The nation’s planned MOX method of plutonium disposition is vulnerable to annual funding constraints, while a downblending approach is lower in both cost and associated risks, according to Aerospace Corp. The company conducted a congressionally mandated study on alternatives to the costly MOX project, which includes ongoing construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Part 1 of the study was released in April and concluded that downblending the 34 metric tons of weapon-usable plutonium and storing the resulting material at a repository would be significantly cheaper than moving forward with the MOX method, which would convert the plutonium into commercial nuclear fuel.
The Union of Concerned Scientists obtained Part 2 of the study and released it on Tuesday. Part 2 assesses MOX, downblending, and three other alternatives that were also assessed last year in another study conducted by the Department of Energy. The growing life-cycle cost of the MOX project, which Aerospace projects at $51 billion, is three times as high as the $17 billion downblending cost projection. About $5 billion has been spent on MOX to date. Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist with UCS, said the two Aerospace reports indicate the MOX method must be abandoned. He added that he expects the Department of Energy to try to end funding for the program in the fiscal 2017 federal budget. "Thus far, the main obstacle to pulling the plug on the project is the South Carolina congressional delegation, which sees it as a jobs program," Lyman said. The project employs about 2,000 workers.
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