Site Facing Impending Layoffs Set to Reduce D&D Workforce by One-Third
Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
8/29/2014
As the clock ticks down on impending layoffs at the Portsmouth D&D project, Ohio Senator Rob Portman (R) held what he described as “frustrating” discussions with Department of Energy officials during a visit to the site late this week. “While they sympathized with concerns raised by myself and the Pike County commissioners, they made no firm commitment to provide a long-term plan for the site that would protect the 700 workers at risk of losing their jobs and preserve President Obama’s campaign commitment for an accelerated cleanup at the site,” Portman said in a statement provided by his office. “I know how frustrating it must be for the 1,900 employed on the cleanup to have to go through this uncertainty every year. The Ohio delegation is committed to working on this in a bipartisan manner. We’ll continue to work with state and local officials in the case DOE fails to come through with funding and layoffs are initiated by DOE,” Portman said.
A DOE spokesman said in a written response late this week, "DOE and its contractor Fluor-B&W Portsmouth are pursuing a variety of actions to mitigate the potential impact of reduced funding projected to be available for the Portsmouth cleanup project in FY2015. The Department remains committed to the cleanup of the Portsmouth Site."
Drop in Uranium Prices Contributing to Funding Shortfall
Portman visited the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Aug. 28 with acting DOE cleanup chief Mark Whitney, EM Chief of Staff Colin Jones and David Foster, a senior advisor to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. Last month, the site’s D&D contractor, Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, announced plans to eliminate as many as 675 positions out of the Portsmouth D&D project’s current workforce of approximately 1,900 employees through a mix of voluntary separations and involuntary layoffs. The bulk of the job cuts, which are set to be finalized by the end of November, will apply to FBP’s own workforce—505 out of a current employee count of approximately 1,400—with the rest to come from subcontractors.
The layoffs are necessary due to what FBP has estimated is a funding shortfall in Fiscal Year 2015 of approximately $110 million. The Portsmouth D&D project is funded through annual Congressional appropriations as well as by DOE providing FBP with stocks of surplus uranium, which the contractor sells, using the proceeds for work. However, the contractor has had to grapple with steadily declining uranium prices, decreasing the value of the material provided to help augment funding. In addition, DOE has announced plans to reduce the amount of excess uranium to be made available to help fund cleanup activities. While the Department had previously planned to provide up to 2,400 metric tons of material per year, DOE is now looking to provide up to 2,055 metric tons for cleanup purposes annually from 2014 through 2021. Some additional material may be available, though, if the National Nuclear Security Administration doesn’t use its full annual allotment of up to 650 metric tons per year.
