A federal agency recently denied an appeal filed by three anti-nuclear groups to the operating license agreement for the Savannah River Site's MOX facility.
More than a year ago, CB&I AREVA MOX Services, the contractor constructing the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, received its operating license from the Atomic Safety Licensing Board.
The board was slated to make a decision in January 2014, but waited an additional month because it was still evaluating issues raised by interested parties to determine whether the parties' issues were relevant to the licensing proceeding.
Those parties include Nuclear Watch South, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service - three groups who oppose the MOX program.
After the board approved the operating license last year, the three anti-nuclear groups filed an appeal. But according to a press release earlier this month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it was denying the appeal.
The denial garnered support from David Del Vecchio, the president and project manager of CB&I AREVA MOX Services.
"This is a very significant ruling for us as we continue to make progress on the MOX facility and with our licensing," Del Vecchio said. "The safety of our employees and the security of the facility continue to be first and foremost in the design, construction and operation of the MOX facility."
Edwin Lyman, a supporter of Nuclear Watch South and senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the decision reflects an "astonishing level of complacency" about growing cybersecurity issues to the nation's critical infrastructure.
Lyman also was an expert witness during hearings on the issue.
"It is tantamount to leaving a door wide open for hackers, terrorists and foreign governments to interfere with the computer systems that the MOX facility will rely on to detect stolen weapon-usable plutonium," Lyman said in a press release.
The MOX project employs about 1,700 workers and is part of a nonproliferation agreement with Russia to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium. Groups such as Union of Concerned Scientists have highlighted rising costs of the project as a reason for the nation to move on with an alternative route of plutonium disposition.
A recent study concluded that the project has a cradle-to-grave, or lifecycle cost, of $51 billion, including the $4.4 billion already spent. The MOX contractors and congressional supporters disputed the claim and are seeking further cost assessments.
Derrek Asberry is the SRS beat reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the paper since June 2013. He is originally from Vidalia, Ga., and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Follow him on Twitter @DerrekAsberry.