Plutonium processingSouth Carolina withdraws MOX lawsuit against DOE, NNSA

The state of South Carolina said Friday that it would not go ahead with its lawsuit against the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in support of the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility (see “S.C. sues DOE over Savanah River MOX facility,” HSNW, 20 March 2014).

The Aiken Standard reports that the dismissal of the lawsuit follows an announcement last Tuesday by the DOE and NNSA that construction will continue on the MOX facility through the end of the fiscal year. The two agencies made it clear, though, that they still plan to mothball the plant.

“We will continue with construction activities through [fiscal] 2014, retaining the key nuclear engineers and other highly skilled workers that will be needed regardless of the path forward,” National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman Josh McConaha said in a statement to the AP.

The New York Times reports that DOE said Tuesday it would not continue construction of the fuel fabrication facility past 30 September — the end of the current fiscal year — unless it receives a pledge from Congress that further funding for building work would be approved to the tune of $500 million to $600 million annually until 2027.

South Carolina’s Attorney General Alan Wilson, in an official statement, wrote that he was disappointed that the issue went to court, but hopeful about the future of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility.

“Although I am disappointed that, once again, the state was forced to seek redress from the courts to protect the citizens of South Carolina from a federal government ignoring the rule of law, we are pleased with the outcome in this case,” Wilson said.

Wilson added that he considers that decision by DOE and NNSA a “victory.”

“While this is undoubtedly a victory for South Carolina, its citizens and all Americans, the battle is not over. We must remain ever vigilant in continuing the fight to uphold the rule of law and ensure that this important program continues,” he said.

The state filed suit against DOE on 18 April, just two weeks after the federal budget proposal was released containing plans to place the MOX project in a cold stand-by. Both Wilson and Governor Nikki Haley have said a cold stand-by would break agreements the federal government has with the state of South Carolina (see “S.C. fights to keep costly plutonium processing project alive,” HSNW, 22 April 2014).

“It’s a facility that (Washington) D.C. started, and with plutonium sitting there … and now you’re going to stop MOX?” Haley questioned at the time. “They’re hurting the people of South Carolina, and we’re not going to sit back and take it.”

Supporters of the MOX project, led by the South Carolina congressional delegation, are working to secure funding for the program for fiscal year 2015, but NNSA said it is already working with the MOX contractor to begin the cold stand-by at the beginning of the new fiscal year.

The MOX program has been hobbled by delays and cost overruns, although there are disagreement over both the final cost of construction and the total amount of money the plutonium reprocessing program would cost over its lifetime. A DOE study concluded that the program could cost as much as $31 billion, leading the department to the decision to halt construction at MOX and search for an alternative technology, which would allow the United States to comply with a U.S.-Russia nuclear arms reduction agreement, which called on each country to convert thirty-four tons of weapon-grade plutonium into reactor fuel, less expensively.

AREVA, a partner of the contractor, said the true cost is closer to $17 billion, noting that this cost is on par with estimates from the Government Accountability Office.