Last week the Senate Appropriations committee approved the Senate Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2025, S.4927. The bill would set fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending for DOE at $52.370 billion, an increase of 2.12 billion from fiscal year (FY) 2024. The
committee report highlights key issues that are important to Energy Communities Alliance including:
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (EM) - EM would receive $8.75 billion in funding, a $275 million dollar lift from last year. DOE is also directed to ”include out-year funding projections in the annual budget request by control point for Environmental Management, and an estimate of the total cost and time to complete each site.”
This amount is broken down
across Defense and Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup, in addition to the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund (UED&D):
Defense Environmental Cleanup – $7.55 billion, $275 million increase from FY2024. Highlights of funding include:
- Office of River Protection – The committee recommended that 2.2 billion, over $207 million more than the President’s request,
in funds be appropriated to provide for the construction of the High-Level Waste Treatment Facility.
- Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) – In addition to $466 million in annual appropriations, the committee recommended that DOE make a voluntary payment of $40 million in FY25 to New Mexico intended for use updating road conditions on WIPP waste routes.
- A directive to EM to develop a report outlining funding necessary to carry out each technology development R&D
project, and a rationale for the R&D work including how it is related to reducing the future costs of the EM’s cleanup efforts. The report would list projects in a priority and would be shared with the Committees on Appropriations on an annual basis.
Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup – $342 million, the same amount as FY2024 but an increase of $18,000 from the House version of the bill.
Highlights include:
- Gaseous Diffusion Plants – The committee recommended $148 million for cleanup activities and attributed the increase of almost $12 million over the President’s request to infrastructure improvements and shipping.
- Small Sites - The Committee recommends $101,751,000 for Small Sites, including $10 million for the Energy Technology Engineering Center, $11.8 million for Idaho National Laboratory, $64.2 million for Moab, and $15.75 million for excess Office
of Science facilities.
A list of each sites proposed budget in the House and Senate and the current funding can be found in the ECA Budget chart here.
UED&D Fund – $865 million, an increase of $10,000 of funding from last year.
NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (NNSA) – The NNSA would receive $25.2 billion in funding, an increase in $204 million from FY2024 but $366 million less than the House version of the bill would provide. Broken down by Weapons Activities, Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, and Naval
Reactors Programs:
Weapons Activities – The committee would afford $19.9 billion, an increase of $822 million from last year.
- $10 million in technology development for high volume plutonium pit production
- $500,000 to conduct a study on portions of Rendija Canyon (Tract A-14) that may be eligible for conveyance for residential use, with a report being submitted to
Committee
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation – $2.6 billion, a $51 million increase from last year.
Naval Reactors – $2.1 billion, an increase of over $100 million from last year.
- $45 million to Columbia-Class Reactor Systems Development
- Over $868 million for Naval Reactors Development, $94.75
million of this number being appropriated for the Advanced Test Reactor.
Key provisions highlighted in the committee Report include the concern regarding the Plutonium Pit Production program:
Plutonium Pit Production.—The Committee continues to be concerned that NNSA is not fully accounting for risk to schedule and cost for its two-site pit
production strategy. A September 2020 GAO Report on the W87–1 Warhead Program recommended that NNSA’s plutonium program office ensure that the integrated master schedule for pit production meet NNSA Integrated Master Schedule [NIMS] standards, consistent with best practices for schedule development. In January 2023, GAO found that NNSA’s pit production schedule does not meet minimum qualifications to be considered an integrate master schedule. As of June 2024, this recommendation
is still considered unmet. NNSA is directed to brief the Committee on the progress of meeting this recommendation immediately upon enactment of this act. The Committee supports investment in pit production in recognition of new threats and challenges maintaining readiness on aging systems. The Committee recommends not less than $10,000,000 for next-generation machining and assembly technology development for high volume pit production.
Stockpile Major Modernization.—The Committee is concerned at the lack of detail and level of specificity provided by NNSA in response to requests for obligation reports of previously appropriated funds and spend plans for future funding on the SLCM-N program. The Committee is also concerned by the high level of uncosted balances on the SLCM-N program as of July 2024, and the lack of sufficient justification for the $70,000,000 requested in the FY25 Unfunded
Priorities List. NNSA is directed to provide in writing to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress a detailed five-year spend plan that will include a breakdown of which sites are receiving W80-X Alteration-SLCM funds, what is being studied and worked on at each site and for what purpose, and a detailed explanation of why resources are necessary for carrying out that work at each specific site. The spend plan should also include how NNSA is utilizing funding in collaboration
with the Department of Defense to meet DOD’s timeline for W80-X AlterationSLCM-N development. The report shall be provided to the Committees within 90 days of enactment.
NUCLEAR ENERGY (NE) – The bill would provide for up to $1.675 billion for nuclear energy research and development, a decrease of $118,000 from last year. A key issue is Consent Based Siting and the Bill details:
Integrated Waste Management System.—The Department is directed to move forward under existing authority to identify a site for a Federal interim storage facility. The Committee was pleased to see the Mission Need Statement (CD–0) for the Federal Consolidated Interim Storage Facility, initiating the major acquisition project process for the Department. The Department is further directed to use a consent-based approach when
undertaking these activities. The Department is reminded that the Nuclear Waste Policy Act provides for a wide variety of activities that may take place prior to the limitation in that act.
In addition, key funding items include:
- $800 million would be repurposed from emergency funding to support the advanced reactor demonstration program and
nuclear fuel development.
- A slew of funding to support fuel development - $30 million for further development of silicon carbide ceramic matrix composite fuel cladding for LWRs, up to $10 million for an advanced metallic fuels program, and $15.3 million to continue TRISO fuel qualification
- $18.7 million towards capital design and construction activities for demonstration reactor test bed preparation at Idaho National Laboratory supporting advanced reactor
demonstration activities
- Up to $25 million for MARVEL, with the recognition of a need for more comprehensive future funding
- $8 million for integrated energy systems, such as projects wherein hydrogen is co-located with nuclear
As ECA focuses on the need for increased U.S. manufacturing the Senate committee included:
A
university-led convergent advanced nuclear manufacturing consortium in partnership with national laboratories, industry, and other institutions of higher education is needed to fill a gap in research and development of advanced manufacturing for advanced nuclear reactors and components, establish unique convergent manufacturing infrastructure for advanced nuclear technologies, support nuclear qualification of advanced manufacturing applications, and grow the next-generation nuclear manufacturing
workforce The Committee is concerned about the pace of permitting for nuclear energy projects. The Committee directs the Department and all associated agencies to take tangible steps to reduce delays and streamline the permitting process.
SCIENCE – The bill would appropriate up to $8.6 billion in funds to the Office of Science, a $360 million increase compared to FY 2024. Highlights
include:
- $160 million in funds would be directed for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning across the Office of Science Programs. $100 million would be appropriated to implement the Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence for Science, Security, and Technology [FASST] initiative. This initiative would see the Office of Science collaborate with the Critical Emerging Technologies Office and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
- $215 million would be appropriated for
American contributions to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project.
LEGACY MANAGEMENT (LM) – $205.2 million in funding, an increase of almost $9 million from FY2024. The President’s request, House bill, and Senate bill are all aligned on this item.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the
Senate Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, said of the bill’s approval:
“This bipartisan bill delivers new investments to advance cutting-edge scientific research happening at labs across the country, to support critical water infrastructure, and to prepare communities for extreme weather events. It sustains our investments in renewable energy and climate research—and our
efforts to help strengthen and build up our energy grid as we transition to clean energy sources … This bill increases funding to maintain our nation’s ports and harbors, which are so important to our economy. Importantly, this bill also supports critical nuclear nonproliferation efforts and strengthens funding to clean up the Hanford Site and other environmental cleanup sites across the country.”
To read the full
committee report, click here.
The House Energy and
Water Development and Related Agencies passed the House Appropriations Committee but has not been voted by the House. A copy of the House Committee Report is here.
ECA will continue to provide
updates on the appropriations process as it develops. For an in-depth breakdown of Cleanup funding by site, and more on budget appropriations, see our website.
