Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
4/24/2015
Most Department of Energy cleanup sites, including Portsmouth and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, would see funding increases in the Fiscal Year 2016 House Energy and Water Appropriations bill when compared to DOE’s budget request, according to legislation that cleared the full committee this week. In order to support recovery activities at WIPP, the House bill would provide $285.8 million, or $42.5 million more than DOE’s request. “While the Department has put together an aggressive plan for resuming waste emplacement operations at WIPP, the Committee is concerned that base funding is severely reduced in the budget request,” states report language accompanying the bill. “Safely returning WIPP to full operations is one of the highest priorities for the Committee in the bill.”
WIPP has been shut down since a February 2014 radiological release. Recovery activities are currently underway, with a March 2016 target for restarting limited operations. DOE’s FY 2016 budget would cut WIPP funding about $76 million below the enacted level, to $248 million. However, DOE said the requested funding would allow the recovery to continue on track.
But the House panel questioned DOE’s proposed funding level. “Inadequately funding base operations and maintenance, as well as the transuranic waste operations at the generator sites within the Central Characterization Project, ultimately undermines the Department’s ability to address the root causes of the two incidents leading to the shutdown and to meet its transuranic waste commitments at other sites,” the House report states. The House bill breaks down WIPP funding into different areas, including $116 million for operations and maintenance, $87 million for recovery activities, $35 million for the Central Characterization Project, and $16.3 million for transportation. The bill would also provide $23.2 million for construction of a new ventilation system at WIPP.
Portsmouth Sees a Reprieve
D&D work at the Portsmouth site would be funded at $213.4 million, or $48 million above the budget request, a reprieve after proposed cuts last year led to the threat of hundreds of layoffs there. Site contractor Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, was able to avoid such layoffs, though, after lawmakers provided an additional $76.4 million as part of the final FY 2015 appropriations legislation. But DOE’s proposed FY 2016 budget of $167 million for Portsmouth again drew criticism from union leaders and members of Ohio’s Congressional delegation concerned about potential impacts of the cuts to the site’s workforce and cleanup progress. An increase is also on tap for D&D work at the Paducah site, which would be funded at $193.6 million under the House bill. That is a $25 million increase over the budget request that would go to “expedite deactivation activities,” according to the report.
House Looks to Provide Less Funds for Savannah River
Meanwhile, the Savannah River Site would come in at about $1.19 billion in the House bill, a cut of $16.8 million below DOE’s budget request, but would still be about $70 million above FY 2015 levels. One issue of concern in DOE’s budget had been that it would suspend a new research reactor spent fuel downblending mission. However, the House bill addresses that, providing $3 million above the Risk Management Operations budget to “support the disposition of spent fuel from the High Flux Isotope Reactor,” the report states.
Committee Raises Concerns About SWPF Contract Negotiations
For Savannah River’s Salt Waste Processing Facility, the House panel matched DOE’s request of $194 million, stating it is the “highest priority” at SRS and saying it is “encouraged” by the project’s new baseline. But the House panel noted issues in negotiations DOE held with contractor Parsons on the project, which resulted in a baseline that pushed the startup of the facility from October 2015 into 2018 and increased the total cost by nearly $1 billion. ”The Committee remains concerned that the Department was unsuccessful in its efforts to come to an agreement on a revised contract structure that might have reduced the risk of further cost growth and schedule slippage, considering the past problems experienced with keeping the project on track under the current contract,” the report states. “In the past, the Department has been reluctant to fully enforce the requirements of its contracts and has been slow to realize and react to challenges that might have an impact on project performance. Without a revised contract structure, the importance of the Department’s federal managers to utilize current authorities and enforce existing contract requirements becomes more pronounced.”
Idaho Sees $30 Million Increase for Liquid Waste
Cleanup activities at the Idaho site would also see an increase in the House bill, with a total funding level of $390.8 million, a $30 million boost above DOE’s proposal. The additional funding is intended to maintain efforts to address tank waste there, with the House panel noting in its report startup challenges being experienced by the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, intended to address the material. “The Committee is concerned that the budget request relies on a highly optimistic schedule for processing waste through the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit and is inadequate to support full tank waste processing operations through fiscal year 2016,” the House report states. “While the Committee supports the Department’s decision to undertake a safe and careful approach to starting the facility, timely startup remains a high priority.”
Oak Ridge Would Get a Boost
At Oak Ridge, defense environmental cleanup work would be funded at $197 million in the bill, a $20 million increase over the request. Activities at Oak Ridge funded by the uranium enrichment D&D fund come in at $163.9 million under the bill, a $9.7 million increase above the budget request. The boost includes $35.8 million for the uranium-233 disposition program. “Progress on dispositioning canisters is stalled and the Department has failed to provide the Committee-directed report on its five-year programmatic plans in a timely manner,” the House report states.
Cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is in a state of transition of management from the National Nuclear Security Administration to EM, would be funded at $180 million, or $8.6 million below the budget request. “The recommendation makes use of high prior-year carryover that is a result of a halt in transuranic waste operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory,” the House report states. “The Committee encourages the Department to expeditiously implement its new contract and federal oversight strategies to prevent further delays in coming to agreement on a cleanup plan for the laboratory.”
