S.C. Governor Urges Congressmen to Continue Support of MOX

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is urging the state’s congressional delegation to continue advocating for the MOX project at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site, which is again in danger of being defunded.

In a Sept. 14 letter, McMaster provided all lawmakers from the state with a recent report from the governor’s South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council (SCNAC), which was highly critical of DOE’s ongoing efforts to kill the project.

“It is my understanding that Congress may soon review DOE’s budget for approval, which may include a proposal to terminate the MOX project at SRS. The information contained in this report may be beneficial to you,” McMaster wrote.

His letter comes after several SCNAC members toured the site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF), an unfinished plant intended to convert 34 metric tons of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium into commercial nuclear fuel. The project would meet the U.S. commitment under the terms of a 2000 agreement with Russia that requires each nation to dispose of the same amount of plutonium.

The Energy Department broke ground on the facility in 2007 and expected to spend $17 million through the life cycle of the entire MOX project, which includes construction, plutonium conversion, and other activities. But the department now believes the project will cost $51 billion through 2044 and DOE under both the Obama and Trump administrations has recommended abandoning MOX in favor of diluting the plutonium using existing facilities and storing the final solution at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. That option would cost $17 billion, according to the department.

The SCNAC report says DOE’s latest cost estimate is based on an unreasonably high inflation rate and that the department is unjustifiably trying to shutter the project. The group urged the Energy Department to re-baseline the project in a nonbiased manner in order to ensure there is an accurate cost projection and timetable for the facility.

The House fiscal 2018 energy appropriations bill passed in July would provide $340 million to continue building the MOX plant, while the Senate version of the legislation — which still has not received a floor vote — would meet the administration’s request for $270 million to wind down construction.

However, the U.S. House and Senate have both authorized $340 million for MOX construction in each of their versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The two bodies of Congress will soon head to conference committee over the NDAA since they could not agree on a single version of the bill. U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC.). is a member of that committee and says he’ll continue the fight for funding.

“The report by the Governor’s Nuclear Advisory Council is spot on,“ Wilson said via email on Wednesday .“It highlights the importance of a complete, objective, re-baselining of the project. I look forward to continuing work with the governor and the rest of the delegation to make sure that DOE honors its commitments to the people of South Carolina and Georgia.”

South Carolina’s senators, Republicans Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, also spoke highly of MOX in emailed statements. Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop said the senator appreciates the report and “remains convinced that MOX is the quickest and only viable disposal path for the 34 metric tons of weapons grade plutonium.”

Scott added: “There is no question that MOX continues to be the best path forward, and the only viable option that meets the nonproliferation treaty requirements. It is important we continue to persistently defend the MOX project, including doing all we can to complete it and to ensure the facility becomes operational.”