MONIZ NONCOMMITTAL ON MOX AT CONFIRMATION HEARING

During a strong line of questioning from Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) at his nomination hearing yesterday, Energy Secretary nominee Ernest Moniz did not come out in favor of completion of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. Moniz told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that in the 1990s as Under Secretary of Energy he was the “lead negotiator” in developing a plutonium disposition agreement with Russia that resulted to two options—converting the material into MOX fuel or vitrifying the plutonium. While the Administration has adopted the MOX approach and made progress on the facility, the project is experiencing  rising costs and expected cuts to its budget. Scott yesterday pushed Moniz on his support for MOX. “You said there are basically two paths to go down, one being a path that we’ve already invested $4 billion, 60 percent completion, and the other path that we haven’t started on. So my real question was, should we continue down this path?” he asked.

While Moniz said he supported the agreement with Russia, he remained noncommittal on MOX despite repeated questions from Scott. “All I can say, sir, is that, you know, I would need to be confirmed, look at what we’re doing, look at the path forward, look at what the administration proposes, and then work with you and others to push through our commitment to dispose of 34 metric tons of plutonium,” Moniz replied. Scott emphasized, “we’ve already made the initial investment and we have no clue on the alternative. And your answer was you’re not sure exactly what we should do at this point?” Moniz replied, “No, sir, that’s not exactly how I phrased it. I said if I’m confirmed then I will certainly, with your encouragement, look into this with a high priority. I’ll work with you and others involved closely. Again, let me make no mistake about my commitment to advance the agreement to dispose of the plutonium.

In addition to the Russian agreement, Scott noted that an agreement with South Carolina obligates DOE to move plutonium out of the state by 2016 or face fines of $1 million per day, up to $100 million per year. “Many of the rumors that we’ve heard around the MOX facility and the Obama budget has to do with the ability or the probability of a reduction in the funding of it. And if the funding is reduced by 50, 60, 75 percent, the ability to finish on time would not occur, number one,” Scott said. “Number two, the impact on that to the federal government would be hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties. Third, maybe perhaps the most important, it would be breaking the agreement that we have to dispose of the 34 metric tons that we signed with the Russian government.”