U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, said the design of the multibillion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility should be 90 percent completed by the end of 2017.
That 90 percent design has been established as a critical milestone before the National Nuclear Security Administration can begin construction of the major UPF facilities. It’s also the time in which the NNSA is supposed to provide a baseline for the big project, including a defined price tag.
The NNSA has provided little new information on the UPF in recent months and recently declined to confirm how far the design had proceeded, would not release an organization chart for the project, or say how much is being spent to lease space for the 900 or so people working on the design and engineering efforts.
The current year’s funding for UPF is $430 million, and the Obama administration has proposed to increase that to $575 million in fiscal 2017.
Alexander, a key appropriator for the project in his home state, provided this statement in response to questions about the UPF: “For the Uranium facility, I have made clear the project needs to be completed by 2025 at a cost no greater than $6.5 billion, and the design needs to be at least 90% complete before construction of the nuclear facilities begins.
“Based on our discussions with the Department of Energy, we expect the design to be more than 90% complete by the end of next year, and construction of the nuclear facilities to begin in 2018.”
Alexander has said he plans to hold a hearing on UPF in March.
