Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said its his job to look at the lifecycle cost of major projects. But South Carolina congressmen still believe the Savannah River Site's MOX project and the entire plutonium disposition program are being singled out.
Moniz said last week that if the plutonium program is to be properly funded, the program would cost upward of $1 billion a year, making the current funding level of $345 million a year severely inadequate.
U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., said the term "lifecycle cost" is used as a scare tactic. Wilson likened the scenario to purchasing a car.
"If you buy a car and you find out the lifecycle cost of gas and maintenance is $200,000, you wouldn't buy the car," Wilson said. "But if you're looking at the cost of purchase, you would but it. Because if you're looking at lifecycle, I could panic anyone into not buying anything."
Wilson added that other major projects headed up by the Energy Department are estimated based on lifecycle cost. He added that MOX, a project designed to covert 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium into nuclear fuel, does not have viable alternatives despite a Congressionally mandated study that states at least one alternative to the MOX method carries a much cheaper lifecycle cost.
The down-blending method, which also would take place at SRS, would be executed using inhibitor materials, or materials that slow down the chemical process. The solution would then be packaged into approved canisters and shipped to a repository for permanent disposal, most likely the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico.
Aerospace Corp., a California-based nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center, said the lifecycle cost of the down-blending method is $17 billion, compared to MOX at its estimated cost of $51 billion.
But Wilson said the alternative is null because the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is not in a position to receive the material due an exposure incident last year that shut the plant down until further notice.
Like Wilson, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, another South Carolina Republican, disagreed with the cost assessment. Scott added that the rising costs of the project can be attributed to DOE "dragging its feet" with properly funding MOX.
"What we need from the Secretary and the Department is a commitment to finish the project," Scott said. "What they've done so far has made it so that the project has taken so long, that the cost curve has exploded."
Moniz said last week that one of the major issues with MOX is funding it under sequestration. If sequestration cuts are lifted, Moniz said the project costs would fall.
Ridding of the weapons-grade plutonium is part of a nonproliferation agreement with Russia. About $4.4 million has been spent on MOX so far, which is about 65 complete. The project currently employs about 1,700 workers.
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.