SENATE PANEL BACKS $145M AUTHORIZATION INCREASE FOR MOX

A Senate panel yesterday voted to authorize a $145 million increase for continued construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. The Department of Energy’s FY’15 budget requested $221 million to put the MOX facility in “cold standby”, but the Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee increased that by $145 million in a markup yesterday to maintain last year’s funding level and specified that funds would be used for construction. The mark would increase by $140 million authorization for National Nuclear Security Administration nonproliferation programs. Details of the markup haven’t been released pending the full committee consideration later this week.