Political Quotes

“This is about Dr. Ernie Moniz's appointment to be Secretary of Energy. I put a hold on Dr. Moniz. It has nothing to do with him. He is a wonderful fellow. He is an MIT professor. He has been amply associated with the Department of Energy, including the MOX Program. All of us in Georgia and South Carolina look forward to working with him. What we are upset about is the Obama administration's decision to temporarily stop construction on the MOX facility. It is about 60 percent complete. What is MOX? It is a program to take 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium in excess of our defense needs and dispose of it by turning it into commercial-grade fuel. It is enough weapons-grade plutonium to make 17,000 warheads. In 2000 there was an agreement between the United States and Russia: They would dispose of 34 metric tons and we would dispose of 34 metric tons. And we have been studying how to do that. In 2010 the Federal Government--and the Obama administration--in the agreement with the Russians to move forward, said we would MOX the 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium. We were to turn it into mixed oxide fuel to be used in commercial reactors, which was a technology deployed in France, and that was the way forward. To the administration's credit, we are finally moving forward. Senator Isakson, Senator Chambliss, and I went to the facility a couple of years ago and finally saw it moving forward. It is about 60 percent built.…”