Emphasizing the uncertainty of Department of Energy’s continued use of uranium transfers to fund cleanup at the Portsmouth site, Ohio lawmakers last week called on the Administration to “fully fund” Portsmouth D&D in the Fiscal Year 2016 budget request due out next week. Cleanup at the site is funded through a combination of the transfers and appropriations, but a drop in the price of uranium put Portsmouth workers at risk of layoffs last fall until Congress approved a budget boost for the site. “Volatility in the global uranium market has resulted in projected financial shortfalls at the site which threatened progress on the cleanup and led to the issuance of WARN notices to hundreds of workers. Thankfully Congress and the Department of Energy were able to avert this crisis in FY’15. However, this experience makes it clear that robust funding for D&D operations at the site are more necessary now than ever before,” states a Jan. 20 letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget signed by Ohio Sens. Rob Portman (R) and Sherrod Brown (D) and 12 Ohio Representatives.
Additionally, the use of DOE transfers to pay for cleanup is facing a challenge in court by conversion company Converdyn. The lawmakers urged DOE not to depend on the transfers for continued cleanup progress. “We have repeatedly urged the Department of Energy to present a comprehensive management plan that fulfills the Secretarial commitment to the community,” the letter states. “This plan should not rely upon the vagaries of the global uranium market. Clean-up and restoration work is critically important to southern Ohio, and merits your immediate attention to ensure financial stability, fulfill the federal obligation to the community, and sustain productivity at the site.”
