On Thursday, the Tennessee Valley Authority signed a letter of intent agreeing to evaluate using mixed-oxide (MOX) recycled fuel in two or more of their nuclear reactors. This is a positive step for Shaw AREVA MOX Services LLC, which is currently constructing the MOX Fuel fabrication Facility in South Carolina. When operational, it will recycle excess weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel for nuclear power plants, providing clean, carbon-free nuclear energy–contributing to the reduction in nuclear weapons stockpiles worldwide.

Construction of the facility has been going successfully since it started in 2007. Already 263,000 square feet of office space has been completed, with 78,000 currently under construction, not to mention over one million safe work hours already logged. The facility should open in 2016, and when it’s up and running it will be turning 3.5 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel each year, which we hope to supply to many customers–including TVA. We’re proud to be working with the Shaw Group on this important endeavor for nuclear energy and nonproliferation in support of U.S. energy and security needs.

A link to AREVA’s press release can be found here.

To check out more information on the project, go to the MOX Project website.

Yesterday, President Obama said in a BBC interview: “Without going into specifics, what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations. On the other hand, the international community has a very real interest in preventing a nuclear arms race in the region.”

Thus, we thought that this would be a good time to highlight AREVA’s commitment to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and our being a partner in the US Department of Energy’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative. As it says on the DOE’s site:

The mission of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) is to reduce and protect vulnerable nuclear and radiological materials located at civilian sites worldwide. GTRI helps the Department of Energy achieve its Nuclear Security Goal to prevent the acquisition of nuclear and radiological materials…Three key subprograms of GTRI –Convert, Remove, and Protect—provide a comprehensive approach to denying terrorists access to nuclear and radiological materials.

As part of this commitment to remove weapons-grade material from stockpiles, AREVA has partnered with the Shaw Group to build the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. This facility when complete with convert the weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel for use in commercial nuclear power plants. This $4.9 billion project now under construction employs some 1,000 workers and is being built for DOE.

On a blog hosted by the Augusta Chronicle, reporter Rob Pavey provides a good summary of the situation at the MOX facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Shaw AREVA MOX Services is building the facility which will convert nuclear weapons material into mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel for U.S. nuclear power plants. The reporter effectively describes why there have been some misunderstandings in the media regarding reports issued on the MOX Project. He writes:

The mixed oxide, or “MOX” facility, emerged in the crosshairs of an audit unveiled last week by DOE’s Inspector General, whose critical findings included the purchase of 9,500 tons of substandard rebar for the $4.8 billion project.

However, he notes that this issue was not new and already had been resolved:

Last December, just a couple weeks before Christmas, a different federal agency—the Nuclear Regulatory Commission—filled a conference room in Aiken with scientists and government officials to talk about essentially the same thing.

The commission’s inspectors spent more than 4,300 staff hours over a two-year period evaluating all aspects of the MOX project, including quality control programs, construction activities and recordkeeping, said Deborah Seymour, chief of the NRC’s Construction Projects Inspection Branch.

“There were no specific areas that needed improvement,” she said at the time, noting that the only “minor violations” were detected.

The NRC’s clean bill of health for the project was made with full knowledge of the faulty rebar issue, which had also been explored in a Dec. 10 report issued by the House Energy and Water Subcommittee.

To read more: Who’s keeping an eye on Savannah River Site? Apparently, everyone.

It bears mentioning once again that Shaw AREVA MOX Services is committed to building a safe, well-constructed facility that protects its workers, the public and the environment. Our work on the construction of the MOX Facility has always met the most stringent safety and quality standards and that will never change.

AREVA MOX Facility Under Construction - Aiken, South Carolina

by Jarret Adams

The MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility under construction in South Carolina serves several important goals: It provides a way to remove weapons-grade material from the nation’s military stockpiles. At the same time, the mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel produced by the facility will help generate reliable, emission-free electricity for Americans.

The construction project led by Shaw AREVA MOX Services (MOX Services) has been making excellent progress over the past year and the facility is beginning to take shape. The facility is expected to begin delivering MOX fuel in 2017, and the project is on track to do just that.

However, some antinuclear groups have been spreading misinformation about the MOX Project. Conversion of weapons-grade material into MOX fuel is one of the best methods for making this material unusable for military purposes. Based on President Obama’s desire to reduce our stockpiles of this material, demand for facilities such as the MOX Project, are set to increase not decrease.

It is illogical to oppose nuclear weapons and also oppose programs, such as the MOX facility, that help dispose of nuclear weapons.

Simply put, converting weapons-grade material into fuel to generate electricity makes the nation safer. (In a similar initiative, converted Russian weapons material has been quietly supplying half of our nation’s nuclear plant fuel for years and is making the world a safer place.)

Despite what opponents of the MOX Project would like to believe, the project continues to have support of the U.S. government and the industry. MOX Services is still in negotiations with several utilities, including Duke Energy, and is confident it will have customers for the plant output well before 2017.

Opponents of the project also have characterized the experience with the lead test assemblies (LTAs) as a “failure.” Also untrue. The LTAs performed well during the first two cycles in the reactors. After the second cycle, inspectors noticed that they grew slightly more than what had been established in pre-set criteria. At no time did the MOX assemblies present a safety hazard.

The adjustments to future MOX fuel assemblies will be a minor one, according AREVA fuel experts, and can be demonstrated on uranium fuel. Our experts also believe that no repeat of the MOX LTA tests will be required.

As we have mentioned previously, AREVA has decades of experience in the production of MOX fuel at its MELOX facility in France. AREVA has many satisfied MOX fuel customers and is even winning new ones.

Mox Fuel Fabrication Facility Under Construction

By Jarret Adams

The MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility under construction in South Carolina recently passed the milestone of 2 million work hours completed without a lost time incident. This facility is an important project because it will take weapons-grade material in our nation’s stockpiles and convert into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. Shaw AREVA MOX Services is justifiably proud to be part of this important project.

As a result, the MOX facility serves two important goals: it disposes of excess nuclear weapons material and provides nuclear plant fuel to generate electricity for Americans.

When you think about it, if the goal is to eliminate nuclear weapons from the nation’s stockpiles as President Obama stated in Prague over the weekend, a facility such as the MOX project is one of the best solutions available today.

The MOX project continues to have strong government and industry support. MOX Services received last May the option to construct the $4.86 billion facility.

AREVA has safely produced MOX fuel at its facilities in France for approximately 35 years. MOX fuel also is used by utilities in many other countries, including Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Japan. Just last week, AREVA announced a major contract to supply MOX fuel to a Japanese utility.