March 17, 2014

LAWMAKERS QUESTION PROPOSED WEST VALLEY, PORTS. D&D FUNDING CUTS

By ExchangeMonitor

Members of Ohio and New York’s Congressional delegations are questioning the Department of Energy’s proposed Fiscal Year 2013 funding cuts for cleanup efforts at the Portsmouth and West Valley sites. In a written response to WC Monitor yesterday, Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) criticized DOE’s proposal to cut cleanup funds for the West Valley Demonstration Project by more than 25 percent. Under DOE’s FY 2013 request, West Valley would receive $48 million, down from the site’s current funding level of $65 million. “I am disappointed that the cleanup of nuclear waste sites is not a priority for the President. This is a critical safety issue and a legitimate priority for the government. I will work in a bi-partisan manner, as I did last year, to ensure that this is adequately addressed,” Reed said. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) warned that the proposed cut could lead to future increased cleanup costs. ‘The federal government has an obligation to the Western New York community to make right what they left behind decades ago. Failure to do so could be catastrophic for the Great Lakes, the world’s largest fresh water resource. Still, slowing the clean-up is more than an environmental risk, with regular maintenance costs of the site at $30 million annually, delaying the funding only multiplies the economic burden to taxpayers,” Higgins said in a written response.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman (R) has also come out against DOE’s proposal to significantly cut D&D funding for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. DOE’s request calls for a funding level of $127 million, a cut of approximately one-third from the site’s current spending level of $190 million. In a Feb. 13 release, Portman described the proposed cut as “concerning,” adding, “that hides millions more in cuts that the administration has previously funded through uranium barter arrangements, leaving this vital cleanup project with millions in shortfall at a point when southern Ohio can’t bear more bad jobs news at the hands of this Administration.” To help augment the proposed D&D funding reduction at Portsmouth, DOE is looking to transfer the site’s cleanup contractor, Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, up to 1,750 metric tons of uranium next year, which the contractor can then sell to help fund additional work.

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