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House Cuts U.S. MOX Facility Funding
The U.S. House of Representatives did not include any funding for the planned mixed-oxide fuel production facility in South Carolina in its approved fiscal 2007 energy bill, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 26). The MOX plant at the Savannah River Site would be used to convert 34 metric tons of weapon-grade plutonium into a fuel that could be used at power reactors. Russia has pledged to eliminate an identical amount of plutonium. “We’re making the country safer. It gets the weapons-grade plutonium in a fashion that cannot be used by terrorists,” said Representative Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.), who voted against the energy bill. The Senate has not yet voted on its version of the energy bill, meaning funding could be reinstated in the final legislation. “At this point it’s very early in the congressional process,” said Julianne Smith, spokeswoman for the National Nuclear Security Administration. “Things can change at any point, especially in Congress.” Construction of both facilities has been delayed by questions of liability for U.S. contractors working at the Russian site, and Moscow’s demands that the United States fund the entire project, AP reported (Associated Press/The Times and Democrat, May 26).
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