Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
12/19/2014
After months of uncertainty regarding hundreds of potential layoffs for Portsmouth cleanup workers, contractor Fluor B&W Portsmouth, LLC, cancelled the workforce reduction planned for this week after the site received a $76.4 million funding boost in the spending bill recently approved by Congress. Contractor officials had warned that without $92.5 million above enacted funding levels about 675 layoffs could occur in mid-December. “I have cancelled the planned involuntary reduction in force,” FBP Site Project Director Dennis Carr said in a Dec. 17 message to employees. “I am able to take this action based upon the receipt of this supplemental funding, postponement of a number of planned small projects, our many volunteers who stepped forward to take a voluntary reduction to save other workforce members from a possible involuntary reduction, and the recent upswing in the uranium spot market price.”
The significant funding shortfall at the Portsmouth D&D project was due in part to a drop in the price of uranium, which the Department of Energy has provided FBP to help fund cleanup activities. In addition, DOE announced plans to reduce the amount of excess uranium to be made available to help fund cleanup activities. Thanks to an earlier stop-gap funding bill, DOE had been able to spend available Portsmouth funding from later in the year upfront to avoid immediate layoffs, a position that would not have been sustainable in the long-term. Contractor officials first said they would need about $110 million in additional funding to avoid the layoffs, but austerity measures and an upswing in uranium spot market prices dropped that to $92.5 million.
Additionally, about 50 workers have voluntarily chosen to leave the project since budget issues arose this summer, according to FBP spokesman Jeff Wagner. “A number of employees who volunteered at the end of the year did so to retire. Other employees used this as an opportunity to go back to school or start a business,” Wagner said in a written response.
Cleanup and Necessary Repairs to Continue, But Onsite Disposal Cut
The omnibus funding measure for the remainder of FY 2015 included $214 million for operations at the Portsmouth D&D project, compared to an enacted level of $137.6 million. “This level of funding, together with the forecasted uranium barter proceeds, provides our project the necessary funds to continue with our efforts to complete the deactivation of the X-326 facility, ship the removed process gas equipment and advance a number of other D&D project initiatives,” Carr said this week, adding, “Additionally this level of funding permits us to complete a number of needed repairs to our plant infrastructure systems to reduce our vulnerability to unplanned outages and help extend their useful lives to support the D&D schedule.”
However, the legislation did not provide the bulk of the funding requested for a planned on-site disposal facility at Portsmouth. DOE requested $28.5 million for the new project, while the bill only provided $4.5 million.
DOE Developing New Funding Guidance
DOE is currently developing revised funding guidance for FBP based on the levels in the omnibus bill, according to a Department spokesperson. “This guidance will finalize work priorities intended to keep continued decommissioning, waste disposal efforts, and critically needed infrastructure repairs on a timely schedule while minimizing impacts to their workforce,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The Department appreciates support received from the local community and elected officials and looks forward to continuing the safe and successful cleanup by dedicated workers toward future reuse of appropriate portions of the site in support of the community’s vision.”
Factors Could Still Impact Workforce Levels
There are still several factors that could impact the workforce in FY’15, such as an ongoing legal challenge to DOE’s uranium transfers by uranium conversion company ConverDyn and a new revision in the work to DOE’s secretarial determination governing the amount of material provided in the transfers. “I will be keeping a watchful eye on the spot market price for uranium, which as you all know has been extremely volatile as of late, and any forthcoming developments in the Converdyn lawsuit and revised Secretarial determination, to make any needed adjustments to our planned work for the year to try to minimize further disruptions to our project and our workforce,” Carr said.
