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DOE, State of South Carolina to Announce Plutonium Settlement on August 31 – Plans to Import 35 Metric Tons of Plutonium for Plutonium Disposition and Fabrication into “Pits” for Nuclear Warheads likely to be Ignored

SRSW · August 30, 2020 ·

Please Attend News Conference on Savannah River Site Plutonium Disposition, Monday, August 31, 11 a.m., State House, Columbia, SC – Show Your Concern about Secrecy with Plutonium Processing

The Announcement by DOE and SC Attorney General Wilson Involves 11.5 Metric Tons of Plutonium Now at SRS but What Won’t be Said is that Another 35 Metric Tons of Plutonium is Destined for SRS – for Plutonium Disposition and Plutonium “Pits” for Nuclear Weapons, a Major Concern

SRS Watch news release, August 31:  “DOE, State of South Carolina Attempt to Reduce Chaos in DOE’s Plutonium Management Programs, Agree on Paper to Remove a Total of 11.5 metric Tons of Plutonium from Savannah River Site – Decision on the Disposition of that Plutonium has been Anticipated for Years”

 >>> NOTE:  “DOE’s Secret Plan is to Bring in 35 Metric Tons More of Plutonium for Processing for Disposal and for Unjustified Fabrication into “Pits” for Nuclear Warheads at SRS – Discussion of Plans will likely be Dodged at News Conference”

SRS Watch news release linked here:  SRS Watch news plutonium disposition August 31, 2020

Article on the issue in The State, Columbia, SC, August 30, 2020: “Feds to ship toxic radioactive material from SC to New Mexico after years of disputes” – https://www.thestate.com/news/local/environment/article245367700.html

The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Saturday afternoon, August 29, that Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson would hold a news conference on Monday, August 31, with a “major announcement”. Though the brief advisory (below) did not state the reason for the news event, it is clear that it will be an agreement concerning 11.5 metric tons of plutonium now stored at Savannah River Site, stranded after the failure of the plutonium fuel (MOX) project in 2018. Plans for importing another 35 metric tons of plutonium into South Carolina will likely be totally ignored at the news conference.

DOE notice sent out after 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 29, 2020:

SECRETARY BROUILLETTE TO JOIN SOUTH CAROLINA OFFICIALS FOR HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT

“WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, August 31st, 2020 at 11:00AM EDT, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette will join South Carolina’s Attorney General Alan Wilson, and other officials at the South Carolina State House for a major announcement. This will take place in the second floor rotunda.

The event will be livestreamed on the Attorney General’s Facebook page – @SCAttyGen.”

As a back-door way to support the dying MOX project, the State of SC brought a lawsuit to force compliance with a federal law requiring removal of 1 metric ton of plutonium per year from SRS beginning in 2016, with a fine of $100 million per year if the material was not removed or processed into MOX fuel. The federal appeals court on August 4 accepted a motion from the parties – state & federal – that they would negotiate a settlement by August 31, 2020.

While an agreement on paper on the 11.5 MT of plutonium at SRS will likely be announced on August 31, what won’t be said by either DOE or the State of SC is credible details about the schedule for removal of that material or that plans are afoot to bring in another 35 metric tons of surplus weapons plutonium into our state! Another 27 metric tons of plutonium would be imported to be processed for disposal as waste in New Mexico. Additionally, about 7.5 metric tons of plutonium to be fabricated into plutonium “pits, or triggers, for 2500 nuclear weapons would come to South Carolina if the proposed and unjustified SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant goes forward.

DOE refuses to inform the public of details about all this plutonium import and processing and will not reveal any schedules for the handling of it at SRS. The public needs to demand answers from our elected and appointed officials about this mind-boggling secrecy about plutonium.

Savannah River Site Watch has supported preparation of two Programmatic Environmental Impact Statements (PEISs) on the plutonium issue – one on disposition of plutonium as radioactive waste and one on the plutonium pit issue – so that the public knows what is afoot with these matters. But DOE refuses to reveal details about further plutonium import, processing and export. We are concerned that more plutonium could be stranded in South Carolina, as happened with the MOX project, along with associated environmental and health impacts.

We wouldn’t know but wonder if the “other officials” who might show up at the news event could include candidates Senator Lindsey Graham or Rep. Joe Wilson, who will want to claim part of the plutonium spotlight.

Filed Under: Latest News

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