Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
4/24/2015

House lawmakers are asking the Department of Energy for a plan to transfer excess facilities held by the National Nuclear Security Administration to the Office of Environmental Management for cleanup. Both House authorizers and appropriators have asked for reports from DOE for moving NNSA buildings to the cleanup program. The bill language comes after the Government Accountability Office last month released a report detailing deteriorating conditions and other issues at several of the facilities.

The most comprehensive plan would be required under the version of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act that cleared the House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee this week. Under that bill, DOE would be required to develop a schedule for transfer of the facilities within two years, a prioritized list and schedule to integrate them with other cleanup projects, and estimated lifecycle costs for those facilities. DOE would be required to submit a report on the plan to Congress by Feb. 15, 2016.

Appropriators Focus on Oak Ridge Facilities

A report focusing on facilities at Oak Ridge would be required under the version of the House FY 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill that cleared the full committee this week. It noted that a recent report by NNSA to Congress on its high-risk excess facilities “indicated that at the top of that list are three 1940’s-era facilities located at the Y–12 National Security Complex. The NNSA also reported that while NNSA and EM are working together to monitor the risks, there is no planned disposition date for the Y–12 facilities,” according to report language accompanying the legislation.

The appropriations language directs DOE to submit to Congress within six months “a report that details the programmatic and project management strategy for the [EM’s Integrated Facilities Disposition Project], its multi-year cost and schedule planning projections, and the options available for mercury remediation and waste disposal,” according to the bill’s report. The bill includes $3 million above DOE’s request for Oak Ridge “to accomplish these accelerated planning activities.”

Facilities Deteriorate Due to Lack of Funding

The GAO report found that 14 vacant NNSA facilities have languished since 2009 without being decontaminated or decommissioned due to a lack of funding, and that EM may not be properly prioritizing the facilities it takes from the NNSA. Overall, the GAO said NNSA plans to transfer 83 facilities to EM over the next 25 years, including 27 that are still operational. Another 56 are not operational right now, including some where contamination is spreading, but the GAO said EM does not take into account the risks at NNSA facilities when developing its annual facility disposition plan, despite a 2006 directive calling for EM to consider such facilities in its planning efforts.