COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - A new tritium extraction facility at the Savannah River Site may open later than expected and end up about $100 million over budget, the U.S. Energy Department's inspector general says. <br>
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Gregory Friedman said in a report this week that the project's shortcomings ``highlighted many recurring problems with the department's approach to major projects.'' <br>
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Gov. Jim Hodges' spokesman Morton Brilliant said the report reinforces the governor's concerns about Energy Department promises to build and operate a plant to process surplus plutonium and ship it out of South Carolina. <br>
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The Energy Department plans to ship 34 metric tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium to SRS for storage until the agency can build a $3.8 billion plant to convert the plutonium into commercial reactor fuel. <br>
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In a report released to the National Nuclear Security Administration, Friedman said an audit revealed shortcomings in the tritium project that could add $100 million in costs and push completion 10 months past the February 2006 target date. <br>
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The report also says the facility may not contain all the original specifications. <br>
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Tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen gas, is a critical component of thermonuclear bombs. No tritium has been made by the United States since 1988. The gas is currently being replenished in active nuclear weapons by recycling tritium from dismantled bombs. <br>
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The new $401 million facility would restore the nation's ability to make tritium. <br>
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The inspector general said ``preconstruction planning was often inadequate and ineffective, and project baselines were established too early in the design stage to be reliable.'' <br>
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Individual cost overruns included $17 million for modifications from construction issues and $7 million for a furnace design that didn't work, the report said.
