This message contains information collected from DOE's fiscal year 2015 summary budget materials. DOE is expected to release detailed budget materials in the coming days. ECA will continue to monitor the situation and provide additional updates.   Table of Contents  DOE Funding-Select Programs Environmental Management Funding-Select Sites The Administration's New Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste Savannah River Program Highlights Office of River Protection Program Highlights Hanford Site (Richland) Program Highlights Oak Ridge Program Highlights Carlsbad Program Highlights Paducah Program Highlights Weapons Activities Program Highlights Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Program Highlights Fissile Materials Disposition Program Highlights Small Modular Reactor Licensing Technical Support Program Highlights Reactor Concepts Research, Development and Demonstration Program Highlights Fuel Cycle Research and Development Program Highlights Legacy Management Program Highlights MOX Cold-Standby

 

DOE Funding-Select Programs

 

	FY 2013 Current	FY 2014 Enacted	FY 2015 Request
Environmental Management	$5.299B	$5.83B	$5.622B
NNSA	$10.576B	$11.207B	$11.658B
Weapons Activities	$6.967B	$7.781B	$8.315B
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation	$2.237B	$1.954B	$1.555B
Nuclear Energy	$798.28M	$888.38M	$863.39M
SMR Licensing Technical Support	$62.67M	$110M	$97M
Office of Legacy Management	$155.67M	$176.98M	$171.98M

 
Environmental Management Funding-Select Sites

 

 

At the Savannah River Site, the largest portion of the Request supports the Tank Waste Management Program, which includes operation of the Defense Waste Processing Facility, where high-level radioactive tank waste is turned to a glass form suitable for permanent disposal. It also includes management of the tank farms themselves, as well as, operation of Actinide Removal Process and Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction units being used to separate the various tank-waste components for the most efficient and cost-effective treatment. In addition, it supports continued construction of the Salt Waste Processing Facility, which will eventually process 31 million gallons of the tanks' lower-activity radioactive salt waste, as well as, construction of an additional disposal unit for solidified salt waste. The Request also funds the Savannah River Site's continued support for national security priorities and international agreements, including: managing Special Nuclear Materials, processing aluminum-clad spent (used) nuclear fuel in H Canyon; and furthering the Global Threat Reduction Initiative through continued receipt of foreign and domestic research reactor spent (used) nuclear fuel. This Request also supports continued activities to reduce the residual plutonium contamination in Building 235-F, consistent with Defense Nuclear Safety Facilities Board Recommendation 2012-1, and continued operation and maintenance of soil and groundwater remedial systems.

The Office of River Protection's primary goal is the safe management and treatment of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive liquid waste currently stored in 177 aging underground storage tanks at Hanford. Its mission includes operation, maintenance, engineering, and construction activities in the tank farms, as well as, managing a multi-year construction project to build a Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) to process and immobilize the tank waste in a solid glass form safe for permanent disposal. The FY 2015 Budget Request is designed to maintain safe operations for the tank farms; achieve regulatory commitments related to emptying tanks and processing the waste; and develop the infrastructure necessary to enable waste treatment operations. It also supports continuing construction on the WTP's Low‐Activity Waste Facility, Balance of Facilities and Analytical Laboratory. Consistent with the Department's revised option for WTP, which is designed to move the WTP toward immobilization of waste as soon as practicable while resolution of technical issues continues, the FY 2015 budget includes support for analysis and preliminary design of an Interim Pretreatment System.

The Richland Operations Office manages all cleanup activities at Hanford not managed by the Office of River Protection, while also providing site-wide services shared by the two offices. Cleanup activities include soil and groundwater remediation, facility decontamination and decommissioning (D&D), stabilization and disposition of nuclear materials and spent nuclear fuel, and disposition of waste other than the tank waste managed by the Office of River Protection. EM's strategy is to significantly shrink the active cleanup footprint by completing the majority of cleanup in the Hanford site's Columbia River Corridor in 2015. The FY 2015 Request supports the following significant activities: maintaining safe operations and site-wide services; completing the majority of the River Corridor cleanup; and continuing progress towards Plutonium Finishing Plant cleanout and demolition to Slab-on-Grade, as well as, Building 324, its associated waste site, and the 100 K Area. In addition, EM will initiate construction of the K West Basin Sludge Treatment Project in FY 2015.

 

At Oak Ridge, the FY 2015 Request will support the completion of preliminary design for the Mercury Treatment Facility at Outfall 200, as well as continued study and development of mercury characterization techniques and remediation technologies. The Request also provides funds to design and prepare for construction of the sludge build-out capital asset project at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center, which is needed to dispose of the sludge wastes stored in the Melton Valley storage tanks. The Center will also continue to process for disposal both contact-handled and remote-handled transuranic waste as required by legally enforceable regulatory commitments. Building on EM's successful demolition of the K-25 facility, once the world's largest building, the Request also supports continuing deactivation activities at the K-27 Building in the East Tennessee Technology Park. Additionally, in FY 2015 the site will continue uranium-233 (U-233) direct-disposition activities initiated in FY 2012, while maintaining Building 3019, where the U-233 is stored, in a safe operating condition.

 

The Carlsbad Field Office is responsible for managing the National Transuranic Waste Program and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the Nation's only mined geologic repository for the permanent disposal of defense-generated transuranic waste. As manager of the transuranic waste program, Carlsbad coordinates with all DOE sites that have defense-generated transuranic waste to ensure the safe and regulatory compliant retrieval, repackaging, characterization, shipment and disposal of the waste. Its mission is critical to the successful cleanup of defense sites across the country, to reducing worker, public and environmental risks at those sites, and to decreasing the nuclear footprint across the DOE complex. Since opening WIPP, which is located near Carlsbad, New Mexico, EM has sent more than 11,000 shipments of transuranic waste for permanent disposal, safely emplacing nearly 90,000 cubic meters of waste through the end of calendar year 2013. The FY 2015 Request will continue to prioritize shipments of transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory in accordance with a Framework Agreement between the Department and the State of New Mexico, while also supporting shipments from other defense sites.

 

The Paducah site is responsible for a multifaceted portfolio of processing and cleanup activities. The site operates one of two depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion facilities in the EM portfolio, with the Paducah facility expected to continue operations for approximately thirty more years. Additionally, Paducah manages high-priority groundwater remediation; deactivation and decommissioning of excess facilities; and disposition of mixed and low-level waste, all with close involvement of local community stakeholders. In addition to ongoing environmental cleanup and DUF6 operations, the FY 2015 Request supports the continued transition of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant from the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) to DOE after USEC announced its decision to terminate its leased operations of the facility. This includes support for the initiation and completion of several projects chosen to reduce risks and lifecycle costs. The Request also supports preliminary design and evaluation work for the Paducah Potential On‐Site Waste Disposal Facility project. This project will provide on‐site disposal capacity for anticipated demolition debris and environmental remediation waste, should the on‐site facility be selected as the appropriate remedy.

 

The Weapons Activities FY 2015 Budget Request reflects an increase from FY 2014 Enacted levels to meet the Administration's commitments to the programs and capabilities required to maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear stockpile. Increases are requested for Directed Stockpile Work - particularly for the B61 life extension program and the Science Campaign. The Weapons Request also includes funding for Defense Nuclear Security to support DOE's physical security reform efforts to emphasize mission performance, responsibility, and accountability. In addition, there are increases in funding for the Information Technology and Cybersecurity program to research and develop information technology and cybersecurity solutions. Funding is also requested in this account to sustain emergency response and nuclear counterterrorism capabilities that are applied against a wide range of high-consequence nuclear or radiological incidents and threats.

 

The Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation FY 2015 Budget Request is driven by the imperative for U.S. leadership in nonproliferation initiatives both here and abroad. Emphasis continues to be on efforts to eliminate or secure vulnerable nuclear materials from around the world, counter nuclear smuggling, radiological security, and technology development needed for nonproliferation and arms control missions. As part of an ongoing analysis of options to dispose of U.S. surplus plutonium, it has become apparent that the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility will be significantly more expensive than anticipated, and therefore, the Budget Request places the MOX Facility in cold stand-by while the Department evaluates plutonium disposition options.

 

Fissile Materials Disposition (FMD) conducts activities in the United States to dispose of surplus weapon-grade fissile materials, and supports disposal of Russian surplus weapon-grade plutonium. The FMD program is vital to the nation's arms control and nuclear nonproliferation efforts; however, due to cost increases and the current budget environment, the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) will be placed in cold stand-by to further study more efficient options for plutonium disposition. The Department remains committed to plutonium disposition and its obligations under the Plutonium Management Disposition Agreement (PMDA) and will continue to engage with Russia during this analysis. The decrease in funding in FY 2015 reflects the decision to place the MFFF project in cold stand-by while the Department completes the analysis of the plutonium disposition options.

 

The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Licensing Technical Support (LTS) program accelerates the timelines for the commercialization of small modular reactor technologies. The mission of the program is to support first-of-a-kind costs associated with design certification and licensing activities for SMR designs through cost-shared arrangements with industry partners (industry contributions are a minimum of 50% of the cost) to promote the deployment of SMRs that can provide safe, clean, affordable power. If industry chooses to widely deploy these technologies in the U.S., they could help meet the Nation's economic, energy security and climate change goals. DOE will have all awarded cooperative agreements in place by FY 2014.

 

The Reactor Concepts Research, Development and Demonstration (RCRD&D) program is designed to advance the state of reactor technology to improve its competitiveness, and help advance nuclear power as a resource capable of meeting the Nation's energy, environmental, and national security needs. RD&D activities are designed to address technical, cost, safety and security issues associated with reactor concepts including advanced small modular reactors (SMRs) and other advanced reactor technologies.

 

The Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCR&D) will continue the implementation of the Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste. Activities in this area will focus on research and development and process development in the areas of waste transportation, storage, disposal, and siting activities. The FCR&D program will also conduct R&D a suite of technology options that will enable future decision makers to make informed decisions about how better to manage nuclear waste and used fuel from reactors. The program employs a long-term, science-based approach to foster innovative, transformational technology solutions to achieve this mission.

 

The majority of LM's activities are long-term and focus on maintaining DOE legal, regulatory, community, and contractual commitments. Management of closure site activities by LM enables other DOE programs to focus on risk reduction and site closure. By the end of FY 2015, LM expects to have responsibility for long-term management for 96 sites. LM's functions span both physical and human resources. In the physical environment, LM conducts long-term surveillance and maintenance of environmental remedies (e.g., groundwater monitoring and disposal cell maintenance) to protect human health and the environment. For each of the sites LM maintains both the physical and electronic records and responds to over 1,000 requests for information each year. LM is also responsible for maintaining the records and information systems for the Yucca Mountain site, including the Licensing Support Network. LM funds the pension plan contributions and post-retirement benefits (e.g., medical and life insurance) for former contractor workers from eight sites. In addition, LM manages the sites' natural resources, promotes reuse, is responsible for DOE uranium leasing program and, where possible, transfers sites to external parties.