Senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham Continue Fight to Protect MOX Program in South Carolina

In A Joint Letter to President Obama, Urges Reconsideration of Reckless Budget Decision to Abandon Program Washington, DC - Citing the need to secure vulnerable materials and follow through with a commitment to the people of South Carolina, U.S. Senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham wrote President Obama expressing concerns over his decisions in the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget to abandon the Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX) program at the Savannah River Site (SRS). Friday’s letter follows the recently announced agreement between the United States and Japan to dispose of 700 pounds of weapons-grade plutonium.    "The Obama Administration cannot just abandon the Mixed Oxide Fuel program at the Savannah River Site, especially with no viable alternative.  Their actions could break a critical nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia, while leaving some 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium in South Carolina and Texas for an indefinite period of time,” said Senators Scott and Graham. “The Administration’s actions are also breaking a promise to South Carolina and our residents, who agreed to host the MOX facility which stated the nuclear material would be processed into usable fuel for commercial power reactors – not sit in South Carolina indefinitely.   Scott and Graham concluded, “We strongly urge the President to reconsider his decision and work with Congress to find a fiscally responsible path towards its completion. The people of South Carolina deserve nothing less.” To date, the Administration has failed to propose any alternative to the MOX program, which if shuttered will abandon 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium in South Carolina and Texas for an indefinite period.  The completion of the MOX facility is paramount to the United States upholding the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) with Russia to dispose of a total of 68 metric tons of weapons grade plutonium—214 times the size of the agreement with Japan. Earlier this month, Senators Scott and Graham joined 5 Senate colleagues in a bipartisan letter to U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz expressing similar concerns.      A downloadable .pdf copy of Senators Scott and Graham’s letter to President Obama is available here.   ###