The Dept. of Energy continued its campaign to halt construction of the multibillion-dollar Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project, often referred to as MOX, this time by pointing out construction errors and defects during a Sept. 8 media tour of the Savannah River Site facility. DOE officials claimed construction was $12 billion over budget and could be decades from completion, according to media reports.
The comments are in line with a DOE-sanctioned report, published in 2015, that estimated 2043 as the earliest date for project completion. Project contractor CB&I Areva MOX Services— which began construction in 2007, with an original 2016 completion date—has protested that report’s schedule estimates.