IG: MOX PROJECT ‘LARGELY UNSUCCESSFUL’ IN CONTROLLING COST AND SCHEDULE

The Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project has been “largely unsuccessful” in controlling project cost and schedule, according to a DOE Inspector General report released yesterday that includes several recommendations for a path forward.  While a 2007 baseline for MOX came in at $4.8 billion with a 2016 completion date, that was pushed out to $7.7 billion and 2019 in a review completed by contractor Shaw AREVA MOX Services two years ago. The cost and schedule was “significantly underestimated” due to numerous factors, the IG said. “This included, most prominently, the Department’s 2007 approval of a project baseline that was developed from an immature design, understating the level of effort to install various construction commodity items, and high personnel turnover rates,” the report states. 

 

Citing similar concerns about escalating costs at the facility, the Department earlier this year announced plans to put the project into “cold standby” as it assesses alternatives for plutonium disposition—a review that is expected to be complete in 12 to 18 months. Once that is finished, MOX Services should develop a new baseline change proposal that incorporates the results of the assessment, the IG recommended. DOE should also request approval of a new MOX baseline “only after all assumptions have been reviewed for reasonableness, the baseline change proposal is independently reviewed, and all necessary corrective actions are taken,” the IG recommended.