SRS Watch news release on MOX funding authorized by Congress – MOX Slowly Bleeding to Death, Wasting as Much Money as Possible as it Goes Down – December 3, 2014
Defense Act Passes in U.S. House on December 4 and Heads to Senate: MOX Construction Clings to Life, Funding Level Authorized for MOX Plant Construction – $314 Million – is Far below the Amount Need to Make MOX Viable Over the Long Term; Report on Plutonium Disposition Options and MOX Closeout Required, Reflecting Deep Bipartisan Concern About Fate of Mismanaged Program
Columbia, SC – The language of the agreed National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 has been released and, as expected, the funding of construction of the plutonium fuel (MOX) facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS) is authorized at a level which barely keeps it alive. Reflecting continued bipartisan concern about the troubled MOX project, the act requires a report on alternatives to MOX, with the report to address both a future funding profile if MOX continues as well as steps and cost to close out the MOX program.
“The low funding level authorized for the MOX plant construction and requirement of a report on plutonium disposition alternatives is a sign of continued congressional disapproval of how the mismanaged project is proceeding,” said Tom Clements, director of Savannah River Site Watch. Clements has tracked plutonium disposition since its inception in the mid-1990s.
“By requiring the report to inform the secretary about how the MOX project would be closed out is a strong indication that the fate of the MOX project continues to hang in the balance and that Congress is leaving open the option to eliminate the mismanaged program,” added Clements. “The low level of funding for the MOX projects will guarantee that it will fall further behind schedule and that the cost of the program will go up, more reasons that beleaguered project should be terminated once plutonium disposition alternatives are clarified.” SRS Watch has long endorsed disposal of plutonium as waste, via immobilization in existing high-level waste at the Savannah River Site.