The federal government and South Carolina expressed optimism Monday that they can settle a $100 million claim over plutonium that remains stranded in the state.
“Pursuant to the Court’s Order filed October 24, 2018 … the parties report that at this time they continue to believe that it is possible to resolve the pending disputes without judicial resolution,” attorneys for the federal and state governments stated in a filing with U.S. Court of Federal Claims Chief Judge Margaret Sweeney.
The lawyers said they would file the next status update on Jan. 25, 2019.
This is one of several lawsuits centered around the Department of Energy’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) that was being built at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. The plant was supposed to convert 34 metric tons of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors, but after spending more than $5 billion DOE formally terminated the project in October.
The Energy Department was required under federal law to remove 1 metric ton of plutonium from Savannah River by Jan. 1, 2016, if it failed by that time to process it into reactor fuel. It has not done either yet, opening it up to a $1 million daily fine from South Carolina, up to $100 million per year.
This settlement process covers the fines from 2017, for which the state sued at the beginning of 2018. A separate lawsuit over the $100 million in fines from 2016 has been dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be refiled.
The Energy Department said recently it has begun the process of removing the ton of plutonium from Savannah River. Under a federal court order, it has until Jan. 1, 2020, to complete the removal.
