Rep. Whitfield Questions DOE?s Proposed FY16 Budget For Paducah

Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) yesterday criticized the Department of Energy’s proposed cleanup budget next year for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. In its Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, DOE is seeking approximately $168.7 million in D&D funding, a cut of approximately $38 million from current funding levels. DOE has sought to explain the proposed cut by saying it reflects the move of the Paducah plant into a “steady state maintenance mode.” Whitfield, though, said he was “extremely disappointed” with the proposed funding cut during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power hearing on DOE’s request. “Since the DOE has now awarded the deactivation contract at the site, there is a mechanism to begin significant work, but consistent and adequate funding to begin cleanup is necessary. Now is not the time to slow down, but to push the project forward,” Whitfield told Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz.