The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has announced that the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX), under construction at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, reached 10 million safe working hours without a lost workday.

The MOX facility plays an important role in U.S. national security and energy policy by facilitating the permanent disposition of 34 metric tons of surplus U.S. weapons grade plutonium. The MOX facility will blend this surplus plutonium with depleted uranium oxide to make mixed oxide fuel for use in existing commercial nuclear power plants.

The project is scheduled to begin operation in 2016 and is more than 60 percent complete, NNSA said in a statement. Since construction began in 2007, more than 19,000 tons of rebar have been installed and over 118,000 cubic yards of concrete have been placed. More than 400,000 feet of process piping and nearly six million feet of electrical cable are currently being installed, while installation of the process tanks is 90 percent complete.

“The first construction project of its kind in the United States, the MOX project is being executed with precision and safety because of the shared commitment between everyone involved to successfully completing the mission while making safety the first priority,” said Clay Ramsey, NNSA federal project director.


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Date: Thursday, 14 June 2012
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newssavannah-river-safety-milestone