An existential battle over the much-delayed, budget-busting Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project, often referred to as MOX, appears to be heading toward some conclusion. The Obama administration has lost patience with the project, which is located at the Savannah River Site, near Aiken, S.C., and is an undetermined number of years behind schedule and multiple billions of dollars over budget.
It’s an important project, the linchpin of a U.S. agreement with Russia to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium and turn it into “MOX” fuel for use in nuclear reactors. But with President Obama’s recent budget proposal, it appears that the Dept. of Energy is opting to switch to a different plan for disposing of its plutonium, namely shipping it to New Mexico for storage in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
Over the course of the MOX’s construction—which started in 2007—Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has kept a keen eye on the project. In recent years, he’s lambasted the Obama administration for its management of the MOX program, and lately, for opting to shut down construction nine years after it started.
Late last month, Sen. Graham appeared before the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, where he pointedly questioned Gen. Frank Klotz about the MOX program. Readers who have been following the MOX saga should definitely be interested in the senator’s comments. Even if you’re unfamiliar with this mess, Sen. Graham does a good job of summing up the situation.
The video of the exchange is included here. Below is a list of highlights, and when they appear in the video.
2:00 – “Has anybody been fired?”
"Now we come to find that the MOX program is, in some people’s estimation, cost prohibitive. Who … picked this program and why did they not know it was cost prohibitive? And has anybody been fired?"
6:15 – “We don’t know if it works. Other than that, this is a good plan.”
"So what we’re doing is stopping a program (with) questions about the actual costs, and we’re coming out with an alternative that nobody knows (whether) it’ll work…. New Mexico, which would be the new site for disposal, hasn’t been consulted. There are (necessary) legal changes that I don’t know we could accommodate or not. And we don’t know if it works. Other than that, this is a good plan."
6:50 – “Who the hell decided that it would work to begin with?”
"This is what’s wrong with the government. Somebody … came up with a disposition plan that now costs way too much, and is 60% complete. Who the hell decided that it would work to begin with? And not one person’s been fired."
7:20 – “This is exactly what’s wrong with the government.”
"We don’t even know if this has a remote chance of happening, and we’re going to stop this program with no alternative, in my view. This is exactly what’s wrong with the government. If you could prove to me there’s a better, cheaper way to do this that meets our goals, then I’m all for it. But what you’ve done to the state of South Carolina is get us to sign up for a pig in a poke. I spent a lot of political capital convincing the people of South Carolina that this is a good mission for us and the country. To take 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium—which is not a popular thing to ask your state to do—with the understanding there is a pathway forward…. Now we’re 60% complete and they’re going to stop it, with no alternative. I don’t know how we fix this, but somebody needs to be fired for putting this in motion."
