DOE Hides Just-Approved, Official Cost Estimate of SRS Plutonium Pit Plant, Keeps
Public in the Dark about Size of Escalating Cost for New Nuclear Weapons Facility,
Cost could Soar to Over $30 Billion
New Estimate Likely to Go Higher than 2026 Unofficial Estimate of $18-25 Billion,
More than Doubling the 2021 Official Estimate of $7-11 Billion – Just to Refurbish the
Terminated MOX Plant, into which $5-8 Billion has already been Sunk
SRS Watch news release, October 19, 2026: https://srswatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/News-on-CD-2-lack-of-SRS-pit-platn-cost-estimate-October-19-2026-SRS-Watch.pdf
UPDATE? Someone received a message from NNSA on October 19, 2026 saying the estimated cost of the pit project was a whopping $23.5 billion – plus sunk costs of $5-8 billion in the MOX building – and an estimated completion date of 2038, which is 3-6 years behind the date given in Critical Decision-1 (approval to start the project) in 2021 and that means the costs go higher. Congress will be paying close attention to this project and its out-of-control cost and schedule. It seems to be following the disastrous path of the failed plutonium fuel (MOX) project at SRS.
SRS Watch news release, 9 a.m. October 19, 2026:
Columbia, SC — The Department of Energy claimed on October 16, 2026 that it
approved a new cost estimate for the massive facility to make 50 or more plutonium
pits per year – for new nuclear weapons’ cores – at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in
South Carolina, but the department has refused to publicly release the estimate. It is
believed that the cost for the new facility could soar above a recent unofficial cost
estimate of $30 billion.
It was anticipated that the new cost estimate for the plutonium bomb plant, per DOE
practice, would be publicly released. That the cost has not been released raises
suspicion that the skyrocketing cost to refurbish the partially finished, terminated
plutonium fuel (MOX) building is being hidden from both the public and Congress.
“DOE must immediately reveal what the cost to the taxpayer will be to produce new,
unneeded plutonium pits at SRS for new nuclear warheads,” said Tom Clements,
director of the public interest group Savannah River Site Watch, based in Columbia, SC.
“It’s clear that the cost of the unnecessary plutonium pit project continues to soar
while the schedule slips, which is the way DOE works, and it’s time for Congress to
place a hold on construction while the cost and need for the facility are assessed.
Suppression of the cost estimate by DOE is a mistake that will backfire as it smacks of a
cover-up,” added Clements.
full release: News on CD 2 lack of SRS pit plant cost estimate October 19 2026 SRS Watch
Image: SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant money pit