Link to FOIA Response Document Confirming no MOX Report: https://tinyurl.com/kfx6hgl
Columbia, SC – Reflecting disarray in the program to dispose of surplus weapons plutonium, the U.S. Department of Energy has failed to prepare a legally mandated annual report on the construction and operation of the plutonium fuel MOX plant at the DOE’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina.
The lack of compliance with the law was confirmed in a May 10, 2017 letter from DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the public interest group Savannah River Site Watch. The response letter affirms that the report was not delivered to Congress due to the fact that the fate of the MOX project is unknown.
“No matter the ultimate fate of the badly bungled MOX project, DOE has dodged its legally mandated obligation to produce an annual report detailing the status of MOX plant construction and if the facility can ever be made operable,” said Tom Clements, director of SRS Watch. “Even though the MOX project remains on the brink of termination due to massive cost overruns, design challenges and chronic construction problems, DOE must immediately submit a written report to Congress outlining where things stand with construction.”