Welcome to

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Welcome to
Pull the Plutonium Pork End MOX Monday, June
24, 2013 300 PM EDT
Hosted by
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Pull the Plutonium Pork End MOX

• Tom ClementsSoutheastern Nuclear Campaign
  CoordinatorFriends of the Earth1112 Florence
  St.Columbia, SC 29201803-834-3084tomclements32
  9_at_cs.com

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The good news 55 metric tons of plutonium has
been declared surplus for weapons use

• Pits, metal, oxides, residues, fuel
• Pantex pit storage, Texas
• Rocky Flats shipped to SRS WIPP
• Hanford Washington shipped to SRS
• SRS
• Los Alamos Lab - New Mexico
• Lawrence Livermore Lab - California
• Argonne National Lab - West, Idaho

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Disposal of U.S. surplus plutonium via mixed
oxide fuel (MOX) is - far over budget, with
more increases at hand- is an inefficient jobs
program in South Carolina, being protected by
Senator Graham- is the most expensive disposal
option- MOX poses problems with reactor
operation, radiation release in case of severe
accident and problems with storage of hotter
spent MOX fuel- has no clients (commercial
nuclear reactors) for MOX fuel- results in more
handling and processing of plutonium- poses
proliferation risks by introducing plutonium into
commerce and sends the wrong message
internationally about plutonium use- is linked
to the reprocessing of commercial spent fuel and
plutonium breeder reactors.The MOX program
should be terminated before billions more dollars
are wasted. Alternatives must be vigorously
pursued.
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National Academy of Sciences study on disposition
of surplus plutonium-1994

• Advocated the Dual Track plutonium fuel
  (Mixed Oxide - MOX) and immobilization
• Disposition to meet Spent Fuel Standard
• At all points in disposition to meet Stored
  Weapons Standard

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Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process
began in 1996 by DOEs national Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA)

• Originally supported the dual track approach
• EIS identified no reactors for MOX use
• Review under President George W. Bush terminated
  immobilization in high-level waste
• Supplemental EIS began in July 2010 - looked at
  MOX use in reactors owned by the Tennessee Valley
  Authority some plutonium to the Waste Isolation
  Pilot Plant (WIPP) final SEIS to be issued in
  July 2013?

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US-Russia Plutonium Management and Disposition
Agreement (PMDA) of 2000, amended 2010 both
sides to dispose of at least 34 metric tons can
be changed by written agreement
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Plutonium-239 pit is the heart of a nuclear
weapon
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DOE Nuclear Bomb Complex
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Pits from dismantled weapons stored in bunkers
at DOEs Pantex site in Texas
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Savannah River Site (SRS) designated as storage
site for non-pit plutonium and MOX facility -
310-square miles in size
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K-Reactor produced plutonium at SRS and is
storing 13 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium
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SRS Plutonium Puck-shipped to Rocky Flats to
make pits
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3013 Pu storage cans in K-Reactor building at SRS
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K-Area Materials Storage (KAMS) facility
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SRS's five heavy water production reactors
produced 36.1 metric tons of weapon-grade
plutoniumHanford produced 67.4 MT in 9
reactorSRS Reactor Name Start-Up Date
Shutdown Date R-Reactor December 1953
June 1964 P-Reactor February 1954
August 1988 K-Reactor October 1954
July 1992 L-Reactor July 1954
June 1988 C-Reactor March 1955
June 1985
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H-Canyon Reprocessing Facility- separated
weapons-grade plutonium sent waste to tanks- a
national asset for commercial reprocessing RD?

• -

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High-Level Waste Tanks Farms- received waste
from H- and F-Canyon reprocessing plants, this is
plutonium-production by-product waste
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High-level waste is the immediate threat at SRS,
not plutonium Radioactive waste stored in SRS
tanks poses the single greatest environmental
risk in the State of Carolina. Terrel Spears,
Assistant Manager, Waste Disposition Project, DOE
Savannah River Operations Office,on January 8,
2008 to National Academy of Sciences Cleanup
Technology Roadmap Committee
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Reprocessing and waste tank area
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HLW waste tank farms
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Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF)-
glassifying HLW, has processed 15 of tank waste
in 17 years, 3600 canisters poured (of 7500
total) and in two storage facility, 3rd facility
delayed
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Canisters to be filled with vitrified waste
glass HLW mix, lethal dose in 1 minute
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Duke Energys McGuire Catawba reactors
chosen for MOX testing and usein March 1999 Duke
dropped out in 2008 after failed MOX test ice
condenser reactor model w/ thin domes
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BN-600 breeder reactor Beloyarsk-3 BN-800
under construction
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TVAs Browns Ferry Fukushima-style GE Mark I
boiling water reactor
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GE Mark I and II pressure suppression systems,
thin domes
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US Pu Dispositon Facilities at SRS

• MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility
• Pit Disassembly Conversion Facility (PDCF) -
  canceled
• Waste Solidification Building (WSB) - to solidify
  TRU waste from MOX plant
• H-Canyon to purify Pu for MOX
• Preparation to send non-MOXable Pu to WIPP

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MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF)
construction began August 2007 Jan. 2010 photo
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MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility area March 2013
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7.7 billion MOX plant April 20132004 - 1.8
billion 2008- 4.8 billion
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DOE plutonium disposition assessment

• NNSA remains committed to the plutonium
  disposition mission. However, considering
  preliminary cost increases and the current budget
  environment, the Administration is conducting an
  assessment of alternative plutonium disposition
  strategies in FY2013, and will identify options
  for FY2014 and the outyears.
• (page DN-113)

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DOE project mismanagement cost still at 2008
level still no life-cycle cost
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Problems with MOX
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FY 2104 DOE budget request- 478 million for
plutonium disposition - 320 million forMOX
plant construction, - estimate for MOX plant
operation 543 million/year- funding drops to
200 million in FY2015-FY2018
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22 billion left for overall MOX program no
DOE life-cycle cost figure ever released
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(No Transcript)
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Alternatives to MOX
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Can-in-Canister immobilization
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Immobilization by hot isostatic pressing (HIP)
Container at the left is filled with powdered
material. On the right, after 8 to 9 hours, the
powder has been turned into 5 liters of solid
ceramic. Credit UK National Nuclear Laboratory
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Ominous link between MOX, reprocessing and
breeder reactors
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Questions? Comments?But first, Friends of the
Earth TV ad on MOX, released on June 19, 2013
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Through another lens,
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Not here, not now,
Not here, not now!

• Environmental Justice Issues
• compounded nuclear impact increases human and
  environmental burden
• legacy of institutional racism
• lack of sufficient monitoring and information
  dissemination

Plant Vogtle
Georgia
South Carolina
Areas of concern
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• Working locally to restore the Department of
  Energy environmental monitoring in Georgia
• Working in communities, educating on the
  stakeholder role to advocate for the cleanup not
  buildup as the funding priority at SRS
• Speaking and testifying with communities at SRS
  Citizens Advisory Board meetings on issues of
  public concern
• Bringing residents/constituents to meet with
  their local, state, and federal elected officials
  to say
• NO to new nuclear missions/waste streams
  at Savannah River Site
• MOX - Plutonium Interim Storage at
  SRS Reprocessing
• Advocate for stronger protections and regulations
  to protect the most vulnerable populations and
  environment

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Congress and MOX
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Who cares about MOX?

• Pro-MOX

• Anti-MOX

• Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC)
• Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
• Rep. Jim Clybourn (D-SC)
• Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

• Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
• Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA)
• 328 other members of the House
• Key House and Senate Staff

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A short story about a lot of money

• Fortenberry Amendment (http//clerk.house.gov/evs/
  2012/roll325.xml)
• Sequestration
• FY14 Budget Request
• Hold on Secretary of Energy nomination
• FY14 National Defense Authorization Act
• FY14 Energy and Water Appropriations

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How can we stop MOX?

• Start alternatives
• Department of Energy assessment of alternatives
• Government Accountability Office report
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission doesnt license MOX
• No Utilities agree to accept MOX

• Stop funding it
• Fence funding in the National Defense
  Authorization Act
• Cut funding through Energy Water Appropriations
  process
• Department of Energy requests reprogramming

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What can you do?

• Look for an email action alert
• Engage the media
• Local media
• National media (http//bit.ly/AtlanticMOX)
• Meet with your members of Congress

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Please contact us for more information

• WAND National Office
• 691 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA 02476
  781-643-6740
• WAND/WiLL Washington, DC
• 322 4th St. NE, Washington, DC 20002
  202-544-5055
• Georgia WAND
• 250 Georgia Ave. Ste 202, Atlanta, GA 30312
  404-524-5999

www.wand.org www.willwand.org
www.gawand.org