The U.S. Department of Energy said last week it is ahead of schedule in removing 1 metric ton of plutonium from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and should finish the court-mandated process by the end of the year.
The Energy Department update was seemingly prompted by a March 1 letter that South Carolina filed in a lawsuit against the federal agency. Both letters were sent to U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs in South Carolina, who is overseeing the February 2016 lawsuit.
South Carolina appeared critical of the federal government’s lack of information regarding plutonium removal. But the Energy Department said information is sensitive in nature and is largely classified for national security reasons.
While DOE filed its letter in the February 2016 suit, South Carolina’s letter to Childs was filed for a separate case last May. In that lawsuit, the state sought to save the now-terminated Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at Savannah River. The 1 metric ton of plutonium is part of the 34 metric tons that were supposed to be converted into commercial nuclear reactor fuel at the MFFF. The May case is still open, even though the project was officially terminated on Oct. 10.
Having failed to process the 1 metric ton of plutonium, the Energy Department is required under a deal with South Carolina to remove it from the state. The agency’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) confirmed in January that, before November 2018, it had shipped half of the tranche of plutonium to the National Nevada Security Site. The remaining material is expected to be sent to the Pantex Plant in Texas.
In its March 1 letter, South Carolina said it had no idea if the remainder of the ton of plutonium had been shipped out of Savannah River Site to another DOE facility.
A week later, the legal team for the Energy Department told Childs that DOE has shown good faith by removing half of the plutonium ahead of schedule. The agency added that it is on pace to meet Childs’ Jan. 1, 2020, deadline to remove the rest.
