DOE Hides Just-Approved, Official Cost Estimate of SRS Plutonium Pit Plant, Keeps Public in the Dark about Size of Escalating Cost for New Nuclear Weapons Facility,
Cost could Soar to Over $30 Billion
New Estimate Likely to Go Higher than 2026 Unofficial Estimate of $18-25 Billion, More than Doubling the 2021 Official Estimate of $7-11 Billion – Just to Refurbish the Terminated MOX Plant, into which $5-8 Billion has already been Sunk
For Release October 19, 2026 – Savannah River Site Watch (SRS Watch), Columbia, SC, www.srswatch.org
Contact: Tom Clements, Director, cell 803-240-7268, tomclements329@cs.com
New release posted on SRS Watch website: https://srswatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/News-on-CD-2-lack-of-SRS-pit-platn-cost-estimate-October-19-2026-SRS-Watch.pdf
Columbia, SC — The Department of Energy claimed on October 16, 2026 that it approved a new cost estimate for the massive facility to make 50 or more plutonium pits per year – for new nuclear weapons’ cores – at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina, but the department has refused to publicly release the estimate. It is believed that the cost for the new facility could soar above a recent unofficial cost estimate of $30 billion.
It was anticipated that the new cost estimate for the plutonium bomb plant, per DOE practice, would be publicly released. That the cost has not been released raises suspicion that the skyrocketing cost to refurbish the partially finished, terminated plutonium fuel (MOX) building is being hidden from both the public and Congress.
“DOE must immediately reveal what the cost to the taxpayer will be to produce new, unneeded plutonium pits at SRS for new nuclear warheads,” said Tom Clements, director of the public interest group Savannah River Site Watch, based in Columbia, SC. “It’s clear that the cost of the unnecessary plutonium pit project continues to soar while the schedule slips, which is the way DOE works, and it’s time for Congress to place a hold on construction while the cost and need for the facility are assessed. Suppression of the cost estimate by DOE is a mistake that will backfire as it smacks of a cover-up,” added Clements.