South Carolina’s new governor thinks the state Attorney General’s Office should refile its $100 million plutonium disposition claim against the Department of Energy. Meanwhile, a spokesperson said Attorney General Alan Wilson is still contemplating his next move after a federal judge last week dismissed the state’s monetary claim over DOE’s failure to meet its plutonium disposition commitments at the Savannah River Site.
Wilson sued the Energy Department, then-Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz, on Feb. 9, 2016, alleging the federal government breached an agreement with the state by not processing plutonium through the still-under-construction SRS Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF).
Wilson said that, under a 2003 agreement, the Energy Department was supposed to remove 1 ton of plutonium from the facility near Aiken, S.C., by Jan. 1, 2016, either by processing the material at the MFFF, or by moving it out of state. Neither occurred, prompting the state to impose a fine of $1 million a day, capped off at $100 million annually – a stipulation DOE agreed to in the 2003 deal. After a month of nonpayment, Wilson filed suit. The state reached the maximum fine in April 2016, but started the fine again at the beginning of this year.
On Feb. 8, U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs ruled her court was the wrong place for the state to pursue the money, and is instead allowing South Carolina to file a new lawsuit in the Court of Federal Claims (CFC). Childs ordered the two parties to head to a mediation to settle the plutonium disposition issue, setting a deadline of July 7 for the discussions.
Wilson’s office backed her decision, and said Wednesday it is “weighing our options,” but would not give any other details on whether a new claim would be filed.
Gov. Henry McMaster, who took office after Nikki Haley accepted an appointment from President Donald Trump as the nation’s U.N. ambassador, hopes the state will continue pushing for the money and the plutonium removal. The governor “looks forward to the results of mediation but will not accept anything short of the Department of Energy agreeing to follow the law and fulfill its responsibility to South Carolina. Our state will not stand by and become a dumping ground for nuclear waste,” according to spokesman Brian Symmes.
McMaster is following in the footsteps of other South Carolina leaders. During her time as governor, Haley said repeatedly her state would not become a dumping ground for nuclear material.
