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 nuclear fuel. Both the House and the Senate today approved the overall $1.1 trillion spending bill, and President Barack Obama is expected to sign off on the legislation.
The omnibus designates $340 million for MOX construction and project support activities, compared to the $345 million in funding for the 2015 fiscal year. In addition, the omnibus "does not include direction in the House and Senate reports regarding additional studies of MOX alternatives." The language is a reversal of last year’s appropriation, which required Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to head up a study of MOX alternatives. The department chose Aerospace Corp. to evaluate five plutonium disposition options, including MOX. However, this year’s omnibus only mentions MOX and downblending – an option that would dilute the plutonium using inhibitor materials, package the solution, and dispose of it at a designated repository.
U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R–S.C.) and Tim Scott (R–S.C.) spoke highly of the appropriations language but also noted that next year will bring another challenge to keep MOX alive as the department continues analyzing the downblending option. The omnibus stipulates that up to $5 million should be spent on advanced planning and design concepts for the downblending alternative to the MOX project. Congress says the results of the planning should be sent to both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The results should include new costs, risks, and schedules for the downblending method, legislators wrote in the omnibus.
Scott said it will be a "war" to keep funding the MOX method. Graham added that the project’s unknown future has created a lot of anxiety and uncertainty in Aiken, S.C., home to the Savannah River Site. The project employs about 2,000 workers. "This funding will hopefully help alleviate some of those concerns," Graham said. The Department of Energy is expected to state "its preferred method" of plutonium disposition in time for President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2017 budget proposal. The proposal usually surfaces in February.
