The spending bill Congressional appropriators unveiled last night would provide $345 million for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility and direct continued construction of the plant. That compares to the $196 million included in the Administration’s FY’15 budget request, which called for work on the plant to be ramped down as it moves into a “cold standby” mode while the Department of Energy examined alternatives to the facility. But after pushback from lawmakers, DOE has said it will look to Congress to provide direction on the future of the project. The House version of the FY 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act had included $345 million for the project, while Senate appropriators originally looked to include $400 million.
Overall the bill would provide the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation $1.64 billion, or $86 million more than the budget request. That includes $326 million for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, compared to $333.5 million in the Administration’s request. It also includes $393.4 million for defense nuclear nonproliferation research and development, compared to $361 million in the request.