Posted on 03/05/2014 8:12:35 PM PST by dontreadthis
The costliest U.S. nonproliferation program has been undone by huge cost overruns A new multi-billion dollar plant being constructed by the Energy Department in South Carolina to transform Cold War-era plutonium into electricity will not be operated as planned, the department announced on March 4, making clear that the costliest nonproliferation project run by Washington will shortly be shuttered.
After a year of study meant to examine the viability of the two-decade old program, the department’s leadership made clear in budget documents for fiscal year 2015 that the plant is no longer affordable within budget limits set by Congress.
Initially advertised as a $1 billion program, the plant has already consumed more than $4 billion and was projected to cost up to $10 billion to complete over the next five years. Its total costs — including operation over 15 years — were estimated at nearly $34 billion by a special study conducted for Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
The plant, which lay at the center of a diplomatic deal with Russia that was blessed by three U.S. presidents, was supposed to transform at least 34 tons of plutonium withdrawn from retired U.S. nuclear weapons into so-called Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel to be burned in civilian nuclear power plants. Russia agreed to undertake a similar effort, but the cancellation of the U.S. plan may affect that decision.
(Excerpt) Read more at publicintegrity.org ...
Ping.
With all these nuclear and coal power plants being attacked by these libtards, how am I going to use all the 60 watt bulbs I’ve been stashing in my garage?
My mom said roughly the same thing at the hardware store today as she sat 4 boxes on the sales counter. She’s pushing 70.
” U.S. officials have privately said they are looking closely at a much cheaper method of disposing of the plutonium that could still involve some of the 2,100 workers now employed in the MOX plant’s construction.”
Loosely translated means we will waste billions more to prove the nonviable to be nonviable at best.
So I wondered what about the Russian effort and investigated follow the link style.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/06/24/12815/nuclear-waste-how-huge-us-nonproliferation-program-became-major-proliferation
“And the original deal with the Russians that called for construction of the U.S. plant has been quietly altered and twisted to the point that Russia may actually emerge from the arrangement with more plutonium in its stocks, not less, experts say.”
“ Officials in Washington thought they had clinched a deal with Moscow to ensure that the Russian plutonium stockpile would shrink, only to discover after years of delay that Russia had other plans.”
That’s worth a read.
I hope that someone from the lftr thorium reactor community picks up on this and runs with it.
Why?
One of the characteristics of the lftr thorium reactors is that they can safely/cheaply/ burn nuclear wastes.
I feel a song coming on.
Nuke waste is a huge problem with Fission.
That’s one of the reasons why the future of renewable and nuclear energy is Low Energy Nuclear Reactions.
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/lenr/index?tab=articles
Initially advertised as a $1 billion program, the plant has already consumed more than $4 billion and was projected to cost up to $10 billion to complete over the next five years. Its total costs — including operation over 15 years — were estimated at nearly $34 billion
$1B turns into $4B, which turns into $10B, then $34B. Typical. LENR, on the other hand, has consumed a thousand times less money and already there’s LENR IP being sold for $20M on the open market.
Wonder how many lb/terrorist of Pu it takes to vaporize our Islamist foes? Maybe we should save some back.
60 Watt light bulbs? Soon owning these will make you a felon.
in 10 years or so, they will want you to have 5 watt light bulbs.
Target practice?
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