The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates a House of Representatives bill to reauthorize appropriations for ongoing environmental remediation at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state would cost $345 million from fiscal 2019 through 2023.
The figure is based on the estimated outlays for the five years, rather than the authorized level of funding for cleanup at the former commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing site, according to the Aug. 29 CBO report. The authorized amount is projected at $75 million in each year, for a total of $375 million. The difference is in estimated outlays in the first two years: $49 million in fiscal 2019 and $71 million in fiscal 2020.
The House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee voted July 12 to approve H.R. 2389. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), called for $75 million in annual funding for West Valley through fiscal 2028. The Energy Department’s fiscal 2019 budget request for site cleanup was over $60 million, although House and Senate appropriations measures both call for $75 million. The Reed bill is still waiting on a vote by the full House.
It’s possible the measure, which has bipartisan support, could be rolled into larger legislation concerning the Energy Department, sources said this week.
The House committee passed an amended version, which stripped out Reed’s original language calling for DOE to classify waste at West Valley as defense related. The amended bill did call for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study of waste disposal options for waste at West Valley.
Under an agreement with the state of New York, DOE is responsible for 90 percent of the cleanup costs at West Valley.
West Valley covers about 200 acres of the 3,300-acre Western New York Nuclear Service Center. From 1966 to 1972, Nuclear Fuel Services ran a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at the site.
The first phase of decommissioning, which includes demolition and off-site disposal of most above-ground structures, is expected to be finished by 2030. The state and DOE are currently doing environmental planning on what to do with certain facilities expected to remain after Phase 1 remediation.
