Contractor officials have warned that without $92.5 million in funding above current levels, about 675 layoffs could occur at the end of the current Continuing Resolution on Dec. 11. Austerity measures and an upswing in uranium spot market prices have decreased that from a previous $110 million shortfall. “I will be engaging with DOE over the next several days on the workscope and workforce implications should this draft language be enacted in the near future,” Carr said. The significant shortfall is due in part to a drop in the price of uranium, which DOE has provided FBP to help fund cleanup activities. Additionally, DOE plans to reduce the amount of excess uranium available to help fund cleanup activities. The current CR language allows DOE to spend available Portsmouth funding from later in the year upfront to avoid immediate layoffs.
Fluor B&W Portsmouth officials said that the $76.4 million boost in cleanup funds proposed for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant could reduce or halt potentially hundreds of layoffs that could happen next week. The omnibus funding measure for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2015 released earlier this week included $214 million for operations at Portsmouth, compared to an enacted level of $137.6 million. “Clearly, should the bill be enacted, any required workforce restructuring action will be significantly reduced or stopped in its entirety and we will proceed with a refocusing of our resources on our project workscope priorities,” FBP Site Project Director Dennis Carr said yesterday in a message to employees.