South Carolinians Against Monetary Abuse (SCAMA) news,March 29, 2017 – news release linked hereSCAMA Obtains Records Indicating Liens Filed by Fluor, Company Constructing New Nuclear Reactors in South Carolina and Georgia, Against SCE&G and Georgia Power/Southern NuclearLiens, Filed on March 23, Total $165 Million for both Projects and Indicate Growing Financial Stress as Toshiba Approves Westinghouse Bankruptcy – See Links to Liens in “Notes” in News Release
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Toshiba approves Westinghouse bankruptcy filing
Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, March 28, 2017 – linked here
Westinghouse, AP 1000 Designer, to Declare Bankruptcy; Impacts Must be Proactively Examined by South Carolina Public Service Commission and SC Office of Regulatory Staff
“Petition [to South Carolina Public Service Commission] of Tom Clements [SRS Watch director] Requesting an Emergency Hearing Regarding South Carolina Electric & Gas Company’s Nuclear Construction Project and Westinghouse Bankruptcy Impacts”
Request, with many articles and documents attached, filed with SC Public Service Commission March 27, 2017 – in Docket 2017-99-E —
linked here
March 31 response by SCE&G protesting the “emergency hearing” request, March 31, 2017 – linked here
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March 27, 2018: Nuclear Reactor Construction Financial Meltdown Week in South Carolina & Georgia?
Given increasing news of possible bankruptcy by Westinghouse for its involvement in experimental AP1000 nuclear reactor construction projects in South Carolina and Georgia, SRS Watch director, as a customer of South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G), requests emergency hearing and other action by SC Public Service Commission (SC PSC) and SC Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS)
memo to be filed with SC PSC on the morning of March 27, 2017, excluding listed attachments – linked here
photo: VC Summer reactor site, with one operating reactor and 2 AP1000 experimental reactors under construction, @High Flyer, special to SRS Watch, Nov. 10, 2016
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Nuclear Reactor Construction Projects in South Carolina and Georgia Exploding – Joining MOX in the Debacle Column: March 25 Starts an Ominous Week
Things here at new nuclear ground zero – MOX and four Westinghouse AP1000 reactors under construction – are looking dire
Westinghouse, designer of the experimental AP1000 reactors under construction, faces $9-billion loss with reactor construction in SC & GA and is reported to be set to declare bankruptcy on March 31- article linked here But more delays beyond the 2020 “in-service” dates still being hyped by the utilities for all four reactors mean $ billions more in losses and the rate payer won’t accept that as more losses aren’t “prudent”
In the midst of this bad situation, Santee Cooper, 45% partner in the South Carolina Electric & Gas project, is trying to sell more bonds – see photo above of ad on page 11A in the March 25 edition of The State newspaper (Columbia, SC). Who will buy Santee Cooper bonds right when the project explodes & rumors of a partial construction shut-down on March 28 swirl?
Santee Cooper band-sale website linked here — “Santee Cooper is pleased to present our 21st Mini-Bond offering to you. As in the past, we are issuing these bonds to finance equipment, and sales help us continue to provide low-cost, reliable and environmentally responsible power and water to South Carolina.” Uh, what about the financial meltdown of your nuclear project? Will buyers invest with the meltdown cloud hanging ominously over your head?
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SRS Tells SRS Watch that Whistleblowers are Protected – March 24, 2017:
The Department of Energy is strongly committed to a workplace where all workers – both federal and contractor – are free to speak out, voice concerns, or lodge complaints, without fear of retaliation.
The final rule for 81 FR 94910 (protection for nuclear whistleblowers-both federal and contractor employees) went into effect March 21, 2017.
NOTE: This applies to anyone who may point out potential fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement at the MOX project.
—- news articles on SRS whistleblower lawsuit decision:
“Energy Department whistleblower [at SRS] finally gets justice, despite agency neglect”
Washington Post, March 24, 2017 – linked here
“SRNS ordered to reinstate fired worker; remit $371,000 in back pay, damages”
Aiken (South Carolina) Standard, March 24, 2017 – linked here
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OMG UPDATE from New-Nuclear Construction Ground Zero: Reactor Financial Nuclear Meltdown Worsens –
March 24, 2017
On top of the MOX debacle at the US DOE’s Savannah River Site (South Carolina), massive problems are facing four Westinghouse AP1000 reactors under construction here in South Carolina (South Carolina Electric & Gas) and Georgia (Southern Company/Georgia Power). Things aren’t looking so good for the nuclear construction industry in the US….
With the bankruptcy looming of Westinghouse, designer of the experimental AP1000 reactor, the impacts of the fina ncial nuclear meltdown are hitting hard. Morgan Stanley has just put out a report assessing the situation:
“Implications of Potential Westinghouse Bankruptcy Filing”
see Morgan Stanley’s March 22, 2017 report linked here
Media reports indicate nuclear contractor Westinghouse is
taking exploratory steps around a possible bankruptcy filing.
We see a number of risks for both SCG and SO if
Westinghouse is unable to honor its obligations, with further
downside in SCG shares.
Recent media reports, including Reuters, have indicated that Toshiba subsidiary Westinghouse (which is constructing nuclear plants for SO and SCG) is currently taking offers for a debtor-in-possession financing package to provide funds through a bankruptcy proceeding (article), and that the company has hired bankruptcy attorneys (article). Toshiba has said that no decision about a bankruptcy filing has been made, but we consider it an important exercise to consider the potential ramifications if Westinghouse is unable to honor its obligations to SO and SCG.
In the event of a bankruptcy filing for Westinghouse, SCANA and Southern would in our view face three issues: (1) the potential for nuclear contracts to be modified by a bankruptcy filing, potentially limiting liability of Westinghouse and Toshiba for current and/or future overruns, (2) the risk of protracted litigation regarding liability for cost overruns, and (3) potential for lack of assets at Toshiba with which to satisfy SCANA’s and Southern’s claims. As a result, we think the fixed price nuclear construction contracts could be at risk, and believe SO and SCG shareholders would have a greater likelihood of bearing nuclear cost overruns.
So, questions about the AP1000 projects mount, especially i fthe SCE&G project is abandoned under the Baseload Review Act (South Carolina CWIP law). Politicians and regulators who allowed this situation to develop and continue are running for cover.
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US Federal Court Ruling on Plutonium Removal from South Carolina (Savannah River Site), Columbia, SC, March 20, 2017 – order linked here
State gets favorable ruling but nothing has changed – plutonium stays at SRS & MOX remains mired in problems, pressure on for SC and DOE to negotiate but hinging anything on substantive MOX “progress” remains nearly impossible
The court requires DOE to remove 1 metric ton of plutonium from SRS but no timeline is required for that, so this changes nothing as the mismanaged MOX has failed to process & remove plutonium. We’d love to see a legally binding date set for operation of the MOX plant and subsequent removal of plutonium from South Carolina. Uh, but NNSA and CB&I AREVA MOX Services refuse to give us a cost of the MOX plant or a schedule for its completion and operation. So, the boondoggle continues unconstrained and with no accountability.
“ORDER AND OPINION granting in part and denying in part 10 Motion for Summary Judgment. Parties shall submit a joint written statement to the court on or before April 12, 2017, and, after reviewing the statement, the court will determine the need for further submissions or hearings. Signed by Honorable J Michelle Childs on 3/20/2017.”
“Fourth, for the reasons stated in the preceding paragraph, among others, although the court must enter an order compelling the Secretary to remove from South Carolina one metric ton of defense plutonium, the court cannot, in that order, compel the Secretary to do so immediately….Here, for instance, the court could not order the Secretary to remove the one metric ton of defense plutonium inconsistently with NEPA and other applicable laws, and it likewise could not order the Secretary to remove the one metric ton of defense plutonium without regard to whether removal was consistent with NEPA and other applicable laws. Defendants have asserted that the Secretary could not, consistent with NEPA and other applicable laws, immediately remove the one metric ton of defense plutonium, and they have supported this assertion with a great deal of evidence.”
news articles:
“Ruling in MOX case favors state but victory elusive –Department of Energy might not be as much of a victory as it first appears.”
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, March 21, 2017 – linked here
&
“Judge: Feds mus remove plutonium from Savannah River Site”
Aiken (SC) Standard, March 20, 2017 – article linked here
photo: Old K-Reactor at SRS, where 13 metric tons of non-pit plutonium are stored, the only permanent “Category 1” security facility at SRS; DOE failed to construct the stand-alone storage facility – Actinide Packaging and Storage Facility – and instead opted for the now 63-year old K-Reactor building for the plutonium storage mission
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“Remembering Paul Leventhal: Nuclear Lessons for a New Administration”
by Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project (NPPP)
Thu, April 13, 2017
11:00 AM – 3:00 PM EDT
LBJ Washington Center
1100 New York Ave. NW
Greyhound Suite (#290)
Washington, DC 20005-3934
Tom Clements, director of SRS Watch and former executive director of the Nuclear Control Institute, learned much Paul Leventhal and appreciates this event in the memory of him and his important nuclear nonproliferation work.
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SRS Watch in: “As MOX Funding Hopes Rise, Owner Dings Contractor Over Performance”
Engineering News-Record, March 16, 2017
photo: @High Flyer, special to SRS Watch, June 20, 2016
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Amazing Free Offer by SRS Watch! Want your very own MOX Boondoggle pen? A fitting tribute to $5 billion of US taxpayer money wasted so far on a dead-end project!
One person will win this collector’s item – let us know at srswatch@gmail.com if you want this unique pen. Use it to write to Congress to terminate the MOX project, now on life support, or to write to federal agencies to call for investigations into waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement.
Like the bungled MOX project, this pen is NOT guaranteed to work.
We’ll randomly choose a winner from those who respond by March 22, 2017 to this amazing, one-time offer. Include your mailing address in your email to srswatch@gmail.com.
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March 16, 2017: President Trump & the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Release Draft Budget Outline for Fiscal Year 2018 – “Skinny Budget” Means Pure Fat for NNSA
U.S. Department of Energy takes 5.6% cut. The nuclear weapons side of DOE, the National Nuclear Security Administration – where the plutonium fuel MOX boondoggle resides – gets an 11.3% increase. Surprisingly, MOX isn’t mentioned. Due to massive cost overruns and endless schedule delays, is the MOX debacle on the cutting block or will it remain on the brink of termination for yet another year?
On clean-up of DOE sites, like the Savannah River Site:
“Protects human health and the environment by providing $6.5 billion to advance the Environmental Management program mission of cleaning up the legacy of waste and contamination from energy research and nuclear weapons production, including addressing excess facilities to support modernization of the nuclear security enterprise.”
Draft budget for FY 2018 linked here:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf
Meanwhile, the “continuing resolution” for Fiscal Year 2017 spending expires on April 28…..
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Federal Judge Rules in State of South Carolina vs US DOE — Plutonium-Removal Lawsuit – March 14, 2017
“V. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Defendants’ motion to dismiss the State’s complaint (ECF No. 17) is hereby GRANTED IN PART, with respect to the complaint’s first cause of action, and DENIED IN PART, with respect to the complaint’s second cause of action. The first cause of action in the State’s complaint (ECF No. 1 at ¶¶ 84-88) is hereby DISMISSED.”
court “ORDER AND OPINION” posted here
SRS Watch in: “Ruling in MOX case could mean plutonium removal, but questions remain“
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, March 15 – article linked here
&
“Judge Dismisses second part of Savannah River Site MOX suit“
Aiken (South Carolina) Standard
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March 14, 2017: NUCLEAR DUMPING NEWS FLASH
A member of the German Bundestag (parliament) today assures SRS Watch that the German draft law on high-level waste management will effectively bar export of graphite spent fuel from the AVR reactor (stored at Forschungszentrum Jülich, FZJ) and THTR reactor (stored at Ahaus) – long-shuttered gas-cooled reactors – to SRS for processing and dumping.
We will continue to follow the Bundestag’s discussion of the law and will look for further confirmation that the export scheme will not be allowed to go forward. Those at SRS pursuing dumping-for-profit may not yet be prepared to give up on the matter but based on all the information we are receiving from NGOs in Germany it appears the scheme is near death.
Now, the question before DOE and SRS officials: When will the environmental review of the scheme be formally terminated? Will the draft Environmental Assessment on the import and dumping simply be allowed to wither and die without the final EA being issued (it’s now been delayed over a year).
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Big article, with SRS Watch quote & photo, in Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, on problems with US MOX project & efforts to downblend plutonium at SRS, March 13, 2017
特集ワイド
どうする余剰プルトニウム 日本は「核燃料サイクル」にこだわるが…米の「秘策」希釈処分とはpoor translation from Google Translate: “Special feature wide –
What to do Surplus plutonium Japan sticks to “nuclear fuel cycle” … What is dilution disposal of “secret strategy”…..”article linked here: http://mainichi.jp/articles/20170313/dde/012/040/002000c
photo: SRS MOX plant, June 20, 2016, credit: “@High Flyer, special to SRS Watch”
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March 10, 2017 – Update on Two Federal Court Cases on the MOX Boondoggle
1. North Georgia District Court allows filing dates to be extended to April and May for the False Claims Act case against Energy & Process Corporation for fraudulently providing unqualified rebar to the MOX project.
March 10, 2017 court order linked here
2. South Carolina federal court extends time for mediation – towards a settlement – in case of State of South Carolina vs DOE for failed MOX project and DOE’s inability to start removing plutonium from SRS.
“The State and Federal Defendants shall engage in good faith settlement discussions, which shall be concluded by July 31, 2017. If both parties agree that mediation would be helpful to those discussions, such mediation will be conducted pursuant to the Mediation Order of this Court dated February 8, 2017, ECF No. 78. Any such mediation shall also be concluded by July 31, 2017.
If no settlement is reached by July 31, 2017, counsel for the parties shall inform the Court and a status conference will be scheduled by the Court.”
Note that DOE Secretary Rick Perry is now a plaintiff.
May 10, 2017 court order linked here
photo: federal court house, Columbia, South Carolina, June 20, 2016;
credit: “@Paul Palmer, Carolina Peace Resource Center”
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The environment committee of the German Bundestag met on March 8 to discuss the draft German law on high-level nuclear waste management. Pressure continues for clear opposition to German spent fuel export to SRS and we understand that the Environment Ministry has clarified that export of AVR and THTR spent fuel to SRS is forbidden.
Stand by for the major parties – Greens, CDU/CSU and SPD – affirming that there will be no German spent fuel dumping on SRS.
See video of environment committee meeting (in German):
– https://www.bundestag.de/mediathek?videoid=7079920#url=L21lZGlhdGhla292ZXJsYXk=&mod=mediathek
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“Savannah River Site and the Challenges Ahead: Keeping the Focus on Cleanup”
— presentation by SRS Watch to the Aiken Group of the Sierra Club, followed by a discussion:
Sunday, March 12, 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.,
Aiken Unitarian Universalist Church
115 Gregg Ave, Aiken, South Carolina 29801
Rumor of the Week, March 6, 2017: Bechtel to take over aspects of construction of problem-plagued AP1000 nuclear reactor project(s) in South Carolina (& Georgia)?
Did South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) meet with supervisory staff at the VC Summer site on March 2 and alert them to Bechtel coming into the project?
If Westinghouse declares bankruptcy on March 14 and construction management changes, you can bet rate payers will take more brutal, unjustified hits. With more delays likely – at ~$1.5 billion/year – watch what happens with impacts on commercial and residential customers.
Prognosis: Negative impacts to grow as AP1000 projects face more delays & cost increases. This is going to get even uglier as the chaos and cost increases continue. One thing is clear, Toshiba/Westinghouse, CB&I and SCE&G and Georgia Power have helped kill off any last nuclear industry hopes of a “nuclear renaissance” in the US.
March 8 Update: We’re hearing that Bechtel is to “take over” large portions of the work but Fluor will stay on as another management layer. Will SCE&G update the South Carolina Public Service Commission about this and cost and schedule impacts at the ex parte briefing at the end of March/first of April?
photo: VC Summer nuclear site, November 10, 2016, @High Flyer, special to SRS Watch
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group letter linked here
“Oversight organizations ask Congress to de-fund MOX”—–Project on Government Oversight (POGO) gets to the point: terminate MOX; SRS Watch signs group letter to Congress
Scathing Contractor Evaluation Should End the MOX Project
POGO and other groups send letter to policymakers recommending cancellation
March 1, 2017 blog linked here and group letter linked here
DOE’s “scathing contractor evaluation” linked here
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Troubled MOX project under scrutiny in national US news as short-term fate of project continues up in the air, long-term fate unavoidably remains termination – MOX boosters scramble to save their pet spending project
“Energy Department issues scathing evaluation of nuclear project”
Washington Post, February 28, 2017 – article linked here
DOE’s evaluation of CB&I AREVA MOX Services linked here
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Is this the tip of the MOX fraud iceberg….?
from U.S. Attorneys » District of South Carolina
Augusta Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy [in fraud at MOX project]
news release of February 27, 2017 linked here
Contact Person: John C. Potterfield (803) 929-3000
Columbia, South Carolina—- United States Attorney Beth Drake today announced that Phillip Thompson, age 67, of Augusta, Georgia, pled guilty to his role in a conspiracy involving theft of government funds. Thompson admitted that he and another man conspired to defraud the government by creating fraudulent invoices for payment of what appeared to be goods needed for work at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savanah River Site. He further admitted that no goods were ever received and that the loss in the case was over $5,000,000.00.
The sentencing date will be set after the court reviews a pre-sentence report.
The case was investigated by Special Agents with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John Potterfield is prosecuting the case.
photo of MOX plant: @High Flyer, special to SRS Watch
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“ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS (EISs) and ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS (EAs) INVOLVING THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE (SRS) JANUARY 2017” – released by SRS on February 24, 2017
DOE is predictably again late with issuance of the final Environmental Assessment on the import and dumping of German highly radioactive commercial spent fuel — in the form of uranium-impregnated graphite balls – at SRS. DOE says: “A date for issuance of the final EA was not available at the time this status report was prepared.”
SRS environmental document schedule linked here
As the export from Germany of the AVR & THTR gas-cooled reactor spent fuel will face legal challenges – uh, because it’s illegal – SRS should drop pursuit of this dumping-for-profit scheme.
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February 21, 2017
Trump Era Dawns with Largest Bomb-Grade Uranium Export in Five Years –
U.S. to Supply Belgian Reactor that ISIS Terrorists Targeted –
In Response to NPPP Petition, NRC Truncates License Durationnews release linked here
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February 21, 2017:
DOE GOES DARK
…and shuts down on-line phone book in advance of unscheduled vote on Rick Perry for DOE secretary
Lacking Trump administration officials yet being in place this seems like a way to try and block public access to non-political DOE staff who work for us – a sign of weakness right off the bat.
see https://energy.gov/doe-phonebook
“Phonebook is no longer available
The Energy.gov phonebook is no longer available. Please use the main Energy.gov contact number, 202-586-5000, or the contact information for each office. Links to each office can be found at https://energy.gov/offices.”
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INFCIRC 549 report linked hereFrance: 47 MT (out of 80 MT total)
INFCIRC 549 report linked hereWith such massive stockpiles stored in Europe, any “cats and dogs” amounts of plutonium – in small kilogram levels – in European countries can go into those stockpiles and not to the Savannah River Site. Sound nuclear non-proliferation policy should dictate no international transport and dumping at SRS but something else is at play. Could it be dumping-for-profit?
Without no explanation or justification given by the US Department of Energy, in June 2016, 2 kg of French-origin plutonium and 236 kg of UK-origin were dumped at SRS after being shipped from Japan. In reality, there is no disposition plan for this dumped material. SRS Watch news on that shipment: June 6, 2016 statement on arrival & March 21, 2016 news release on departure from Japan.
Now, plans seem to be afoot by NNSA officials and contractors at SRS and in Washington to bring more plutonium to SRS. For nuclear non-proliferation, security and environmental reasons, European plutonium should stay in Europe!
photo: @SRS Watch, UK-flagged Oceanic Pintail leaving Charleston, South Carolina in March 2016 after it brought German and Swiss plutonium to be dumped at the Savannah River Site; are more such transports in PNTL vessels being readied in 2017? To report international nuclear dumping: : srswatch@gmail.com
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photo: MOX project at SRS with Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle, just across the Savannah River in the state of Georgia, in the background. Two Toshiba/Westinghouse AP1000 reactors are under construction at Vogtle. With the other AP1000 reactor construction project an hour away, it’s easy to see why SC/GA is “new-nuclear ground zero.” All the projects face massive cost overruns and significant schedules delays.. Hmmmm, a common thread is that CB&I has been involved at all the projects…they were kicked off the AP1000 projects but not MOX. Makes ya’ wonder, right? @High Flyer, April 2015
Given Georgia Power’s mounting financial and technical woes at its AP1000 reactor construction project, just across the Savannah River from SRS, and that MOX is likely not to be finished, we don’t regard this as likely.
Plant Vogtle could use new fuel when MOX is complete
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, Feb. 19, 2017 – linked here
MOX in Vogtle sounds like a desperation PR move by AREVA. So, they think GA Power will go through years of MOX testing and licensing on top of other AP1000 problems? Uh, we don’t think so. But we’re talking around 2050 for any MOX fuel testing, long after the MOX project has been officially terminated or withered away given that Congress has placed it on an unofficial shut-down track. But the “Strom Thurmond MOX Memorial Bridge” across the river from SRS to Vogtle may remain a dream in some minds…
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Be Alert to Fake News on the SCE&G Financial Nuclear Meltdown!
See SCANA news release of February 14, 2017 on its troubled Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactor construction project in South Carolina:
“SCANA Receives Reaffirmation from Westinghouse Regarding Completion of VC Summer New Nuclear Project” – linked here
The news release confirms further delays in the start-up of the two new nuclear units: “WEC [Westinghouse Electric Company] provided SCE&G with revised in-service dates of April 2020 and December 2020 for Units 2 and 3…”
This means a further schedule delay of 7 months for unit 2 and 4 months for unit 3, which could add perhaps $1 billion in additional costs. The public in no way is assured by the delay announcement or the cost implications of it.
The “in-service” dates of 2020 – which SCE&G is struggling to meet in order to earn federal Production Tax Credits – are highly suspect! Media appears not to be examining if the dates have any basis in fact. Word from the VC Summer site is that the 2020 dates can’t be met. Thus, rather than providing an assurance about the project, this announcement of yet another schedule delay continues to erode the few shreds of confidence that remained.
SCE&G rate payers should be prepared to further take it on the chin due to management mistakes by SCE&G throughout the course of the project. It’s time they were held accountable for the massive cost overruns they and their partners – CB&I, Toshiba/Westinghouse, Fluor – have caused.
photo: VC Summer site in South Carolina, location of 1 operating reactor and 2 Westinghouse AP1000s slowly under construction, Nov. 10, 2016, @High Flyer
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SCAMA & Nuclear Financial Meltdown – Action Time!
If you’re concerned about the financial meltdown of Toshiba and its impact on SCE&G’s VC Summer reactor construction project in South Carolina, join with SCAMA at the state capitol on Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. to express concern about rate-payer impacts.
Join with SCAMA – South Carolinians Against Monetary Abuse – to creatively protest to on-going rate shock. See SCAMA FB page for details:
https://www.facebook.com/events/263664357410999/
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It’s February 14, 2017 and that means it’s Valentines Day in the United States.
Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, MOX is Scam* and it’s Doomed, too….
We’re feeling the love for the investigations who are digging into the dire situation with the US DOE’s plutonium fuel MOX debacle at the Savannah River Site. The full extent of any waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement and corruption by DOE/NNSA/Shaw/CB&I AREVA MOX Services/Superior Air Handling (rumored to have botched the HVAC work, with negative impacts the sequencing of other commodity work) and other contractors will slowly come out. Why has this situation been allowed to drag out for so long and where are a series of congressional hearings on the MOX mess?
* By definition, a “scam” is a deceptive operation set out to defraud. After 10 years of government-funded MOX plant construction and 32 years to go we get the picture. With no budget, no schedule and virtually no oversight or accountability the $17-billion MOX construction project has become a text-book case of a failed big-government contractor-run boondoggle.
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非常警報!
February 13, 2017, Japan time: D-Day for the Toshiba nuclear meltdown! CB&I’s bungling destroys nuclear reactor construction in the U.S. but the company remains at MOX…mmmmm… Give CB&I the boot from MOX!
Bungled nuclear reactor projects in South Carolina and Georgia seal the fate of Toshiba and the much-touted “Nuclear Renaissance”…
“Power struggle: Financial woes jolt contractor at South Carolina nuclear plant”
Charleston (South Carolina) Post & Courier, February 11, 2017 –
- article linked here
Yes, we predicted big delays and cost overruns before the South Carolina Public Service Commission in a formal intervention in 2008 and 2009. See the photo for the “blank check” for billions of $$$ that rate payers were forced to hand over to SCE&G when the SC PSC approved the twin-unit AP1000 project. Rate payers are paying and paying and now unjustly pay 18% of their utility bill just for nuclear financing costs!. What will happen when construction costs go into the bill?! The dreaded “rate shock death spiral”….?
Negative impacts of Toshiba’s bankruptcy due to the involvement of its Westinghouse subsidiary in the AP1000 reactor construction projects here in South Carolina and Georgia will be deep. How will South Carolina Electric & Gas (VC Summer project) and Georgia Power (Plant Vogtle) be impacted? As usual, the rate payers of those utilities will likely be shafted as construction could drag on and on, far beyond the current schedule – first units finished in August 2019 and second units in August 2020. Bogus! Will Toshiba beg for a Japanese government bailout?
Toshiba/Westinghouse/SCE&G/Georgia Power mismanaged the projects but the main reason for the problems may be due to very poor performance by the construction company Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I), which was booted off the projects in January 2016 after it was allowed to royally screw up the much-touted (and failed) modular construction.
We wonder every day: Why could CB&I be removed from the AP1000 projects but be allowed by DOE to stay on the MOX project? Is this a clear indication that the private utilities have a little more management sense than DOE/NNSA, which is allowing CB&I to continue to milk the tax payer with the MOX project (which has no schedule or budget)! It’s time to give CB&I the boot at SRS!
On February 16, SCANA – parent of SCE&G – will hold a public “earnings call” to discuss the impact of the Toshiba meltdown – SCANA news release linked here.
Join the call for the fireworks and to hear yet more rate-payer-shafting excuses about to how SCE&G can handle this crisis. Is SCE&G about to go under? Will Westinghouse sell SCE&G the AP1000 design or simply walk? (Down it all goes if that happens…) Is Duke Energy circling the carcass and looking to buy a cut-rate nuclear project?
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SRS Watch in “NRC cites MOX contractor for safety-related violation”
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, February 9, 2017 – linked here
photo: Superior Air Handling (Harris Companies) website on HVAC work at the MOX project: http://www.hmcc.com/projects/mo/ Is this company responsible for massive, costly rework and commodity sequencing problems at the MOX plant, or not? Will investigations find out? See “work package” (“final attributes”) problems discussed in this 2016 NNSA document, which concludes that the MOX plant won’t be finished until 2048: 2016 Updated Performance Baseline for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site
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–
,
SEE YOU IN COURT!
MOX Rebar Fraud Case – Filed Under the False Claims Act – Court Extends Filing Deadlines as Negotiations on a Settlement Continue – Feb. 8
photo: “crap rebar” substituted for nuclear quality rebar – supplied to defraud the US taxpayer, CB&I AREVA MOX Services documents on resale of the unqualified rebar indicate that the quantity incorrectly supplied could be from 800,000 to 1.5 million pounds
In addition to massive fines and payment of cost and penalties, jail time for this fraudulent behavior by Energy & Process Corporation management seems in order as the taxpayer appears to have been ripped off with full knowledge of the company (and possibly also by CB&I AREVA MOX Services, eventually removed from the case by the federal attorney’s office even though they signed off on the qualifications of E&P.)
JOINT MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF DEADLINES
Defendant Energy & Process Corporation (“E&P”) and Plaintiff the United States of America (the “United States”) (collectively, the “Parties”), through counsel and pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b), jointly move the Court for an extension of deadlines in this matter to allow for time to finalize a tentative settlement agreement between the Parties. Although the Parties have made progress toward settlement since the Court granted the last joint motion for extension of deadlines on January 12, 2017, the settlement agreement is not yet finalized, and the Parties estimate that an additional 30 days will be sufficient to complete their negotiations.
Court filings in Northern District of Georgia (Federal District Court) – February 8, 2017:
JOINT MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF DEADLINES
ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF DEADLINES
Next document filing by E&P is due March 10, 2017.
>>> Question to CB&I AREVA MOX Services and remaining managers with Superior Air Handling (rumored to have badly botched the HVAC work at the MOX plant and negatively impacted sequencing of other commodity work): What other activities associated with construction of the MOX plant merit investigations into waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement and corruption? The silence on rework problems is telling.
More on MOX woes in federal court below:
“Judge dismisses SC claim to $100 million in MOX, defense plutonium lawsuit”
Augusta Chronicle, Feb. 8, 2017 – linked here
Tom Clements, director of the nuclear watchdog organization SRS Watch, has repeatedly called for the government to shut down the project, calling it well over budget and a “boondoggle.”
“The ruling is certainly no surprise,” Clements said. “If it was paid it would further damage plutonium disposition funding and mean the plutonium would stay here longer.”
He said, “I think this lawsuit underscores the fact that MOX has failed. And I think it was important to bring the lawsuit because it shows that South Carolina recognized that they were duped into bringing in the defense plutonium with no real pathway out.”
Ruling from the court – February 8, 2017 – Columbia, South Carolina:
Ruling on defendant’s motion to dismiss
photo: @Carolina Peace Resource Center (CPRC), June 20, 2016 in front of federal court house, Columbia, SC
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French TV Exposes Connection between Bankrupt French Government-Owned Company AREVA and the US MOX Plant Cost Overruns and Delays
– prime time in France on February 7, 2017
Areva: une usine livrée avec 32 ans de retard? –
Areva: a factory delivered 32 years late?
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Got nuclear materials to reprocess? How much does it cost to rent the H-Canyon reprocessing plant at SRS?!
You didn’t think it possible to rent a reprocessing plant as it can separate weapon-grade nuclear materials? Think again! Check out the prices SRS offers rental of the US-government-subsidized H-Canyon equipment and staff!
Some at SRS seem to want to base the site’s future business model on import, processing and and dumping of foreign nuclear waste and plutonium. So, we must ask: how much does SRS charge for rental of the 61-year-old the H-Canyon reprocessing plant? How much will Canada or Germany or, say, Denmark(*) pay for 1) rental of H-Canyon for HLW processing and 2) cost of dumping by-product waste in the aging SRS tanks or a burial site? Is this a per volume charge or hourly charge by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) or the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) or what?
OK, customers may be at a negotiating disadvantage given that H-Canyon is the only operable reprocessing plant in the US – but don’t be shy and ask for country specific discounts! As of February 8, 2017, we’ve seen no indication of what the “rental fee” is for foreign clients as most documents, such as this one below, focus on technical aspects of reprocessing in H-Canyon.
“Dissolution of Material and Test reactor Fuel in an H-Canyon Dissolver” – Savannah River National Lab, January 2017
* Just ask us about that Danish high-level nuclear waste that could come to SRS for processing and dumping…..
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MOX Fraud is Starting to Crack
“Hearing set for men accused of scamming $4M+ from government” [MOX project at SRS]
Associated Press, Columbia, SC, February 7, 2017 – article linked here
Did CB&I AREVA MOX Services know about this fraud before federal investigators got involved? Was there any attempt to cover it up? Are those same investigators now looking into other suspect aspects of the MOX debacle? Give us a buzz and we can help further point the way for investigations into waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement & corruption.
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“Areva’s other cursed project” (you know what that is!)
“L’autre chantier maudit d’Areva”
— in French economics magazine Capital, with MOX plant photo by High Flyer – article, with data on MOX plant cost escalation, linked here
Oh la vache, c’est vrai! Est-ce une fraude!?
Mein Gott! Es ist ein Betrug!? — Creemos que es un fraude!?
Photo: two new nuclear project disasters in one photo; @High Flyer, MOX plant in foreground & Plant Vogtle AP1000 project in Georgia in the distance – the AP1000 projects in Georgia and South Carolina are plagued by the Toshiba-Westinghouse financial meltdown
What the heck is going on with nuclear construction projects?! Boondoggles, debacles and incompetence on all sides here in new-nuclear ground zero as the nuclear business appears to be, by choice, going “all in” with problems. Who is making a buck off this “maximize-construction-problems-and-cost-overruns” approach??? We well know that tax payers and rate payers are getting the shaft. All the projects are disintegrating due to self-inflicted wounds as managers allowed shoddy work to drag on and on (and so it still goes). Like MOX, both AP1000 projects – Vogtle & VC Summer – are in great need of investigation into waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement and corruption. Right?
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First MOX fraud case headed to a hearing or trial in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina, with pre-trial conference scheduled for February 27, 2017!
Ya Gotta Wonder: How close are investigations into possible waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement and corruption getting to the major MOX contractors like CB&I AREVA MOX Services, CB&I Project Services Group and Superior Air Handling (rumored to have botched the HVAC work, negatively impacting the entire project)? If you have pertinent information and/or documents, please pass them on and we will help get the information to investigators: srswatch@gmail.com.
“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 February 27, 2017, at 10:00 a.m., in U.S. District Courthouse, Courtroom #3, 901 Richland Street, Columbia, S.C.
ALL ATTORNEYS AND DEFENDANTS ARE REQUIRED TO BE PRESENT UNLESS EXCUSED BY THE COURT OR SANCTIONS WILL BE IMPOSED.”
See judge’s January 31, 2017 “Notice of Pre-Trail Conference and/or Jury Selection” linked here. Names of the defendants, who face wire fraud charges – details of case sealed – Phillip Thompson & Aaron Vennefron.
United States attorney, District of South Carolina, December 16, 2015 news release: “Two Men Charged With Wire Fraud“
The False Claims Act case in federal court, on falsely certified rebar used in the foundation of the MOX plant, should be moving soon as well. Stay tuned.
“Hearing set for men accused of scamming $4M+ from government’
– AP article, February 7, 2017
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Aiken (South Carolina) Sierra Club Group’s March 12 Meeting: “Savannah River Site and the Challenges Ahead” – with SRS Watch director Tom Clements
Sunday, March 12, 2017, 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Aiken Unitarian Universalist Church
115 Gregg Avenue, Aiken, SC 29801 (map at link below)
— meeting notice linked here
“The Aiken Group is pleased to announce a special presentation for our March meeting: “Savannah River Site and the Challenges Ahead,” with renowned nuclear safety advocate and industry watchdog, Tom Clements of SRS Watch.
Mr. Clements’ presentation will cover several topical issues at SRS to include high-level waste management, the current status of the MOX project, nuclear weaponry, and the imports of nuclear waste and plutonium, with an emphasis on clean-up and the need to terminate nuclear imports. Attendees will have the opportunity after the meeting to sign a letter, to be mailed to our legislators, in opposition to nuclear imports.”
>>> Will NNSA or CB&I AREVA MOX Services managers show up and explain what the heck is going on with the troubled MOX project?! Unfortunately, as they hide their faces as well as information from public and avoid all forms of accountability, we sincerely doubt it.
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SRS Watch director to speak on challenges to the Savannah River Site at “Power to the Peaceful” event on Saturday, February 4 in Columbia, South Carolina.
Sponsored by the Carolina Peace Resource Center (CPRC), the event begins at 9 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church near downtown Columbia.
Event FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/735914819908183/
Yes, CB&I AREVA MOX Services, your mismanagement role of the plutonium fuel (MOX) project will be discussed. We urge you to finally try and make a case to us that you have not bungled the project and that you should not be held accountable. All we the public gets is silence and non-response to our inquiries, which we find very revelatory.
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With the CB&I AREVA MOX Services project remaining in shambles, it’s a good time to recall an important article that changed the dynamics of the discussion about MOX and plutonium disposition
“The Future of Plutonium Disposition”
in Arms Control Today, July/August 2013 – linked here
Four years later, the $17-billion MOX plant construction project stumbles along, with no demonstrated end goal in sight and no accountability for possible waste, fraud abuse & mismanagement by CB&I AREVA MOX Services or others responsible for the MOX travesty. It’s a sad case study in government-contractor inefficiency and possible fraud that one day likely will be studied in depth.
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