SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2018, Issue No. 13
February 26, 2018

Secrecy News Blog: https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/

DOE SEEKS TO END MOX PLUTONIUM DISPOSAL PROGRAM

The Trump Administration requested $220 million next year "to continue the orderly and safe closure of the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility." The MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility was intended to eliminate excess weapons-grade plutonium by blending it with uranium oxide to produce a "mixed oxide" that is not suitable for nuclear weapons. The Administration proposes instead to pursue a "dilute and dispose" approach.

Termination of the MOX Facility in South Carolina had previously been proposed -- but not approved -- in budget requests for the last two years, due to mounting costs.

"Construction remains significantly over budget and behind schedule," the Department of Energy said in a November 2017 report to Congress. "The MOX production objective was not met in 2015 or 2016 and will not be met in 2017."

"Due to the increasing costs of constructing and operating the MOX facility, both the Department's analysis and independent analyses of U.S. plutonium disposition strategies have consistently and repeatedly concluded that the MOX fuel strategy is more costly and requires more annual funding than the dilute and dispose approach," the DOE report said. The report was released by DOE under the Freedom of Information Act.

Though disfavored by the Administration, the MOX program has a champion in South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham. "I will fight like crazy" to preserve it unless he is convinced that a superior alternative exists, he said at a February 8 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Detailed background on the MOX program can be found in Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Plant and Plutonium Disposition: Management and Policy Issues, Congressional Research Service, December 14, 2017.

The latest proposal to terminate the MOX program was reported in "Aiken County legislators unsurprised by Trump's anti-MOX budget" by Colin Demarest, Aiken Standard, February 19.

CONGRESS MOVES TO LOOSEN CONTROLS ON HANDGUNS

Recent polls indicate that a large majority of Americans favor stricter gun laws. But lately Congress has been moving in the opposite direction.

In December, the House of Representatives passed the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 (HR 38) which would generally allow persons who are authorized to carry a concealed handgun in one state to carry a handgun in other states even if the latter states have different eligibility requirements for concealed carry.

Not only that: The bill also provides for a private right of action so that the gun owner could sue any person or agency, apparently including a law enforcement agency, that interferes with his concealed-carry rights.

This provision "raises numerous legal questions," the Congressional Research Service said in a brief new analysis. "For instance, what rights does the bill bestow, who may enforce them, and who may be sued for interfering with those rights?"

See Civil-Suit Provision in House-Passed Concealed Carry Reciprocity Bill (H.R. 38): Scope and Application, CRS Legal Sidebar, February 21, 2018:

These questions were addressed at greater length in another new CRS publication. See Civil-Suit Provision in the House-passed Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 (H.R. 38), CRS memorandum, February 20, 2018:

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

FY2019 Budget: Government Reorganization and Federal Workforce Reform, CRS Insight, February 22, 2018:

Pedal to the Metal: Commerce Recommends Revving Up Trade Measures on Steel and Aluminum, CRS Legal Sidebar, February 21, 2018:

Bankruptcy and Student Loans, February 22, 2018:

FY2018 Defense Spending Under an Interim Continuing Resolution, CRS In Focus, updated February 20, 2018:

Defense Primer: Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, CRS In Focus, February 21, 2018:

Defense Primer: Future Years Defense Program (FYDP), CRS In Focus, February 16, 2018:

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

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