$59 MILLION IN REPROGRAMMED FUNDS HAVEN’T REACHED MOX PROJECT

While Congress approved a reprogramming request for $59.2 million towards construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility late last year, those funds have yet to reach the project, NW&M Monitor has learned. The National Nuclear Security Administration originally submitted the reprogramming request to Congress in early August in order to avoid losses to the workforce, but it took several months to clear the four required Congressional committees. Since it was submitted the project has lost about 800 workers through a combination of layoffs resulting from lower spending levels and worker attrition due to in part to uncertainty regarding the project’s future. The NNSA did not respond to request for comment yesterday on the status of the reprogrammed funds. 

 

Though the Administration last year cut funding for MOX and said it was assessing alternatives for its surplus plutonium disposition mission, it has also said that the reprogrammed funds would be necessary whether or not the MOX project moves ahead. “This reprogramming does not presuppose the results of the Administration’s options analysis. The reprogrammed $59.2 million would not be expended until FY 2014 but its reallocation is necessary to avoid layoff notices so as to maintain key nuclear expertise that will be needed whether the MOX project continues or enters a lengthy and complex shut-down process,” states the Aug. 5 reprogramming request.