Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) yesterday said the Energy Department's plan to turn surplus weapons-grade plutonium into reactor fuel is uneconomical and should be rethought.

Markey, an outspoken nuclear skeptic, wrote Energy Secretary Steven Chu that the proposal to make mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel from the plutonium is too costly and raises security concerns, and that there is insufficient demand for MOX fuel.

Noting his longtime opposition to the plans, Markey cited several recent reports that say the project "may be over budget, behind schedule, and lacking even a single customer for its product," and said they "call into question the viability and fiscal wisdom of the Department's current approach."

At issue is DOE's plan to build a MOX facility at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., where MOX -- made of a combination of plutonium and uranium -- would be turned into fuel for reactors.

The Tennessee Valley Authority said last summer it would consider using MOX from surplus nuclear weapons to power nuclear plants (Greenwire, July 26, 2012). TVA said at the time that the Sequoyah and Browns Ferry plants were looking to use the fuel, and that the utility was testing a kind of MOX fuel made from old nuclear weapons at its Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., and Athens, Ala., reactors.

But opponents of the fuel say it makes reactors more difficult to control because it is a hotter blend of fuel.

And Markey pointed out that TVA hasn't yet agreed to use the MOX fuel and that the federal government hasn't identified other utilities that are planning to use it.

That point also was made in a 2010 Government Accountability Office report, which found the National Nuclear Security Administration had not sufficiently reached out to utilities that would make the necessary changes to their reactors to take the fuel after it has been converted. GAO said most utilities show little interest or do not know of possible incentives NNSA is offering for the program (E&ENews PM, March 29, 2010).

Markey also said that the United States hasn't approved MOX for use in commercial reactors and that lengthy testing procedures would be necessary for it to do so.

"The government's plutonium plan is a pluperfect disaster," Markey said in a statement when he released the letter. "It is over budget, riddled with delays and problems, and is producing a product that no one wants. And all to produce $2 billion worth of reactor fuel at a cost of tens of billions of taxpayer dollars and damage to our global non-proliferation efforts."

Markey asked Chu to explain how much the MOX plant will cost, when it will come into operation and how long it will operate. The congressman also asked which plants would use the MOX fuel and how DOE will go about securing those agreements.

Click here to read Markey's letter.