DOE Seeking Anomaly in Continuing Resolution to Mitigate Portsmouth Layoffs

The Department of Energy is pursuing an anomaly of $66 million in the event of a short-term Continuing Resolution to avoid some looming layoffs at the Portsmouth site, WC Monitor has learned. About 700 Portsmouth workers are at risk of layoffs in the start of the new fiscal year Oct. 1 due to both a drop in uranium prices and a lower amount of surplus DOE uranium being bartered to help augment cleanup funding at the site. Cleanup contractor Fluor B&W Portsmouth estimates that it is facing a funding shortfall in Fiscal Year 2015 of about $110 million below the FY 2015 budget request. The Administration submitted the anomaly request to Congressional appropriators. However, the bar for including anomalies in this CR is expected to be high, according to Congressional staff.