HASTINGS AMENDMENT WOULD BAR LOOK AT MOVING SURPLUS PU TO WASHINGTON

As the full House prepares to consider the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) is submitting a provision that would prohibit discussing options that would could bring additional plutonium to Washington. The House legislation asks for a study to validate the Department of Energy’s plutonium disposition alternatives assessment, which was completed in the wake of the proposed suspension of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project. Hastings’ amendment, submitted yesterday to the House Rules Committee for consideration before the bill hits the floor, would bar that study from assessing or discussing options that would move plutonium into Washington, where the Federal Government “is not meeting all legally binding deadlines and milestones required under the Tri-Party Agreement and the Consent Decree.”

 

As of press time, no amendment has been submitted that would restore the $120 million in authorized funding for MOX that was stripped from the bill in the committee markup earlier this month. However, Rep. Garamendi (D-Calif) offered his own solution to the MOX alternatives issue, submitting an amendment that would require the Department of Energy to “issue a solicitation for offers from contractors to dispose of surplus weapons plutonium to meet the plutonium disposition goals of the United States.” It would include collaboration with the national labs. A similar amendment lost a voice vote in the committee markup of the bill.