U.S. Department of Energy Confirms 11.5 Metric Tons of Plutonium Stored at Savannah River Site; SRS Watch Supports DOE Assertion that Plutonium Storage “Not Posing any Additional Risk to Communities Surrounding the SRS”
An Additional 35 MT of Plutonium could come to SRS for Processing as Waste and for Plutonium Pit Production for Nuclear Weapons Yet Politicians in South Carolina Remain Silent about associated Risks
Columbia, SC – The U.S. Department of Energy has released a document that confirms that 11.5 metric tons (MT) of plutonium are stored at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. DOE has stated in a letter from February 2020 that the plutonium is being stored in the old K-Reactor “in a safe manner” and that “this material is not posing any additional risks to communities surrounding the SRS.”
A 1-page SRS fact sheet, 2020 Savannah River Site Plutonium Inventory Update, was obtained on September 22, 2020 via a Freedom of information Act request by the public interest group Savannah River Site Watch. It states: “The inventory of surplus plutonium managed by the K‐Area Materials Storage (KAMS) facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS) was approximately 11.5 metric tons (MT) at the end of FY 2019.” 9.5 MT of this amount was covered in a recent $600-million “settlement agreement” between DOE and the State of South Carolina.
full SRS Watch news release of September 29, 2020 posted here: SRSW news on SRS plutonium inventory Sep 29 2020
DOE photo: Plutonium storage drums in K-Area at SRS