DOE Budget Request Proposes Significant Funding Cut
Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
2/2/2015
Workers at the Portsmouth D&D project may again face the threat of potential layoffs next year, with the Department of Energy’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, released today, proposing a significant funding cut for the site. For next year, DOE is seeking approximately $167 million in funding for D&D work at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, a cut of approximately $49 million from current funding levels. In a call with reporters late today on the request, acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Mark Whitney acknowledged the request could lead to job cuts. “Of course any time there are reductions in funding from one fiscal year to the next, there are prospects of potential layoffs. So yes that is something we’ll have to look at,” Whitney said, adding, “We’re really focused on doing the D&D work at Portsmouth. There’s process gas equipment removal work there that’s ongoing and will continue to be funded.”
Portsmouth D&D workers faced the threat of significant layoffs last year, when site contractor Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, warned that it would have to cut about a third of the site workforce—a total of 675 positions out of the project’s then-workforce of approximately 1,900 employees—heading into FY 2015 because of budgetary concerns. FBP was able to largely avoid such layoffs, though, after lawmakers provided an additional $76.4 million as part of the final FY 2015 appropriations legislation.
Start of On-Site Disposal Cell Could Help Mitigate Any Layoffs
Some of the potential layoffs that could occur in FY 2016 may be able to be mitigated by DOE’s plans to begin construction of a planned on-site disposal cell for the Portsmouth D&D project, Whitney said. “Where we may lose some workers at this funding level on the D&D side, we will be picking up workers on the on-site disposal cell construction project. So we’ll, of course, look at that as we move forward this fiscal year and into FY ‘16.” DOE’s request for Portsmouth D&D work includes $34.3 million for work on the on-site disposal cell, which is still going through the regulatory process. DOE had planned to finalize a Record of Decision to formally proceed with the disposal cell by the fourth quarter of FY 2014 but that has since been pushed back to the fourth quarter of this fiscal year, according to DOE budget documents.
DOE’s budget request also notes that due to a variety of factors, the scheduled completion of the on-site disposal cell has been pushed back five years, to FY 2024 from a previous estimate of FY 2019. The projected cost has also increased to between $180 million and $350 million, up from previous estimates of between $160 million and $310 million. “As a result of lower volumes of Uranium and reduced market price, uranium transfer proceeds will be significantly reduced; delaying the need for first waste placement, changing source of the first building debris, and increasing the complexity and uncertainty of the infrastructure design required, given this revised strategy,” the request says.
DOE Expects to Raise $160-180 Million Next Year Through Uranium Transfers
Whitney also said today that along with the funding requested from Congress for D&D work at Portsmouth next year, DOE also expects to provide a significant amount of funding through its planned uranium transfers. To help fund cleanup work at Portsmouth in recent years, DOE has provided stocks of excess uranium to FBP, which then sells the material and uses the proceeds to pay for additional activities. In FY 2016, DOE plans to provide a total of up to 2,055 metric tons of uranium to FBP, down some from previous years. According to Whitney, DOE expects to raise $160-180 million in FY 2016 through the uranium transfers. “I think that’s a pretty substantial investment in the work being done there,” he said.
