Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry had a busy schedule up on Capitol Hill this week, testifying before three separate Congressional committees and subcommittees on DOE’s fiscal year (FY) 2020 budget request. The hearings touched on many important and/or controversial topics, including funding for Yucca Mountain and interim storage, escalating cleanup costs at Hanford, plutonium pit production at MOX, and
more.
As of 2:30 PM today (Friday, March 29), DOE has yet to release a complete budget justification, with details for several Department offices and programs missing, including the Offices of Nuclear Energy and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, as well as ARPA-E and the loan guarantee
programs.
Secretary Perry is expected back on the Hill on April 2 for a hearing with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on the FY 2020 budget request for DOE.
NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty is also expected before the House and Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittees on April 2 and 3, respectively, to discuss NNSA’s FY 2020 budget request.
Below is a rundown of relevant highlights from this week’s major hearings:
House Appropriations Energy and Water Development Hearing
On March 26, Secretary Perry testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, where the primary focus for Chairwoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and other Democrats were the major cuts many DOE programs sustained, including the Offices of Science (-86%) and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
(-15.8%), and DOE efforts for the weatherization and climate research programs.
Secretary Perry’s opening remarks provided an introduction into his work at DOE over the past year. He highlighted his recent completion of his tour of all 17 national laboratories, noting the innovative and highly-skilled work that takes place. He also addressed investments the Department has made to supercomputing, stating that the US now has the two fastest supercomputers in the world.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) began his questioning of Secretary Perry with a discussion about Yucca Mountain and interim nuclear waste storage. Specifically, he asked Perry what it was costing taxpayers to not have a licensed geologic repository, and what the likelihood was that communities would consent to be an interim storage site when no final disposal pathways for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and certain high-level waste (HLW)
exists. Secretary Perry opened by noting that there are currently sites in 39 states where waste is “deposited,” forcing communities to act as de-facto storage facilities—a far from appropriate solution to the nuclear waste issue.
On pursuing the licensing process for Yucca Mountain, Perry stated, “This is the law … I held up my hand and committed to upholding the laws of this country when I took this role.” He cited a $2 million daily cost for storing SNF and certain HLW as we currently do, or $8 billion since 2010.
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) asked Secretary Perry to explain what DOE is doing to assist in the development of small modular reactor (SMR) technology. Perry commented on the research DOE is conducting at the Idaho National Laboratory on advanced fuels and materials, and how DOE is supporting private industry and fostering university partnerships to support advanced nuclear technology. “We are committed to finding the new
technologies that will continue to make [nuclear energy] efficient, make it effective, make it safer,” Perry stated.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) asked Perry about the recent cost projections that DOE has published for environmental cleanup at Hanford which range from $323 - $677 billion—why the increase in cost estimates was so high, and how DOE could simultaneously produce a budget that decreased the funding for Richland (-27.3%) and Office of River Protection (-11.5%). Perry responded, stating that the cost estimates were “shocking,” but that his
Department was working to get waste removed from the site (and shipped to the Waste Control Specialist facility in Andrews, TX).
Chairwoman Kaptur asked Perry to explain what the most essential priorities for the NNSA were, commenting that the budget request didn’t establish baseline priorities to justify the 8.3% increase that the agency requested. Secretary Perry stated that “the NNSA will be strapped—from the standpoint of funding and staff” given current Administration priorities for the program.
Ranking Member Simpson questioned Perry about the Department’s current proposal to process 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium currently in South Carolina via a dilute-and-dispose method. Secretary Perry noted that the dilute-and-dispose method is a vetted, scientifically-sound method and that DOE is working with the state of New Mexico to consider changing how the volume of waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is
recalculated to “make more room” for the storage of the plutonium at the facility.
Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Hearing
On March 27, Secretary Perry testified before the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development on the Administrations FY 2020 budget request for DOE. In his testimony, Secretary Perry highlighted programs on which the administration is focused, including funding for Yucca Mountain licensing activities, support
for advanced reactor technologies, continued environmental cleanup efforts, and production of plutonium pits at two sites.
When asked about the cost of environmental cleanup estimated in a recent DOE report, Secretary Perry stated he was “shocked” to learn that cleanup costs at Hanford would be between $323 and $677 billion. He reiterated that the administration plans to take an “aggressive approach” to clean and dispose of tanks at Hanford.
Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) asked about plans for interim storage as a temporary solution to the stalled Yucca Mountain repository. Perry indicated that he supported the committee’s legislative language authorizing a government or privately run interim storage facility. Additionally, he suggested, “One of the ways that we can break that logjam is to change the wording that says the only entity that can take possession
of that waste is the Department of Energy, and change that to where a private entity—a private company—can take possession of that because I think that there are some private sector opportunities here. Companies can and should have the opportunity to bid for putting this into place.”
Secretary Perry was asked by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) about the administration’s plan to produce plutonium pits at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and in South Carolina. Perry noted that there is a $5 billion commitment to LANL and that DOE is on track to meet the 30 pit per year requirement. He added, while LANL would remain the “center of excellence” for pit production, the “two-site approach bolsters the nuclear security
enterprise’s responsiveness and resiliency.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) called on Secretary Perry to explain the proposal to eliminate ARPA-E. Perry justified cutting the program by explaining, “As a line item that program may be eliminated within the budget, we're still continuing its principles and you know through some cross cutting technologies and efforts.” He pointed to the fact that the administration proposed to rely on public-private partnerships and increase the
Office of Technology budget.
Senate Armed Services Hearing
Secretary Perry returned to Capitol Hill on March 28, joined by NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding the Administration’s budget for atomic energy defense programs.
The beginning of the hearing focused on the Administration’s plan to terminate construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX) in favor of converting it to a plutonium pit production site. When pressed on the viability of the timeline to produce a total 80 pits per year at LANL and the Savannah River Site (SRS), Administrator Gordon-Hagerty expressed confidence in the proposal to make “significant investments” in
LANL’s infrastructure to increase production capacity, as well as seeking $410 million to repurpose MOX.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) addressed the safety of workers at DOE/NNSA sites. Gordon-Hagerty referred to DOE Order 140.1, which she stated would “clearly define and redefine the responsibilities of the Department of Energy because if in fact health and safety situations do occur, the roles and responsibilities and accountability rests solely with the Department of Energy and an NNSA and not with the defense board.” (ECA has
provided comments on Order 140.1, read here.)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked Secretary Perry to explain the administration’s plans for improving NNSA’s aging infrastructure. Perry responded by committing to the implementation of the Infrastructure Modernization Initiative outlined in the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, and added that
the FY 2020 budget request “to reduce NNSA’s deferred maintenance backlog by no less than 30 percent by 2025.”
