advisory, April 11, 2017 – linked here
Public Interest Group Representatives to Attend April 12 Briefing by South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) to S.C. Public Service Commission on Nuclear Reactor Project Financial Meltdown & Westinghouse Bankruptcy and will be Available for Interviews and Comments
SCE&G “ex parte” briefing to be held Wednesday, April 12, 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. EDT. Public interest group representatives will be available beginning at 2:00 p.m. Briefing notice posted by PSC:
https://dms.psc.sc.gov/Attachments/Matter/3077fce8-488b-4274-8aee-4961b6d4128c
We encourage the public to attend the briefing!
media advisory of SRS Watch, SACE, Sierra Club linked here
South Carolina Sierra Club news release, April 11, 2017: SC Sierra Club Executives Vote for Formal Action Before the PSC Seeking Remedies for V.C. Summer/Westinghouse Meltdown; Call for Change in State Law; Members to Attend SCE&G PSC Briefing Tomorrow, 4/12, 2:00 p.m. – linked here
photo: SCE&G’s VC Summer site, with one operating reactor and two Westinghouse experimental AP1000s still under construction (we think), @High Flyer, special to SRS Watch, Nov. 10, 2016
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Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) Alert, April 10, 2017
SCE&G Briefing to SC PSC on Westinghouse Bankruptcy
Wed, April 12 | 2:30 – 4:30PM ET | Columbia, South Carolina.
PLEASE ATTEND and support SRS Watch, SACE and the South Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Have you heard about the financial meltdown at the under-construction nuclear reactors at South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) and Santee Cooper’s V.C. Summer plant? After years of delays and billions of customers’ dollars spent, the lead contractor and designer of the new reactors Westinghouse has declared bankruptcy. The project is still many years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget – given this recent development, there seems to be no end in sight.
SCE&G is holding an ex parte briefing for the South Carolina Public Service Commissioners (PSC) on the impacts of the Westinghouse bankruptcy on the V.C. Summer project. The public can attend to learn what the utility reports and to let the Commissioners know that you are concerned and are paying close attention. Information from the PSC on this can be found linked in the alert.
When: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 from 2:30-4:30 pm ET
Where: South Carolina Public Service Commission – Hearing Room, 101 Executive Center Dr., Suite 100 Columbia, SC 29210
full alert linked here:
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50500/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1369258
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South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) ratepayers already hit with $1.9 billion in pay-in-advance charges from 2009-2017 for mismanaged nuclear construction project! How do you spell RIPOFF????
South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) posting linked here
(and in photo above)
ORS Reveals Massive Hit Under Unjust “Baseload Review Act” Passed by SC Legislature in 2007 – 18% of SCE&G Bill for Bungled Nuclear Project, just for Financing Costs! What the heck happens when capital (construction) costs go into the bill?
Plus, ORS Update on Westinghouse Situation, April 4, linked here
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“Radioactive waste likely to stay at Savannah River Site for a while,” with SRS Watch
South Carolina Radio Network, April 3, 2017 – article linked here
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“SCE&G Affirms SC PSC Right to “Emergency Hearing” on Nuclear Financial Crisis,” news update of April 3, 2017 – filing with South Carolina Public Service Commission linked here
— filed in Docket 2017-99-E: request for “emergency hearing”
— citizen comment in support of “emergency hearing” and public notification – linked here
— “WESTINGHOUSE BANKRUPTCY – U.S. NUCLEAR PROJECTS AND FUTURE FINANCIAL RISKS FOR TOSHIBA,” 27th March 2017, Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace Germany, posted by Greenpeace Japan- linked here
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Briefing by SCE&G on troubled nuclear construction project to South Carolina Pubic Service Commission on April 12, 2:30 p.m. in Columbia, SC. PLEASE ATTEND!
“Docket No. ND 2017-12-E: South Carolina Electric & Gas Company – Request for Allowable Ex Parte Briefing to Discuss Updates Regarding the New Nuclear Units at V.C. Summer Nuclear Station and Status of the Contractor, Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC”
SC PSC homepage, for directions to PSC: http://www.psc.sc.gov/Pages/default.aspx
Tele-presser on Westinghouse bankruptcy, by Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), with comments and statement by Tom Clements, director of SRS Watch, March 30 briefing and statements and audio linked here
photo: VC Summer nuclear site, Fairfield County, South Carolina, with one operating recator and construction of two Westinghouse experimental AP1000 reactors stmbling along, at the end of 2016 construction was only 30.9% complete! – see SCE&G filing on that linked here (page 7) ; Nov. 10, 2016, @High Flyer, special to SRS Watch
A few South Carolina documents of current interest on the bungled SCE&G/SCANA project at VC Summer:
1. SCANA presentation to investors, Feb. 16, 2017 – for the first time “project abandonment” under the Baseload Review Act (BLRA) – SC CWIP law – was raised – see page 30:
2. Tom Cle ments request for an “emergency hearing” by the SC PSC on the Westinghouse financial impact on SCE&G’s VC Summer project:
https://dms.psc.sc.gov/Attachments/Matter/0a2061e7-ba7a-46cd-a8bb-2a54fdf6845c
3. SCE&G response, as expected in opposition to the request by Clements for an “emergency hearing,” March 31:
https://dms.psc.sc.gov/Attachments/Matter/d91a300f-d618-4609-96ed-4c99c66a6600
4. SCANA briefing to investors, March 29, in which finishing only one unit was put on the table for the first time:
5. SCE&G filing dated March 29 to hold an ex part briefing before the SC PSC on the situation, April 12, 2:30 p.m. (Please encourage contacts in South Carolina to attend.)
https://dms.psc.sc.gov/Attachments/Matter/3077fce8-488b-4274-8aee-4961b6d4128c
(See more SCANA presentations & transcripts on their investors’ page linked here.)
6. SCE&G 4th quarter 2016 construction report – see page 7: construction only 30.9% complete at end of 2016. With all the problems now facing the project they think they can finish 70% of construction, conduct start-up testing and have the first new unit on line by April 2020 (still SCE&G’s official date but rumor is that they don’t even have a schedule from Westinghouse/Fluor….). If the project continues, expect start-up dates of 2022 or later, meaning another $3++ billion more in cost overruns, which aren’t being much talked about by the media as they seem to have bought the bogus 2020 dates..
https://dms.psc.sc.gov/Attachments/Matter/ce5f3f40-8b81-4e49-8ba3-817e82153a02
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