PADUCAH PROCUREMENT GOING AHEAD UNDER CR

The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant deactivation procurement is going along as planned under the Continuing Resolution that is funding the government through Jan. 15, though the Department of Energy will need to seek a reprogramming if a funding bill is not passed, an Office of Environmental Management Official said yesterday at the Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum. EM requested $140 million to be able to take back the Paducah facility in 2014 from its lease with plant operator USEC, but the Continuing Resolution that passed Congress last week does not include funds for the project.  “We are going to have to work with [the White House Office of Management and Budget] and we are going to have to work with Congress on whether we can get an anomaly or not to be able to put that money in, depending on how long the Continuing Resolution goes,” EM Chief of Staff Colin Jones said.

But he said that EM is not expecting to take ownership of the facilities until June or July of 2014. “For example, if the CR runs through Jan. 15 and we are able to get bills passed, then we should be fine and we’ll have the funds to take those facilities,” he said. “So it’s a wait and see right now. But It shouldn’t stop us from moving forward with the actual procurement itself.”