NDAA Would Require a DOE Plan for Transferring Excess NNSA Facilities to Cleanup Program

House authorizers are asking the Department of Energy to develop a plan to transfer excess facilities held by the National Nuclear Security Administration to the Office of Environmental Management for cleanup, according to the subcommittee version of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act released yesterday. Under the 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.

 

The language comes after the Government Accountability Office last month released a report detailing deteriorating conditions at several of the facilities. 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.