SRS Watch news release – December 17, 2014
Savannah River Site (SRS) Considers Controversial Direct Disposal of Containers of Surplus Weapon-Grade Plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico
DOE Receives Transport License from NRC for Plutonium Shipping Container; Plan to Directly Dispose of Plutonium in WIPP Would Require Costly, Problematic Security Upgrades at WIPP
Columbia, South Carolina – Documents quietly released by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reveal that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is taking initial steps for the controversial direct disposal of containers of unprocessed weapon-grade plutonium in the currently closed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) facility in New Mexico, according to the public interest group Savannah River Site Watch (SRS Watch).
The documents, discovered by SRS Watch in the NRC’s digital library, reveal that DOE has now obtained a required license from the NRC for transport of a specialized plutonium shipping container to be taken to WIPP for disposal. DOE has confirmed to SRS Watch that the plutonium transport container has received the needed license. The approved shipping container would hold a smaller inner container bearing up to 5 kilograms of plutonium materials now stored at DOE’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina.
The unprecedented, formative plan to directly place plutonium containers in WIPP with no processing or downblending appears to be in the preliminary stages of development. DOE has confirmed to SRS Watch that it is looking into such direct disposal of plutonium.
The disposal method, if WIPP were to reopen and was available, would pose a number of challenges, particularly in relation to placement of costly, extensive security upgrades at WIPP in order to safeguard the plutonium from theft. The cost and political sensitivity of adding security measures at WIPP would likely make implementation of the disposal method difficult to implement, according to SRS Watch.
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The Release of DOE’s final “Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement” (SEIS) on plutonium disposition and MOX is delayed yet another month, remaining “under department review.” No surprise there given how the poorly managed project remains in limbo, with no updated, verified cost analysis or schedule for the failed MOX project.
This listing of the schedule of key DOE EIS documents was posted on the website of the DOE’s Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance on the late afternoon of December 15, 2014. All but one EIS listed under the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) or DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have uncertain schedules, revealing the extent of DOE’s poor planning across the board.
See “Surplus Plutonium Disposition Supplemental EIS, AL, NM, SC, TN (DOE/EIS-0283-S2)” – linked here
Note that the release of the document remains “Under Departmental Review” as has been the case for the last year and a half.
NNSA’s “Surplus Plutonium Disposition Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement” website linked here