Plutonium Pit Production

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz was on the defensive this week in the first two congressional hearings of the year to dive deeply into his department’s budget request for legacy nuclear cleanup in fiscal 2017, with the White House’s proposal to change a long-established strategy for disposing of 34 metric tons of surplus, weapon-usable plutonium taking […]

About 20 kilograms of plutonium were transported from Switzerland to the United States during the first two months of the year, according to press releases from the Swiss government and the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Neither press release reveals where the material was sent, but an NNSA spokesperson said Thursday the plutonium was […]

About 20 kilograms of plutonium were transported from Switzerland to the United States during the first two months of the year, according to a press release from the Swiss government. The press release, translated into English, does not state whether the material was sent to the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.; however, the U.S. […]

In a Tuesday hearing of the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee, panel Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) vented his frustrations at Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz over the White House’s proposal to change a long-established strategy for disposing of 34 metric tons of surplus weapon-usable plutonium. The White House is obliged under an arms control pact with Russia finalized […]

A team of Department of Energy officials under the scope of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is recovering heavy curium and plutonium-244 from irradiated fuel targets stored at the Savannah River Site. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) near Aiken, S.C. is heading up the effort, with collaborative help from the Oak Ridge and […]

Reopening the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) on Dec. 12, as the Energy Department plans, is the quickest and safest path to getting rid of 34 metric tons of surplus weapon-usable plutonium, an Ivy League professor and a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists advocacy group said in a Feb. 18 letter to the […]

A Feb. 12 story in the Weapons Complex Monitor should have said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has discussed interring 34 metric tons of weapons-usable plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., but has not formally proposed doing so. The story also should have said Moniz told reporters WIPP might begin accepting diluted plutonium shipments […]

An article in the Feb. 5 NS&D Monitor incorrectly reported that the Radiation Laboratory Utility Office Building at the Los Alamos National Laboratory had been upgraded from a radiological laboratory. In the same edition, NS&D Monitor incorrectly characterized the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site. NS&D Monitor regrets the errors.

WC Monitor 2/05/2016 WIPP Versus MOX Debate Continues in New Mexico Paper An op-ed debate over storing diluted plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) continued over the weekend, with an executive from a consulting firm that authored a 2015 study backing an alternative disposal method arguing against interment at the Carlsbad, N.M. facility. […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 2/5/2016 Pit-making operations will resume at the Los Alamos National Laboratory this year, according to the Department of Energy. There are currently no pits being made at Los Alamos, but the job of manufacturing plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons will begin again when operations resume at LANL’s flagship Plutonium Facility, PF-4.  […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 2/5/2016 The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has made significant improvements in the process of fully resuming fissile material operations paused in 2013 at its Plutonium Facility (PF-4) at Technical Area 55 (TA-55), the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) found in a review released on Jan 29. The […]

An op-ed debate over storing diluted plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) continued over the weekend, with an executive from a consulting firm that authored a 2015 study backing an alternative disposal method arguing against interment at the Carlsbad, N.M. facility.   “Proposals to dispose of excess weapons plutonium at WIPP would require […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory has made significant improvements in the process of fully resuming fissile material operations at its Plutonium Facility (PF-4) at Technical Area 55 (TA-55), the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) found in a review released Friday. The report found that LANL managing contractor Los Alamos National Security (LANS) […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/29/2016 South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is preparing to take legal action against the Department of Energy for unkept multimillion-dollar promises made to the state for disposal of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium now stored at the Savannah River Site (SRS). Under a 2003 agreement with the state, DOE was supposed to […]

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is preparing to take legal action against the Department of Energy for unkept multimillion-dollar promises made to the state for disposal of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium now stored at the Savannah River Site. Under a 2003 agreement with the state, DOE was supposed to process at least 1 metric ton […]

With momentum building for a 2016 reopening of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), two former New Mexico officials wrote dueling editorials staking out opposing positions on storing diluted plutonium at the underground facility.   Bill Richardson, former congressman, U.S. energy secretary, and two-term governor of New Mexico, came out strongly against the idea in […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/22/2016 Congressional advocates of the nation’s MOX program this week denounced one of the alternatives to the project because it includes the use of a facility that has been shut down since 2014 due to safety incidents. On Tuesday, U.S. Reps. Joe Wilson (R–S.C.) and Rick Allen (R–Ga.) toured the Mixed […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/22/2016 A developer of small modular reactor technology announced this week that its reactors could feasibly be powered by mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel. NuScale Power said a study commissioned by the U.K. National Nuclear Laboratory concluded that the company’s small modular reactor technology can effectively be used for plutonium disposition “with minimal […]

A developer of small modular reactor technology announced yesterday that its reactors could feasibly be powered by mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel. NuScale Power said a study commissioned by the U.K. National Nuclear Laboratory concluded that the company’s small modular reactor technology can effectively be used for plutonium disposition “with minimal effect on the reactor’s design and […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility (PF-4) could resume all suspended operations by the end of this year, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.   The National Nuclear Security Administration site in 2013 halted work at PF-4 due to concerns over criticality safety and other issues. It subsequently sought to remedy those […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/15/2016 Congress may soon have to decide if it will appropriate money to enable the Department of Energy to pay a multi-million dollar fine to the state of South Carolina for missing a key deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The facility, which would convert […]

WC Monitor 1/15/2016 Lawmakers Advocate for Funding MOX Fines Owed by DOE Congress may soon have to decide if it will appropriate money to enable the Department of Energy to pay a multi-million dollar fine to the state of South Carolina for missing a key deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication […]

Congress may soon have to decide if it will appropriate money to enable the Department of Energy to pay a multi-million dollar fine to the state of South Carolina for missing a key deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The facility, which would convert 34 metric tons of weapon-usable […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/8/2016 Plans are under way to remove weapon-usable plutonium from the Savannah River Site even as a separate project would bring more foreign plutonium to the South Carolina facility, according to recent and past Department of Energy documents. Both efforts are intended to ensure plutonium that can be used to make […]

Plans are under way to remove weapon-usable plutonium from the Savannah River Site even as a separate project would bring more foreign plutonium to the South Carolina facility, according to recent and past Department of Energy documents. Both efforts are intended to ensure plutonium that can be used to make nuclear weapons will be disposed […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/18/2015 The state of South Carolina threatened to sue the federal government if the Department of Energy doesn’t pay $1 million a day to the state for missing a key deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The facility is a critical part of the nation’s […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/18/2015 South Carolina’s senators this week praised the new fiscal 2016 omnibus budget that calls for $340 million to continue construction of the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The facility is a key component of the MOX mission to convert 34 metric tons of weapon-usable plutonium into commercial […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/18/2015  Two men connected to work at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) were indicted for allegedly stealing more than $4 million from the federal government. Bill Nettles, U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, announced Wednesday the indictment of Aaron Vennefron of Hamilton, Ohio, and Phillip Thompson of […]

The state of South Carolina threatened to sue the federal government if the Department of Energy doesn’t pay $1 million a day to the state for missing a key deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The facility is a critical part of the nation’s MOX project, which the U.S. […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) and the Department of Energy plan to ramp up production of plutonium oxide feed to support the nation’s MOX method of plutonium disposition. The feedstock, which will be produced using the Savannah River Site’s H Canyon and HB-Line facilities, is a diluted version of plutonium […]