Demand for preparation by DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for a legally required Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on pit production is growing
On January 29, 2019, the big Hill briefing “Discussion on Pit Production Pitfalls” will take place, a sign of growing concern about DOE’s half-baked and unjustified push to expand plutonium pit production – for nuclear weapons – into the shuttered MOX plant at SRS and at Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico.
In conjunction with the briefing and other meetings in Washington, SRS Watch and Nuclear Watch New Mexico (Santa, Fe) – sister organizations in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) – have released factsheets on pit production:
1. “Obstacles and Concerns Related to “Repurposing” of the Abandoned
Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at DOE’s Savannah River Site (SRS) to Production of Plutonium Pits for Nuclear Weapons,” by SRS Watch
SRS Watch factsheet linked here
2. “Plutonium Pit Production NEPA Talking Points,” by Nuclear Watch of News Mexico
Nuclear Watch of New Mexico factsheet linked here
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the landmark environmental law which requires executive agencies to give the public the opportunity to formally review and comment on major federal proposals. These talking points outline the history of the Department of Energy’s NEPA compliance on its various proposals concerning the production of plutonium pits (the fissile cores of nuclear weapons). The conclusion is that DOE’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is legally required to prepare a supplemental programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) on its current plan to expand plutonium pit production.