U.S. Energy Department officials, possibly including Energy Secretary Rick Perry, have reached out to persuade Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) to lift his hold on the nomination of Anne Marie White to be assistant secretary of energy for environmental management, an informed source said Monday.
Barrasso wants White and DOE to commit to ending the agency’s uranium barter program, which helps pay for cleanup of the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The lawmaker has said DOE’s trading of excess uranium further undermines the already weak domestic uranium production industry in Wyoming and other states.
“I know that Barrasso has been told that he needs her [White] in there to help solve the problem” with uranium barter, the industry source said Monday. When asked who was making the case for White, the source cited Melissa Burnison, the recently confirmed assistant secretary of energy for congressional and intergovernmental affairs, as well as Perry himself.
Energy Department spokespeople did not immediately respond to a phone call and email on whether Perry had spoken to Barrasso directly about lifting the hold. Likewise, Barrasso’s office has not responded to similar requests for comment.
Last May, Perry approved DOE’s reduction of the annual uranium barter from 1,600 metric tons to 1,200 metric tons. Another reduction this year would not be a surprise, the source said: “They have got to give Barrasso something.”
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources and Armed Services committees have both forwarded White’s nomination for a vote by the full chamber.
