nuclear-news

Staff Writer May 26, 2016 Lawyers for the U.S. Depart­ment of Energy filed more arguments Wednesday for why a federal judge should delay a hearing on South Carolina’s lawsuit over delayed removal of nuclear materials.

Judge J. Michelle Childs scheduled a hearing for June 30 in Columbia, but the Energy Department’s lawyers say there’s too much to do before then. Besides, they want her to rule first on their motion to dismiss the case altogether.

South Carolina filed suit in February asking for the $100 million in penalties that a federal law assesses the agency for not removing 2 metric tons of plutonium from Savannah River Site. The law was to ensure construction remained on schedule for the mixed-oxide fuel plant on the site, but the builders are still late……..

Construction on the MOX facility is behind schedule and about $8 billion over budget, by some critics’ estimates. The Obama administration says that’s why it wants to shut the program down and use a different method of disposing of 34 metric tons of plutonium…….http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2016-05-26/federal-government-wants-delay-mox-court-hearing?v=1464299788