OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — U.S. lawmakers are working to pass a defense spending bill that would set aside close to $1 billion for Y-12 National Security Complex in the coming fiscal year to build a new lithium processing facility and finish construction on a modernized uranium processing facility.
The U.S. Department of Energy is asking Congress to approve nearly $19 billion in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 for nuclear weapons activities and close to $7.5 billion for environmental cleanup activities at its atomic sites.
The U.S. Senate and House voted to pass different versions of the bill and are working to finalize a version the two chambers can agree upon before it heads to President Joe Biden.
The DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration testified in front of the House Armed Services Committee in March 2023 for a $1.7 billion increase from FY 2023's budget, saying it was facing increased costs and delays in multiple construction projects -- including at Y-12 -- amid a renewed push to modernize the nation's nuclear weapon stockpile.
Of the $19 billion that would go to the NNSA for weapons activities, $760 million would go toward the completion of Y-12's new Uranium Processing Facility. The modernized facility will replace Building 9212, which is at least 75 years old.
The new UPF was estimated to be completed in Dec. 2025 and cost a total of $6.5 billion, however, the NNSA told the House Armed Services Committee in March that it was not on track to meet that completion date -- citing supply chain issues, contractor performance and labor shortages. The NNSA said the processing facility was just over 50% complete at the time.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Oak Ridge) said the project is also expected to exceed its original cost "for a variety of reasons."
"We are going to get it done... hopefully, by 2027, maybe 2028," he said.
The NNSA also asked for $211 million toward the construction of a new Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12 to modernize its strategy and make it safer for the environment and workers. Processed lithium is used in nuclear weapons components, and the NNSA said the current processing buildings at Y-12 are "in disrepair and do not possess the capabilities or capacity to meet demands beyond 2035."
"Not since the Manhattan Project has there been a more challenging moment for NNSA. We face an urgent, expanded mission at a time when labor is limited, supply chain disruptions abound, and inflation rates are higher than planned. Successfully meeting our objectives requires consistent investment and clear-eyed prioritization," Jill Hruby, Under Secretary for the NNSA, said.
On top of the money for new facilities, the DOE asked for $505 million for the Oak Ridge Reservation in Anderson and Roane counties to support national security programs, including $161.5 million for ongoing waste cleanup efforts and $335 million for deactivation and decommissioning of old buildings on the reservation.
Legacy cleanup work has ramped up on the reservation in the past few years to eliminate dilapidated, contaminated facilities and restore the environment, which has begun filling up disposal sites. Fleischmann has been pushing for more funding to support legacy cleanup work in Oak Ridge, saying the existing landfills are anticipated to reach capacity sometime in 2027 or 2028.
Fleischmann and other Tennessee leaders recently attended the groundbreaking of a major infrastructure project that will help fix that issue by creating a new $550 million disposal facility. He said the facility will provide the landfill capacity to finish cleanup projects around Y-12 and ORNL over the next 30 to 40 years.
"It's the hardest thing I've done in Congress since I've been in," he said. "If we did not get this second disposal cell, environmental cleanup at Oak Ridge would have stopped."