§2567 Disposition of Surplus Defense Plutonium at Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina

Summary

The Secretary of Energy must talk with the Governor of South Carolina about any plans or choices for handling surplus defense plutonium and defense plutonium materials at the Savannah River Site. For each shipment of those materials to the site, the Secretary must tell the congressional defense committees at least 30 days before the shipment starts. The Secretary must write a disposal plan for the plutonium now at the Savannah River Site and for any that will be sent there later. The plan must review the options, name the chosen option, and, for any facilities required by the Department of Energy’s Record of Decision dated January 14, 1997, give the cost, a construction schedule with milestones, and a funding schedule. The plan must also say how all such materials will be removed from the site in a timely way for storage or disposal elsewhere. If the Secretary decides not to build the plutonium immobilization plant or the mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility at the Savannah River Site, the Secretary must make a plan showing where those materials will go instead. Both plans must be sent to Congress by February 1, 2002. If they are not sent by that date, the Secretary may not ship defense plutonium or defense plutonium materials to the Savannah River Site from February 1, 2002 until the plans are submitted. That rule does not stop shipments to other sites. Each year the Secretary must include with the Department of Energy budget papers a report explaining how the requested money will let the Department meet its disposal commitments for the Savannah River Site and for other fissile materials disposition work that year.