The University of Arkansas hopes Congress will come through with the last $10.1 million needed to complete cleanup of the long-disused Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR) facility.
The university hopes in October to begin the third and final phase of the nearly decade-long remediation program, which would involve removing the plant’s reactor and all remaining material and returning the Washington County site to greenfield status.
The project has received $17.9 million to date, including $5.5 million in the current budget year under the Department of Energy’s non-defense environmental cleanup line item. The latest funding is enough to start Phase 3, but not for completion of the project due to wrap up by the end of 2018.
“Another $10.1 million is needed,” university spokesman Steve Voorhies said by email Tuesday. “Our Congressional delegation is working hard to get the final part of the funding and we hope they will be successful.”
The House version of the energy and water appropriations bill for fiscal 2018 does not include funding for SEFOR cleanup. The House Appropriations Committee approved the legislation last week, sending it to the full House for consideration.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is marking up its energy and water bill this week, but the document and its accompanying detailed report have not been made public.
The SEFOR facility was used from 1969 to 1972 for design and operation of commercial-size sodium-cooled power reactors. The University of Arkansas acquired the site in 1975 and used it for instrument calibration and research for 11 years.
