Nuclear weapons programs would get the big boost the Donald Trump administration sought in 2018 and Cold War nuclear cleanup programs would get a little less than requested, if a draft spending bill released Tuesday by House appropriators becomes law.
The bill, essentially a first draft that will undergo many changes before it reaches the president’s desk, would also provide money for the Energy Department and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resume DOE’s application to license Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., as a permanent disposal site for U.S. spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
The House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee is set to mark up the bill today at 11 a.m. Eastern time in Washington.
The panel’s draft bill would give DOE roughly a $30 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Within the total, the department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would get almost $14 billion in fiscal 2018, while the Office of Environmental Management (EM) would get about $6.4 billion for legacy nuclear cleanup.
The NNSA total, more than a 7.5-percent increase compared with 2017, is in line with the Trump administration’s request. The EM total is just slightly below the $6.5 billion the White House sought for 2018.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, meanwhile, would as the administration requested be cut to about $952 under the House panel’s proposal: a 5-percent decrease from 2017 levels.
The House bill would fence off $90 million within DOE and $30 million within NRC for activities related to Yucca Mountain. The legislation also provides $30 million for DOE defense nuclear waste disposal. High-level defense nuclear waste would go to Yucca Mountain, if the repository existed.
Experts estimate it will take between two and five years for DOE and the NRC to complete the department’s Yucca Mountain licensing process, once the process begins. The Barack Obama administration canceled the previous licensing process in 2010.
The Senate, which typically releases its spending bills after the House each year, has not issued its draft energy and water appropriations plan.
