The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) yesterday proposed funding the federal government through a three-month continuing resolution to start fiscal 2016, which could authorize the Energy Department to advance ongoing defense nuclear cleanup programs, “particularly at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant” in Piketon, Ohio. That could prevent the hundreds of pending layoffs that site contractor Fluor-BWXT announced last month, according to officials. “The continuing resolution is written to give DOE significant flexibility to potentially avoid layoffs,” Senate Appropriations spokesman Chris Gallegos said by email yesterday. “The language gives the Secretary of Energy flexibility to fund the site to avoid disruptions of continuing projects, including the cleanup work.” The additional flexibility would be granted for the duration of the CR or until the fiscal 2016 budget is implemented, he said. The Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) Fund would finance such cleanup programs until Dec. 11, when the CR would expire.
Fluor-BWXT said last month that a budget shortfall of up to $81 million in fiscal 2016 would force it this fall to lay off up to 36 percent of the roughly 1,400 employees working on D&D of the former uranium enrichment facility. However, Congress has yet to release its estimate of this shortfall as House and Senate appropriators have not yet reconciled differences in their respective numbers for funding for Portsmouth cleanup in the coming budget year.
Fluor said the budget deficit was caused by reduced DOE funding and the department’s increased restriction on the amount of uranium the company can sell to vendors. As several Ohio lawmakers noted last month, possible layoffs of over 700 workers at Portsmouth had been averted in late 2014 via $48 million in additional project funding from Congress for this budget year.
DOE’s Office of Environmental Management did not respond to requests for comment.
