LAWMAKERS URGE DOE TO RESUME D&D WORK AT SPRU

When does the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management plan to resume D&D efforts at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) site that have been suspended since a set of contamination incidents occurred almost a year-and-a-half-ago? It’s a question House appropriators appear to be eager to have answered, according to the committee report accompanying the House version of the FY 2013 Energy and Water Appropriations bill released yesterday. In the report, lawmakers called on DOE to resume active D&D work at SPRU “as soon as possible,” warning that the funding level of approximately $24 million DOE sought in its FY 2013 budget request (matched in the spending bill) would be insufficient to do so next year. “The Committee remains concerned about the status of cleanup activities at SPRU. The requested level of funding does not allow the Department to resume cleanup activities in fiscal year 2013 since the estimated costs to complete the project, including the allocation of costs between the Department and the contractor, have still not been resolved. The Committee supports prompt resolution of the issues surrounding this project and the resumption of cleanup activities as soon as possible,” the report says. To read the full report, please click here.