Nukewatch Quarterly Winter 2013-2014
SAVANNAH RIVER, South Carolina — The Energy Department is considering abandoning its half-finished plutonium fuel production facility at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. The agency has already spent $3.7 billion on the project, which is intended to turn plutonium salvaged from retired US nuclear weapons into commercial reactor fuel. The cost estimate for the so-called “mixed oxide” or “MOX” program, recently jumped from $4.9 billion to $7.7 billion. The White House’s budget request for the current fiscal year says the “current plutonium disposition approach may be unaffordable” and that the administration “will assess the feasibility of alternative plutonium strategies.” On Oct. 4, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced a one-year extension of the deadline for an environmental impact study for the MOX facility. The delay follows an August announcement of layoffs for 500 project employees and is widely regarded as a move toward alternative means of isolating some 40 tons of weapons grade plutonium. — DOE Budget for FY 2014; New York Times, June 25; Augusta Chronicle, Oct. 8, 2013
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