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Two new reports raise fundamental questions on Savannah River MOX plant
http://fissilematerials.org/blog/2015/01/two_new_reports_raise_fun.html
Two new reports raise fundamental questions on Savannah River MOX plant
By Mycle Schneider on January 17, 2015
Shaun Burnie with Mycle Schneider
Two reports released in the past month raise further fundamental questions over the future of the CB&I AREVA Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS).
A report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), released in December 2014, provides cost estimates for the construction of the CB&I AREVA Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) could range from $8-12 billion "depending on the funding profiles," compared to the current public estimate of $7.7 billion (see also an earlier report about the projected cost increase). The cost for the MOX project was estimated at $1.1 billion in FY 2001 and was set at $2.7 billion at the time DoE signed a contract with AREVA in 2008. The report, entitled "Improving Project Management--Report of the Contract and Project Management Working Group", includes a section on the plutonium disposition MOX program as an example of the many of the problems with current DOE practice.
An independent report released on January 14, 2015, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), details a number of feasible alternatives to the MOX plan, including evidence from a previously unreleased 2006 DOE study that, if adopted, would favor cheaper, safer alternatives.
The new DOE Report summarizes a catalogue of failures as the causes of the MOX project cost escalations. These include:
<snip>
Two new reports raise fundamental questions on Savannah River MOX plant
By Mycle Schneider on January 17, 2015
Shaun Burnie with Mycle Schneider
Two reports released in the past month raise further fundamental questions over the future of the CB&I AREVA Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS).
A report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), released in December 2014, provides cost estimates for the construction of the CB&I AREVA Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) could range from $8-12 billion "depending on the funding profiles," compared to the current public estimate of $7.7 billion (see also an earlier report about the projected cost increase). The cost for the MOX project was estimated at $1.1 billion in FY 2001 and was set at $2.7 billion at the time DoE signed a contract with AREVA in 2008. The report, entitled "Improving Project Management--Report of the Contract and Project Management Working Group", includes a section on the plutonium disposition MOX program as an example of the many of the problems with current DOE practice.
An independent report released on January 14, 2015, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), details a number of feasible alternatives to the MOX plan, including evidence from a previously unreleased 2006 DOE study that, if adopted, would favor cheaper, safer alternatives.
The new DOE Report summarizes a catalogue of failures as the causes of the MOX project cost escalations. These include:
- DOE did not conduct any peer reviews prior to developing the project baseline;
- No analysis of France's reference plants' construction costs or operations history although it provided the basis of the U.S.-MOX program; or,
- No rigorous technology development review, risk analysis or project definition rating was carried out.
<snip>
