An Aiken-based nuclear group will hear updates on progress at the Savannah River Site's MOX facility during a monthly breakfast later this month.
Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, or CNTA, will host Kelly Trice, senior vice president for nuclear construction within CB&I's Power business unit.
The breakfast will be 7:30 a.m. on June 16 at Newberry Hall, 117 Newberry St.
The cost is $20 per person or $160 for a table of eight. Reservation must be made by June 11, and can be made by calling 803-649-3456 or emailing cnta@bell south.net.
Trice is the former project manager of CB&I MOX Services, the contractor for the MOX project. The project is part of a nonproliferation agreement with Russia to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium.
A Congressionally mandated study recently priced the entire plutonium program, from beginning to end, at $51 billion. That number has been disputed by MOX contractor groups and congressional supporters.
"I'm sure our audience will want to get his take on the probable funding picture for MOX ...," said Clint Wolfe, executive director of CNTA.
In addition, Trice is responsible for engineering, procurement and construction execution on all nuclear new build projects and nuclear services projects. Wolfe said Trice's knowledge in the field will allow him to provide updates on other projects, including Plant Vogtle and V.C. Summer Nuclear Station construction progress.
"These projects, taken together, provide around 10,000 jobs in our region, so his talk will concern major economic impacts," Wolfe said.
The MOX project employs 1,700 workers and is about 65 percent complete. The recent study was Part 1 of a look at MOX alternatives to plutonium disposition. Part 2 is expected to surface in mid-September.
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.