South Carolina has hit the restart button on a multimillion-dollar fine over a missed plutonium disposition deadline at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS).
A 2003 agreement between the state and DOE requires the federal government to process 1 metric ton of plutonium at SRS through the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF), or remove a ton from the state, by Jan. 1, 2016. Since neither occurred, as the facility remains under construction, the department was supposed to begin paying $1 million a day to the state, which filed suit on Feb. 9 against DOE and others in pursuit of the money. That total capped off at $100 million on April 9, 2016 – another stipulation of the agreement.
Hayley Thrift Bledsoe, spokeswoman for South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, confirmed by email Tuesday that the state has restarted the penalty period as of Jan. 1 of this year, again imposing $1 million a day for the missed deadline. The fines will max out at $100 million on April 10. Neither the state AG’s Office nor the Energy Department offered any other comments on the matter because the lawsuit remains open.
The plutonium covered under the South Carolina-DOE agreement is separate from 34 metric tons of U.S. nuclear weapon-usable plutonium that is to be converted into commercial nuclear fuel via the MOX program. Russia is supposed to dispose of the same amount of matieral, though the Kremlin in late 2016 suspended participation in the 2000 agreement mandating the effort. Together, the 68 metric tons would be enough plutonium to create 17,000 nuclear warheads.
