MOX Construction Would Continue Under Bill Provision

The House panel’s draft spending bill would also oppose efforts by the Department to put the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication facility into “cold standby” in FY’15. The legislation specifies that MOX funding “may be made available only for construction and program support activities for such Project,” according to the bill language. It also provides a boost over the Department’s FY’15 budget request of $196 million “in the ballpark” of cost increases in other bills, according to a Congressional aide. The Senate Defense Authorization bill unrolled last week would increase authorized construction funding for the plant to a total of $456.1 million. 

 

The bill provides $1.52 billion for the NNSA’s nonproliferation account, largely matching the Administration’s $1.55 billion request, but the funding increase for MOX was made possible by cuts to NNSA nonproliferation work in Russia, according to the bill. While the extent of the cut to nonproliferation work in Russia is hard to determine because the funding is not contained in one particular account, the bill prohibits nonproliferation funds for “contracts with, or Federal assistance to,” Russia, a nod to concerns about possible Russian violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty and tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.