A congressional panel this week slashed or froze hundreds of millions of dollars for a proposed mixed-oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, raising renewed doubts about the future of the planned facility.

The so-called “MOX” project at the nuclear campus outside Aiken has been touted as both a powerful S.C. job engine and a means to rid the world of tons of weapons-grade plutonium.

On top of those cuts, SRS is facing a $200 million budget shortfall in fiscal 2007.

South Carolinians in Congress say the federal government promised the money, and that without it, an unspecified number of jobs could be lost and other cleanup missions could stagnate at the nuclear waste storage site.

Still, there’s reason for hope, these same politicians say — both for the MOX plant and the SRS budget.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., on Wednesday met with Linton Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration. Brooks “is committed to building a MOX plant in South Carolina,” said Graham, who said construction could begin in the fall.

That’s whether or not, Graham continued, the Russians build a MOX plant of their own.

For years the Russian and American MOX plants developed — and stalled — as a joint project.

And Graham, who represented the Aiken area as a congressman, said he is optimistic the Senate will restore the $200 million SRS budget shortfall.

But Barrett, who succeeded Graham in the House, worried the money might not materialize. The Bush administration, he said, hasn’t pushed hard enough to ensure SRS, which once supplied much of the fuel for the nation’s nuclear arsenal, gets what it needs.

“We’ve have had a lot of promises and a lot of commitments from the Department of Energy,” said Barrett. “Unfortunately, many times the money doesn’t meet the mouth.”

Department of Energy spokesman Jim Giusti cautioned against drawing conclusions about the funding gap and possible consequences.

“It is too early in the budget process to discuss specific actions that could be taken at SRS,” he said.

It will be months until the full House and Senate agree on how much to send to the site.

As for MOX, U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., who supports the project, sits on the House Armed Services Committee panel that cut that Bush administration’s $600 million request for the S.C. plant. Spratt didn’t support the cuts and wants to see the project succeed.

But realistically, he said, its future now appears “unclear.”

Boosters say the plant could generate 1,000 jobs in South Carolina. International politics has so far stood in its way.

Russia, with help from the United States, had agreed to build a MOX plant like the one proposed for SRS. The idea was for the S.C. and Russian plants to anchor an international effort to transform weapons-grade plutonium into commercial grade fuel in both countries. Several other U.S. allies pledged money to the Russian project to help secure some of the most dangerous nuclear material in Europe.

Russia, however, has not moved forward on MOX.

“The time is past that we want to bring the Russians along in a parallel fashion,” said Barrett. “Today is the day that if they don’t comply, we’re going to forge ahead.”

But Congress is wary about MOX in South Carolina and wants to see a clear plan before it allocates more money.

On Thursday, the panel of the House Armed Services Committee that cut $150 million and froze another $450 million for MOX said the money should not be used until the Bush administration shows either that the Russians are committed to the project or that the S.C. plant is by itself worthy of funding.

Spratt is particularly concerned about the 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium slated for a MOX plant at SRS. Some of it is already at the site.

In 2001, he supported former Gov. Jim Hodges, a Democrat, in a lawsuit that sought to stop the federal government from shipping high-grade nuclear waste to SRS. They argued there was no clear plan to dispose of the material, and worried it would languish in South Carolina indefinitely.

Upon taking office in 2003, Republican Gov. Mark Sanford dropped the suit.

In South Carolina, a consortium including Duke Energy would build the MOX plant and use the fuel in the company’s Catawba reactor, in York County, and McGuire reactor, north of Charlotte.

Duke and consortium spokesmen referred all questions on MOX to the Department of Energy. But Duke spokesman Tim Pettit added those reactors are not dependent on MOX fuel to provide power.