Zombie project stays in the crypt: The Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) was defunded by Congress in March 2022 and therefore killed. But some die-hard backers in DOE still keep after the reactor, now called the Zombie VTR or Virtual Test Reactor. Fuel fabrication for the now-terminated reactor was proposed either for SRS or Idaho National Lab (INL), from a whopping 34 metric tons of plutonium (from surplus weapons pits). INL was the chosen site for the reactor.
After the project was killed and in a desperate move, DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) issued a final Environmental Impact Statement on the Zombie Reactor in May 2022, released via a notice in the Federal Register on May 20: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2022-05-20/pdf/2022-10692.pdf
The Federal Register notice mentions that a “Record of Decision” (ROD) would be issued in no less than 30 days and that comments were solicited. SRS Watch sent in a comment for the EIS record, requested that no ROD be issued as the project was dead and pointed out several inconsistencies in the project. We reiterate our call that no ROD be issued. See SRS Watch comment here: letter on VTR EIS for the record May 24 2022
We expect points we raised in our comment to be included in any ROD that may be issued, as ridiculous and worthless as that document may be.
We also mailed our comment to DOE’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and asked that the project be investigated for inconsistencies we pointed out.
See SRS Watch’s official comment on the Zombie VTR:
Likewise, the DOE’s Freedom of Information Office in Washington, likely at pushing by the Office of Nuclear Energy, is refusing to provide a copy of the public-private funding report for the project, required by Congress to be delivered last year. Why are NE and the FOIA office afraid to process the SRS Watch FOIA request? They ignored our first FOIA request in 2021 so we had to resubmit it. (Initial response letter: VTR HQ-2022-00588-F Acknowledgement Letter acm signed-1 March 2022) Now, they won’t indicate when the discrete document will be delivered. Our guess is that the report doesn’t exist and no private entity is interested in paying half the cost for the unneeded reactor, which had been slated for the Idaho National Lab. Why are they too afraid to admit that they found no private partner?
BTW, Secretary of Energy Granholm is not paying any attention at all to her agencies abysmally poor FOIA response record or to its lack of transparency and openness with the public. As a main public interest organization working on DOE issues, we must ask – has it ever been this bad at DOE?