The Senate Appropriations Committee would give the requested $800 million to the Uranium Processing facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., for 2025, $40 million less than House appropriators recommended.
The budget for the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), part of the 2025 energy and water development and related agencies appropriations bill the Senate committee passed Thursday, would be even with what the Joe Biden (D) administration asked, but $10 million fewer than the 2024 appropriation.
UPF is the next-generation factory for nuclear-weapon secondary stages. The facility is over budget and behind schedule and under construction at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. Rep.
Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development, has UPF in his district and spearheaded the House going above request for the facility.
Overall, the Senate’s bill would give the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) weapons activities a little under $20 billion, which is about even with the request, $820 million or so more than the 2024 budget and some $400 million less than what House appropriators approved in July.
Senators also said in the bill text that they were “concerned” about the “lack of detail” in the $70 million requested for the sea-launched nuclear cruise missile’s warhead, and told NNSA to write a five-year spending plan to justify the amount needed for the W80 variant.
The Senate’s version would give the NNSA about $25.2 billion overall, $200 million more than requested, more than $1 billion above 2024’s budget but about $265 million less than the House’s recommendation that was stranded last week on the floor after some of the chamber’s Republican lawmakers opposed it.
Due to stalling in the House, one lawmaker is skeptical that the budget will be approved on time.
“My prediction,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee, is that “we’re going to end up in September with a [continuing resolution] that continues the status quo until after the election.”
