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U.S. Breaks Ground on Plutonium Fuel Facility
U.S. and Russian officials were on hand Friday for the groundbreaking of the mixed-oxide fuel production facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, July 21). The Energy Department plans to use the MOX facility to convert 34 tons of weapon-grade plutonium into nuclear fuel that would not pose a proliferation risk. Under terms of a 2002 nuclear nonproliferation agreement, Russia is required to build a similar facility to process another 34 tons of plutonium. However, responsibility for the cost of the $1.6 billion U.S. facility is still an issue, the Augusta Chronicle reported. The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration has already committed $600 million to the plant, but the House and Senate have not agreed on how to meet the full cost. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said that the facility is not expected to meet a 2009 deadline to start processing, which could lead to a $1 million per day fine from South Carolina. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said the project needs to be completed. “What's it worth to the world to get 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium off the Russian market?” he said. Other concerns “pale in comparison of what could be done if plutonium fell into the wrong hands.” Development of the Russian plant has been stalled over the question of liability for work done there. Site preparation work is scheduled for the next 10 months. An agreement between the two nations is expected later this month. “Finally, the two sides have found a mutually acceptable agreement,” said Vladimir Rybachenkov, a Russian Embassy official who attended the event Friday (Associated Press/Macon Telegraph, Oct. 14).
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