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Probe finds distrust at SRS - TheState.com
An investigation into serious allegations of misconduct at the Savannah River Site found no specific wrongdoing, but did discover "unusual levels of distrust and acrimony" as well as failures by key officials.
The investigative body that oversees the Department of Energy released its report, painting a picture of SRS with disorganized lines of leadership, discrimination, racism and many different stories about controversial incidents.
Sparked by an anonymous complaint from an SRS employee, the Inspector General's office came to investigate five specific allegations "concerning improprieties by a senior official with the Office of Environmental Management."
The 12-person investigative team interviewed 80 DOE and contractor employees and scoured through about 150,000 e-mails.
Court expected to rule early next year on nuclear waste dump in Barnwell County | greenvilleonline.com | The Greenville News
After a six-year legal war over safety at a nuclear waste dump, South Carolina environmentalists hope a pending court decision will force stricter disposal practices for the Barnwell County site.
The S.C. Court of Appeals, which heard the case last fall, is expected to render a decision early next year on the Sierra Club’s challenge to the site’s operating permit. The landfill closed to the nation in 2008, but remains open to bury low-level nuclear waste for South Carolina and two other states.
If the appeals court sides with the Sierra Club, it could force Chem-Nuclear to improve the way it buries garbage, which would better prevent leaks of radioactive material into groundwater, club lawyer Jimmy Chandler said.
For years, landfill operators have allowed rainwater to fall on open trenches lined with clay, instead of plastic. Burial vaults also have holes in them, allowing water to escape.
2 exposed to plutonium at SRS 122309 - The Augusta Chronicle
Two Savannah River Site workers were discovered with traces of plutonium 238 on their clothing in November, but followup monitoring concluded they received no internal exposure.
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“In this case, the two people had contamination on their clothing, but not on themselves,” said Will Callicott, spokesman for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the site’s primary contractor. “The contamination was detected through routine monitoring while exiting the work area, so the radiation detection system worked as designed.”
The incident occurred the week of Nov. 13 in the site’s Solid Waste Management Facility, according to a report made public this month by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
Nuclear Warhead Pits May Come to Augusta Area | Georgia Public Broadcasting
Federal officials are pursuing the Savannah River Site as the location for two controversial projects that would bring the pits, or cores, of U.S. nuclear warheads -- and several tons of plutonium -- to the Augusta area. The decision means the federal government is moving closer to transporting the plutonium from Texas to SRS -- possibly through Georgia -- and then storing it there until it can be converted into nuclear fuel for commercial power plants.
The U.S. Department of Energy has for years been considering SRS, a massive federal entity near Augusta that processes nuclear materials, as the location for the projects.
The Associated Press: Congressman's spokeswoman: SC waste going to Utah
A spokeswoman for Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah says the Department of Energy has decided it will begin shipping thousands of drums of low-level radioactive waste from South Carolina for disposal in Utah.
Alyson Heyrend says the department informed Matheson's office of its decision Thursday.
Matheson had asked the agency to halt shipments of depleted uranium from the Savannah River Site until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission finalizes rules for how the material should be disposed of.
Depleted uranium is different from other low-level radioactive waste disposed of in Utah because it becomes more radioactive over time.
The regulatory commission isn't expected to finalize its rules until 2012 at the earliest.
DOE: Nevada not an option for Utah-bound depleted uranium - Salt Lake Tribune
A U.S. Department of Energy spokeswoman says Nevada has been ruled out as an alternative disposal site for nearly 15,000 drums of depleted uranium from South Carolina currently scheduled to come to Utah.
DOE spokeswoman Lauren Milone says the Nevada Test Site is being excluded from discussions about the waste because the DOE has agreed to conduct a statewide environmental impact statement before accepting any new waste there.
Milone says doing that would probably take at least a year.
The Savannah River Site waste is expected to begin coming to Utah this month unless the DOE decides to keep it in South Carolina.
DOE contemplating next move on depleted uranium - Salt Lake Tribune
The U.S. Energy Department is trying to decide whether it should start shipping depleted uranium that was originally headed to Utah last fall.
Federal stimulus money is paying for 15,000 barrels of uranium-enrichment waste from the Savannah River Project in South Carolina to be buried in the low-level radioactive waste site operated by EnergySolutions Inc. in Tooele County.
But the Utah Radiation Control Board is months away from determining whether more DU, as the waste is often called, belongs in Utah.
About 49,000 tons is already buried at EnergySolutions, but both state and federal regulators say a deeper technical analysis is necessary. Large amounts of highly concentrated DU becomes increasingly hazardous over the next million years.
Recovery Act offers glimpse into SRS executive pay | blogs.augusta.com
Think your job has its share of headaches?
Presiding over Savannah River Site’s environmental and tritium programs was worth a $570,008 annual salary for one top executive—and he left after just two years.
The figure was revealed in a government Web site that tracks American Recovery & Reinvestment Act spending and requires major recipients to divulge salaries of their top five officers.
The federal database shows that Savannah River Nuclear Solutions—the primary management contractor for Savannah River Site—has been awarded $1,407,839,884 in stimulus dollars, in addition to its scheduled funding for regular operations at the site, for which the Fluor-led group received a five-year, $4 billion contract that took effect in 2008.
DOE accuses SRNS of 'poor management' | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC
The Department of Energy (DOE) is accusing its management and operations contractor of "poor management" and said that delays in removing certain legacy waste is undermining its confidence to meet contractual goals.
In a letter from Savannah River Site Manager Jeff Allison, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) was informed Dec. 1 that its seeming inabilities to meet deadlines for the removal of legacy transuranic waste (TRU) from SRS "undermine DOE's confidence in SRNS' ability to achieve DOE's performance expectations for the overall TRU project."
Savannah River Operations Office (DOE-SR) Manager Allison sent the letter to SRNS President and CEO Garry Flowers, stating that 4,200 cubic meters of legacy TRU must successfully be disposed of by Sept. 30, 2012.
"However, recent performance suggests this expectation may not be realized," Allison wrote. "I find this disconcerting, especially given the past history of success with this project."
NRC plans Aiken meeting to discuss latest MOX reviews 112409 - The Augusta Chronicle
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. Dec. 17 in Aiken to discuss the agency’s most recent round of reviews of the Energy Department’s $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel facility under construction at Savannah River Site.
The meeting, to be held at the Aiken Municipal Center, 215 The Alley, is a federal “management meeting” at which the parties involved in the project will discuss recent inspections. “Public
attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions of the NRC staff at the conclusion of the management meeting, but before the meeting adjourns,” according to the meeting notice.
The MOX facility, scheduled to open in 2016, is designed to dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium by using small amounts to make fuel for commercial reactors.
Unprofessional behavior plagues SRS | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC
Death threats, abuse and corporate retaliation seem to have taken the place of any sense of esprit de corps at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) since stimulus funds and related staff started pouring in, according to workers.
Working conditions at the South Carolina DOE weapons complex facility have again been called into question as information obtained by the Aiken Standard paints a picture of unprofessional behavior and acrimony at the top levels of DOE management.
Following a dispute between Site Manager Jeff Allison and individuals at DOE Environmental Management (EM) headquarters in September and early October, new information has come forth of seemingly widespread discord between DOE-EM executives and stimulus management and staff.
An investigation began at SRS after Director of SRS American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Vincent Adams claimed his life was threatened by Elaine Nix, the contracting officer for SRS ARRA work.
Duke Energy won't do more MOX tests - Augusta Chronicle
Duke Energy says first two tests were sufficient, denies waning interest
Duke Energy, which has been testing French-made mixed-oxide nuclear fuels in its Catawba 1 reactor to gauge the suitability of similar fuels to be made at Savannah River Site, has exercised an option not to conduct a third 18-month testing cycle.
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"It was used for two operating cycles and we made a decision that an additional cycle is not required," said Rita Sipe, a nuclear media relations spokeswoman for Duke Energy.
The reason, she said, is that the first two cycles provided sufficient data that will be analyzed as part of the evaluation process for MOX, which is made by blending plutonium from dismantled nuclear bombs with conventional reactor fuels.
Documentary tells story of Mars Bluff incident | SCNow
Many Pee Dee residents recall the details of the incident that occurred on March 11, 1958, in Mars Bluff.
Now, with the production of a documentary examining the aftermath of the day a 3-ton unarmed nuclear bomb was accidentally dropped on a family’s farm a few miles outside of Florence, the story is coming full circle.
Part of the ETV series Carolina Stories, “The Incident at Mars Bluff” tells the story of the Gregg family from that fateful day when their house and all their belongings were destroyed, through their struggles to receive fair compensation from the U.S. Air Force.
On Sunday, approximately 30 people attended a free screening of the program at the Florence County library and Matt Burrows, the director and producer of the documentary, was on hand to field questions about the project.
S.C. waste coming to Oak Ridge » Knoxville News Sentinel
The U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River nuclear facility in South Carolina is using a wealth of Recovery Act funding to accelerate cleanup activities and reduce its Cold War stockpile of radioactive waste.
Some of that waste, containing radioactive tritium and other contaminants, is coming to Oak Ridge for treatment and packaging before being shipped west to Nevada or Utah for disposal. Two local facilities owned by Perma-Fix Environmental Services Inc. - Diversified Scientific Services Inc. near Kingston and Materials & Energy Corp. in Oak Ridge - have been hired to treat the so-called mixed waste, which contains both radioactive elements and hazardous chemicals.
Two reports find violations at SRS | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC
Two reports from investigative teams have made significant recommendations to the Savannah River Site and its contractors after accidents and the verification of employees' citizenship seemed to be lacking.
The Department of Energy and its Office of the Inspector General have released the reports after investigations into activities at SRS.
One report was that of a "Type B" investigation into a serious hand and arm injury suffered by a worker in a powerhouse, the other regarding employment verification at SRS.
The investigation into the injury came about after a worker suffered first-, second- and third-degree burns on his arms and hands while working in a D-area powerhouse. The electrical burns were determined to have been caused when a metal level the worker was using came into contact with a live breaker.
NNSA admin is 'very happy' with MOX | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC
The National Nuclear Safety Administration is "very happy" with the progress being made at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility despite the facility again being cited and not having a customer for the multi-billion dollar product.
Thomas P. D'Agostino, NNSA administrator, was in Aiken on Wednesday to tour the facility and the other missions at Savannah River Site one day after a recent inspection report cited four specific faults with the MOX project's construction.
"These are incredibly minor issues ... very minor. They do not affect the integrity of construction at all," D'Agostino said. "There is strong support (for the project); in fact, the (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) was strongly supportive."
Poll: Carolinians favor conservation over power plants - Charlotte Business Journal:
A growing number of Carolinians say rising demand for electricity can be met through conservation rather than by building more power plants.
That’s a key finding of a new poll commissioned by Duke Energy Carolinas. And it reflects a distinct shift in public opinion from two years ago.
In the latest poll, 43% of the 1,100 N.C. and S.C. residents surveyed say “people and companies will learn to conserve energy and use significantly less electricity.” Only 30% say “government will give permission for more power plants to be built.”
MOX inspection finds some minor violations, report says 110309 - The Augusta Chronicle
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s most recent round of inspections at the U.S. Energy Department’s mixed oxide fuel facility yielded four notices of violation for mostly minor infractions, according to a copy of the report made public today.
Inspectors who conducted extensive reviews at the construction site from July 1 to Sept. 30 also noted that many programs—including the placement of concrete and steel—were adequate and in complete compliance.
The $4.8 million MOX facility, scheduled to open at Savannah River Site in 2016, is designed to dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus, weapons-grade plutonium by using small amounts to make fuel for commercial reactors.
The inspections involved evaluation of construction of principle structures and included quality assurance activities related to design verification and documentation control; problem identification, resolution, and corrective actions; structural steel and support activities; structural concrete activities; and geotechnical foundation activities, the report said.
Funds quicken SRS waste removal | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC
Earlier this month, a shipment off-site of seven barrels of tritium- and mercury-contaminated oil put the Savannah River Site on a fast track to remove legacy mixed waste originally scheduled for disposition in 2053.
"Not only is it radioactive for its tritium content, it is hazardous for mercury, which can make treatment of this waste challenging," said Jacob Nims, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) project engineer. "We had plans to let all of it decay to be able to ship it off-site in the future."
Decaying would have taken 10 to 50 years. Instead, funding from the Recovery Act accelerated the project as part of the cleanup that will reduce the footprint of the Site by 67 percent.
In essence, the removal of the mixed waste frees space in N Area, allowing for the consolidation of the remaining waste from a total of 30,000 square feet of space to a smaller 3,600-square-foot facility in E Area.
"The plan is to ship all we can from N Area and move only what is necessary into E Area to allow maximum space for all future generated waste," Nims said.
SRS subcontractor indicted for fraud | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC
A former Aiken resident who worked at the Savannah River Site as a subcontractor on the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility has been indicted for fraud.
Joseph Ralph Lohre Jr., 46, was charged in a three-count indictment with theft of government funds and two counts of making false statements.
The indictment alleges that between March 2006 and May 2008, Lohre falsely claimed eligibility for housing benefits through a program administered by the National Nuclear Security Administration, the federal agency overseeing the MOX project, and that as part of his fraud, he submitted falsified documentation to support a claim that he owned a permanent residence in Fort Mitchell, Ky.
At the time, Lohre was working as an engineer contractor at SRS.
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