The U.S. Energy Department says it is spending $1.2 million a day on a partially built South Carolina nuclear facility that it wants to abandon due to soaring costs. Congress has continued funding construction of the plant, which would be used to dispose of surplus weapons-grade plutonium, despite a series of reviews casting doubt on the financial logic involved. Last month, a federal judge ordered the work to keep going, while South Carolina pursues a legal bid to force the Energy Department to stay the course. Moving Target Estimates for the so-called MOX plant’s construction costs and completion date have changed over the years. Sources: Government Accountability Office; Energy Department The plant’s future is now the subject of budget negotiations on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are haggling over whether to continue funding the project in fiscal 2019, which starts Oct. 1, or wind it down. The federal government has spent […]