SC officials are flexing their political muscles to save up to 1,000 jobs.

US Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, Congressman Joe Wilson, Gov. Henry McMaster and Attorney General Alan Wilson met with President Trump last week about the mixed-oxide fuel plant or MOX.

They want the President to make the Department of Energy honor a promise to complete the MOX project which employs Lexington County residents who commute to the Savannah River Site near Aiken daily.

“South Carolina is at risk of becoming a repository for weapons grade plutonium,” the Congressman said.

Weapons grade plutonium has been linked to cancer.

Due to a court ruling last week, DOE officials say they plan to abandon MOX.

The project has been estimated to cost up to $17 billion – 3 times its original estimate, The State newspaper reported.

MOX was designed to get rid of excess weapons-grade plutonium stored there.

In a letter to project contractor CB&I (Chicago Bridge & Iron), one of the general contractors on the failed SCANA nuclear project, DOE officials said the court ruling allows them to shut down construction.

The letter suggested the government will try to find other jobs for workers laid off in the MOX shutdown.

Attorney General Wilson plans to press his lawsuit challenging the decision.

His office said DOE reneged on its word.

Without MOX, the state will be left with tons of plutonium at SRS, he said.

DOE has said the plutonium can be shipped to a cavern in New Mexico. It also said that instead of MOX it may fabricate pits for use in atomic weapons.