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Updates from the SRSCRO
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April 2017
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Follow us on Twitter!
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Rick McLeod @atomicasset
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Mindy Mets @nuclearstem
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NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss Mixed Oxide Facility Performance
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff hosted an open house on April 18 from 6-7 p.m. at the Garden Conference Room in the Applied Research Center. During the open house, the agency discussed its assessment of 2016 activities at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX) under construction at the Savannah River Site. There were no formal presentations, but NRC staff members were available to answer questions and provide information about NRC inspection and oversight of the facility.
The NRC review covered the period from Jan. 1, 2016 through Dec. 31, 2016, and concluded that construction activities were consistent with NRC rules and regulations as well as the conditions of the MOX construction authorization. The NRC will perform a follow-up inspection due to a Severity Level III violation related to the procurement of some safety-related components. The NRC will continue its inspections at the site appropriate for the level of construction activity.
The MOX facility will convert supplies of surplus weapons grade plutonium into more proliferation-resistant material by blending it with natural or depleted uranium. When converted into mixed oxide, or MOX fuel, it can be used in commercial nuclear reactors to generate electricity.
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Will the Continuing Resolution Continue?
The House and Senate will be on recess from April 10 - 24. When they return, some form of a spending measure for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2017 must be passed before current funding runs out on April 28. Appropriators are working on an omnibus spending package for the rest to the year, but there are many issues left to resolve, including whether to accommodate President Trump's request for an additional $33 billion in military and border security funding. The administration has transmitted to Congress $17.9 billion in
requested spending cuts
for the remainder of FY2017. When Congress returns from recess, there will only be four joint legislative days to reach a compromise before spending runs out.
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You Asked - We Listened
At the March 2016 Regional Workforce Summit, community leaders from industry and education were challenged to identify ways to enhance regional workforce development for the future. Their message was clear - Increase opportunities for employers and educators to connect and build awareness of regional careers. The SRSCRO is responding with Manufacturing and Education Connections. This pilot program will involve educators and manufacturing employers throughout five counties in Georgia and South Carolina. Based on success of the summer event, the SRSCRO will consider similar programs for other industry sectors including Nuclear, Cybersecurity and Healthcare.
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TREAT Time
The annual Teaching Radiation, Energy, and Technology (TREAT) workshop will be held Wednesday, July 12 - Friday, July 14, 2017 on the University of South Carolina Aiken campus. The workshop provides education, training, and experimental opportunities for school teachers in the region. Topics are focused on learning about environmental radiation through a series of classroom lectures and laboratory hands on exercises. Participants will develop activities and study units for use in their classrooms. A grant from the U.S. Department of Energy on Environmental Radiation and Community Awareness is funding this workshop. Participants are eligible for five (5) Staff Development Credits and a $350 stipend. Click
here
for more information.
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SRSCRO Annual Congressional Staff Workshop
The SRSCRO hosted its sixth annual workshop for Congressional staff representing GA and SC from Washington, DC as well as local offices. Switching from our normal summer congressional recess time frame to a spring recess, the workshop was conducted during April 19-21. It consisted of one half-day meeting where the staffers heard about the plans for the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, the Promise Zone activities in Allendale and Barnwell and other low country counties, and SRSCRO initiatives including the Nuclear Workforce Initiative and community concerns about Savannah River Site missions and budgets. The group also got a SRS site tour of the Salt Waste Processing Facility and a briefing on the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center and a tour of the Augusta University Cyber Institute. The workshop objective of having the delegations from both sides of the river better informed about our local initiatives can only make the communities stronger, politically, and the staffers better informed.
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Risk -
noun plural:
risks
- a situation involving exposure to danger.
If you are aware of the following risks of this compound, do you agree it should be banned?:
1. This compound can be chemically synthesized by burning rocket fuel.
2. This compound is one of the primary ingredients in herbicides and pesticides.
3. Overconsumption of this compound can cause excessive sweating, urination and even death.
4. 100% of all serial killers, rapist and drug dealers have admitted to drinking this compund.
5. 100% of all people exposed to this compound will die.
It is also the leading cause of drowning! Click
here for the answer
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Risk -
noun plural:
risks
- a situation involving exposure to danger.
If you are aware of the following risks of this compound, do you agree it should be banned?:
1. This compound can be chemically synthesized by burning rocket fuel.
2. This compound is one of the primary ingredients in herbicides and pesticides.
3. Overconsumption of this compound can cause excessive sweating, urination and even death.
4. 100% of all serial killers, rapist and drug dealers have admitted to drinking this compund.
5. 100% of all people exposed to this compound will die.
It is also the leading cause of drowning! Click
here for the answer
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Loss Of Life Expectancy (LLE) Due To Various Risks
ACTIVITY OR RISK* : LLE (DAYS)
Grade school dropout
: 800
Sub-optimal medical care*
: 550
Vietnam Army service
: 400
Automobile accidents
: 180
Pneumonia, influenza*
: 130
Occupational accidents
: 74
Small cars vs. midsize
: 60
Speed limit of 65 vs. 55 miles per hour*
: 40
Poison + suffocation + asphyxiation*
: 37
Radiation worker, ages 18-65
: 25
All electricity nuclear (UCS)*
: 1.5
Peanut butter (1Tbsp./day)
: 1.1
Hurricanes, tornadoes*
: 1
Living near nuclear plant
: 0.4
All electricity nuclear NRC)* : 0.04
*Asterisks indicate averages over total U.S. population; others refer to those exposed.
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Closing Thoughts
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"At the age of eleven or thereabouts women acquire a poise and an ability to handle difficult situations which a man, if he is lucky, manages to achieve somewhere in the later seventies."
-- P. G. Wodehouse
"Men are generally idle, and ready to satisfy themselves, and intimidate the industry of others, by calling that impossible which is only difficult."
-- Samuel Johnson
"I dote on his very absence."
-- William Shakespeare
"If I only had a little humility, I'd be perfect."
-- Ted Turner
"Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists?"
-- Kelvin Throop III
"O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet."
-- Saint Augustine
"Never fight an inanimate object."
-- P. J. O'Rourke
"Don't accept rides from strange men, and remember that all men are strange."
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Contact Information
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SRSCRO, PO Box 696, Aiken, SC 29802
Staff:
Rick McLeod - President/CEO - 803-508-7402
Mindy Mets - NWI® Program Manager - 803-508-7403
Amy Merry - Administrative & Business Manager - 803-508-7401
Kim Saxon - Assistant Coordinator - 803-508-7656
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