Ten members of the House of Representatives from South Carolina and Georgia are urging Energy Secretary Rick Perry to sustain construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site.
The Obama administration sought to cancel the facility, through which Washington would meet its commitment to a nonproliferation agreement that requires the United States and Russia each to eliminate 34 metric tons of surplus weapon-usable plutonium. The MOX process would convert the material into commercial reactor fuel, but the Obama DOE said it had identified a method that was far cheaper and faster. Congress, though, resisted the prior administration’s efforts to defund construction.
In a letter to Perry, the lawmakers cited the estimate from contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services that the plant is 70 percent complete – a figure disputed by DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the project.
“Despite congressional direction to continue construction of the MOX Project, progress has been slowed by an unsteady DOE – and the mission to dispose of excess weapons plutonium has suffered,” according to the April 6 letter. “With your support, MOX can deliver on our government’s obligations both internationally and at home. We are encouraged with your leadership, the Department of Energy will follow through on its commitments.”
The Savannah River Site is in South Carolina, along the border with Georgia.
Signatories to the letter were: Reps. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Rick Allen (R-Ga.), James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Jody Hice (R-Ga.), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), Austin Scott (R-Ga.), Tom Rice (R-S.C.), and Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.).
The lawmakers invited Perry to visit the Savannah River Site. Perry, who has received several such invitations to view DOE sites, has not yet responded, a Wilson spokeswoman said Tuesday.
