Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership, and Ranking Member Kaptur, for your leadership in bringing this bill before us today.

I appreciate very much the Congressman from Nebraska and his interest in the global threat reduction initiative. It is very worthy, but I also want to point out that I am very grateful that the mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility is located in the district that I represent.

It is part of the Savannah River site, and actually, I represent a portion of the site and so does Congressman Jim Clyburn of the Sixth Congressional District. This is really bipartisan, our support of the mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility.

Mr. Chairman, this facility really is crucial for environmental cleanup. It is very crucial to fulfill the nuclear nonproliferation agreement that we have with the Russian Federation. The site is over 60 percent completed.

You are right that $3.9 billion has already been spent, but the site will have such a positive impact by reducing what is already there--34 metric tons of weapons grade plutonium--and it is made into green fuel, part of the fuel for nuclear power production for our country.

Additionally, it will fulfill the agreement that we have with the Russian Federation, to do away with weapons grade plutonium and encourage them to do the same.

I want you to be aware that this is actually proven technology. There has been a facility built in France already that has provided and proven that this will work, and the other alternatives that have been proposed in the National Defense Authorization Act, we have asked for a study, but it is very clear that the most efficient and most beneficial to the American people and national security is to complete the MOX facility.

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