If Congress follow through on President Barack Obama’s plans to terminate the MOX project, employment at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) would likely take a hit near the top of 2017. For now, MFFF construction will continue as the nation’s current pathway to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapon-usable plutonium. "The FY16 bill that was passed requires the department to continue construction so that’s what our budget reflects," Brig. Gen. S.L. Davis, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s acting deputy administrator for defense programs, said during a Wednesday morning conference call. But Obama’s budget request calls for switching to a downblending alternative, one that would dilute the plutonium using inhibitor materials and dispose of it at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, N.M.
If Congress approves, DOE would begin conversations with CB&I AREVA MOX Services, the contractor in charge of site construction, for terminating the project. Initially, 200 craft workers and 350 salaried employees would be retained to safely close out construction, settle claims, and perform other duties through fiscal 2017. But approximately 500 craft workers and 750 salaried workers would be released once the department issues contract direction to MOX Services, according to the budget request. The workers would be released after 60-120 days, and would receive two weeks of severance pay.
Obama’s budget would appropriate $285 million toward the plutonium disposition program for fiscal 2017, which begin on Oct. 1. The proposal calls for $270 million to begin shutting down the MFFF and another $15 million to begin analyzing plans to switch to the downblending method. In the outer years, the proposal puts the MFFF on schedule to completely shut down by 2021. The proposal seeks $221 million each year over a four-year span, or $884 million, to shut down the facility.
