Welcome to…
Pull the Plutonium Pork – End
MOX
Monday, June 24, 2013
3:00 PM EDT
Hosted by
Pull the Plutonium Pork – End
MOX
Tom Clements
Southeastern Nuclear Campaign Coordinator
Friends of the Earth
1112 Florence St.
Columbia, SC 29201
803-834-3084
tomclements329@cs.com
The good news: ~55 metric tons of plutonium has
been declared “surplus” for weapons use
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Pits, metal, oxides, residues, fuel
Pantex – “pit” storage, Texas
Rocky Flats: shipped to SRS & WIPP
Hanford – Washington: shipped to SRS
SRS
Los Alamos Lab - New Mexico
Lawrence Livermore Lab - California
Argonne National Lab - West, Idaho
Disposal of U.S. “surplus” plutonium via mixed oxide fuel (MOX) is
- far over budget, with more increases at hand;
- is an inefficient jobs program in South Carolina, being protected by
Senator Graham;
- is the most expensive disposal option;
- MOX poses problems with reactor operation, radiation release in case of
severe accident and problems with storage of hotter spent MOX fuel
- has no clients (commercial nuclear reactors) for MOX fuel;
- results in more handling and processing of plutonium;
- poses proliferation risks by introducing plutonium into commerce and
sends the wrong message internationally about plutonium use;
- is linked to the reprocessing of commercial spent fuel and plutonium
“breeder” reactors.
The MOX program should be terminated before billions more dollars
are wasted. Alternatives must be vigorously pursued.
National Academy of Sciences study on
disposition of “surplus” plutonium-1994
• Advocated the “Dual
Track” – plutonium
fuel (Mixed Oxide MOX) and
immobilization
• Disposition to meet
“Spent Fuel Standard”
• At all points in
disposition to meet
“Stored Weapons
Standard”
Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) process
began in 1996 by DOE’s
national Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA)
- Originally supported the “dual
track “approach;
-EIS identified no reactors for
MOX use;
- Review under President George
W. Bush terminated
“immobilization” in high-level
waste;
- Supplemental EIS began in July
2010 - looked at MOX use in
reactors owned by the Tennessee
Valley Authority & some
plutonium to the Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant (WIPP) – final SEIS
to be issued in July 2013?
US-Russia “Plutonium Management and
Disposition Agreement (PMDA) of 2000,
amended 2010 – both sides to dispose of at least 34
metric tons; can be changed by written agreement
Plutonium-239 “pit” is the heart
of a nuclear weapon
DOE Nuclear Bomb Complex
“Pits” from dismantled weapons stored
in bunkers at DOE’s Pantex site in Texas
Savannah River Site (SRS) designated as
storage site for “non-pit” plutonium and MOX
facility - 310-square miles in size
K-Reactor produced plutonium at SRS
and is storing 13 metric tons of weaponsgrade plutonium
SRS Plutonium “Puck”shipped to Rocky Flats to make “pits”
3013 Pu storage cans in
K-Reactor building at SRS
K-Area Materials Storage (KAMS)
facility
SRS's five heavy water production reactors
produced 36.1 metric tons
of weapon-grade plutonium
Hanford – produced 67.4 MT in 9 reactor
SRS Reactor Name Start-Up Date
R-Reactor
P-Reactor
K-Reactor
L-Reactor
C-Reactor
Shutdown Date
December 1953 June 1964
February 1954
August 1988
October 1954
July 1992
July 1954
June 1988
March 1955
June 1985
H-Canyon Reprocessing Facility
- separated weapons-grade plutonium & sent waste to tanks
- a “national asset” for commercial reprocessing R&D?
-
High-Level Waste Tanks “Farms”
- received waste from H- and F-Canyon
reprocessing plants, this is plutonium-production byproduct waste
High-level waste is the immediate
threat at SRS, not plutonium:
“Radioactive waste stored in SRS tanks
poses the single greatest environmental risk
in the State of Carolina.”
Terrel Spears, Assistant Manager, Waste Disposition Project,
DOE Savannah River Operations Office,
on January 8, 2008 to National Academy of Sciences Cleanup
Technology Roadmap Committee
Reprocessing and waste tank area
HLW waste tank “farms”
Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF)
- glassifying HLW, has processed 15% of tank
waste in 17 years, 3600 canisters poured (of
7500 total) and in two storage facility, 3rd
facility delayed
Canisters to be filled with vitrified waste
glass & HLW mix, lethal dose in 1 minute
Duke Energy’s McGuire & Catawba reactors
chosen for MOX testing and usein March
1999– Duke dropped out in 2008 after failed
MOX test; “ice condenser” reactor model w/
thin domes
BN-600 “breeder” reactor
Beloyarsk-3; BN-800 under
construction
TVA’s Browns Ferry – Fukushimastyle GE Mark I “boiling water
reactor”
GE Mark I and II: pressure
suppression systems, thin domes
US Pu Dispositon
Facilities at SRS
• MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility
• Pit Disassembly & Conversion Facility
(PDCF) - canceled
• Waste Solidification Building (WSB) - to
solidify TRU waste from MOX plant
• H-Canyon to purify Pu for MOX;
• Preparation to send “non-MOXable” Pu to
WIPP
MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility
(MFFF) – construction began
August 2007; Jan. 2010 photo
MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility
area – March 2013
$7.7 billion MOX plant – April 2013;
2004 - $1.8 billion; 2008- $4.8 billion
DOE: plutonium
disposition “assessment”
“NNSA remains committed to
the plutonium disposition
mission. However,
considering preliminary cost
increases and the current
budget environment, the
Administration is conducting
an assessment of alternative
plutonium disposition
strategies in FY2013, and will
identify options for FY2014
and the outyears.”
(page DN-113)
DOE project “mismanagement” cost
still at 2008 level & still no lifecycle cost
Problems with MOX
FY 2104 DOE budget request:
- $478 million for plutonium disposition;
- $320 million forMOX plant construction,
- estimate for MOX plant operation: $543
million/year;
- funding drops to $200+ million in FY2015-FY2018
~$22 billion left for overall MOX
program – no DOE “life-cycle” cost
figure ever released
Alternatives to MOX
“Can-in-Canister”
immobilization
Immobilization by hot isostatic pressing (HIP)
Container at the left is filled with powdered material. On the
right, after 8 to 9 hours, the powder has been turned into 5
liters of solid ceramic.
Credit: UK National Nuclear Laboratory
noitadilosnoc ot roirp nac PIH llebmuD .)tfel( mrofetsaw )emulov lanif ertil 5( cimareC .4 giF
.)thgir(
Ominous link between MOX,
reprocessing and breeder reactors
Questions? Comments?
But first, Friends of the Earth TV ad on MOX,
released on June 19, 2013
Through another lens,
Not here, not now!
Environmental Justice
Issues
•compounded ‘nuclear
impact‘ increases human
and environmental burden
Plant Vogtle
• legacy of institutional
racism
•lack of sufficient
monitoring and information
dissemination
Georgia
Not here, not now,
Areas of concern
South Carolina
• Working locally to restore the Department of Energy
environmental monitoring in Georgia
• Working in communities, educating on the stakeholder role
to advocate for the ‘cleanup not buildup‘ as the funding
priority at SRS
• Speaking and testifying with communities at SRS Citizen’s
Advisory Board meetings on issues of public concern
• Bringing residents/constituents to meet with their local,
state, and federal elected officials to say
NO to new nuclear missions/waste streams at
Savannah River Site
MOX - Plutonium
Interim Storage at SRS
Reprocessing
• Advocate for stronger protections and regulations to protect
the most vulnerable populations and environment
Congress and MOX
Who cares about MOX?
Pro-MOX
• Sen. Lindsay Graham
(R-SC)
• Sen. Tim Scott (RSC)
• Rep. Jim Clybourn
(D-SC)
• Rep. Joe Wilson (RSC)
Anti-MOX
• Rep. Jeff Fortenberry
(R-NE)
• Rep. Ed Markey (DMA)
• 328 other members of
the House
• Key House and
Senate Staff
A short story about a lot of
money
• Fortenberry
Amendment
(http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll325.xml)
• Sequestration
• FY14 Budget Request
• Hold on Secretary of
Energy nomination
• FY14 National Defense
Authorization Act
• FY14 Energy and
Water Appropriations
How can we stop MOX?
Stop funding it
• “Fence” funding in the
National Defense
Authorization Act
• Cut funding through
Energy & Water
Appropriations process
• Department of Energy
requests
“reprogramming”
Start alternatives
• Department of Energy
“assessment” of
alternatives
• Government
Accountability Office
report
• Nuclear Regulatory
Commission doesn’t
license MOX
• No Utilities agree to
accept MOX
What can you
do?
• Look for an email
action alert
• Engage the media
– Local media
– National media
(http://bit.ly/AtlanticMOX)
• Meet with your
members of Congress
Please contact us for more information:
WAND National Office
691 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA 02476 | 781-643-6740
WAND/WiLL Washington, DC
322 4th St. NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202-544-5055
www.wand.org
www.willwand.org
Georgia WAND
250 Georgia Ave. Ste 202, Atlanta, GA 30312 | 404-524-5999
www.gawand.org