DOE plan to use FY-10 funds to begin Yucca shutdown challenged

Elaine Hiruo and Derek Sands, Washington 437 words5 April 2010Nuclear FuelNUF14, Volume 35, Issue 7English(c) 2010 McGraw-Hill, Inc.



DOE's plan to reprogram $115 million in fiscal 2010 funds to begin the close-out of the Yucca Mountain repository this year wasn't well received by the top Republican on a House Appropriations subcommittee March 24.



Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, the senior Republican on the panel's energy and water subcommittee, criticized DOE's action during a hearing on DOE's FY-11 budget request. "What is your authority for doing it?" Frelinghuysen asked Energy Secretary Steven Chu.



The money was part of the $197 million allocation the Yucca Mountain program this fiscal year to continue activities associated with NRC's licensing review of DOE's repository license application. The FY-10 appropriations bill report for energy and water funding states that a DOE reprogramming request must be submitted to House and Senate appropriators and approved before any funds are shifted to different programs or activities.



"You are using fiscal 2010 funds to restructure the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management," Frelinghuysen said. "I think we need some clarity. I know that determination has been made, but quite honestly, I don't think you have the statutory authority to do it."



Chu told the subcommittee that DOE's general counsel had advised him that he could take such action. Chu repeated that assertion in a March 26 letter to subcommittee chairman Peter Visclosky, an Indian Democrat. "My general counsel has studied this matter very closely, and has advised me that we do have the authority within the law to take the reprogramming actions that we have planned," Chu said. "As you know, the Department of Energy sent you a letter on February 17, notifying you of our intent to reprogram funding for FY 2010 for the Office of Civilian and Radioactive Waste Management."



Chu also said in the letter that he does not believe money should be spent on a licensing process that has been suspended, especially in light of the Obama administration's intent to pursue alternatives to a Yucca Mountain repository. "We need to begin actions now to ensure that the shutdown occurs in an orderly fashion that takes into account the impacts on our employees and their families," Chu wrote. He said the department is trying to help affected employees find other jobs within the government for which they are qualified. He added that "an integral part of our plan is to proceed in a manner that preserves all relevant documents and all relevant learning so that no scientific knowledge is lost."
Document NUF0000020100419e6450000i