Tritium facility running over cost, behind schedule

By Walter Pincus ~ The Washington Post

AIKEN, S.C. -- A new facility that will produce tritium, a key component for all U.S. thermonuclear weapons, is running 25 percent over cost and almost a year behind schedule, possibly endangering the effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, according to a report released Thursday by the Department of Energy DOE inspector general.

Because the proposed facility in South Carolina"is the only current option ... for extracting and processing new tritium, its timely completion is of critical importance," wrote Gregory Friedman, inspector general .

Tritium is a gaseous radioactive isotope used in all the U.S. thermonuclear weapons. Without it the bombs or warheads won't work. It has not been produced for U.S. weapons since 1988, despite the fact that it decays about 5.5 percent a year. The ongoing requirements were to be met using tritium from dismantled weapons.

However, warhead reductions contemplated more than a decade ago have not taken place and future requirements have made it necessary to begin producing tritium again. The plan was to build a $401 million tritium extraction facility at the Energy Department's Savannah River site to be completed by February 2006.

The inspection found that "management lacks assurance that the facility will be available when needed" and delays in completion "have the potential to impede performance of the stockpile stewardship program."

Meeting needs

The National Nuclear Security Administration has estimated that about 2.5 kilograms per year of tritium will be needed by 2006 to meet the U.S. nuclear weapons program needs.

The new plant was designed to produce 3 kilograms per year. NNSA Administrator John Gordon in March requested the investigation after learning that the tritium project "may be over budget and behind schedule," the report said.