By Dan Conti
Washington DC – Kentucky's senior senator claims it makes more sense for the federal government to keep open the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and save over a thousand jobs. That's what Republican Mitch McConnell told the US Energy Secretary Steven Chu during a committee hearing in Washington yesterday. McConnell says the facility is scheduled to close, even though there are 40 thousand cylinders of depleted uranium still on site at Paducah. He says if those cylinders, also known as tails, are not re-enriched and sold for a profit, they'll have to be cleaned up at taxpayer expense.
"There's apparently no plan in your budget for cleanup after the operations cease. So in this scenario, it strikes me, the government loses an opportunity for revenue, we lose 1,200 jobs, and you're not funding the cleanup that would cost you money; whereas re-enriching the tails would gain the government money."
But Secretary Chu says the D.O.E. has already committed to re-enriching uranium at other plants. In addition, he's not enthralled with the process.
"I have to be candid that the gaseous diffusion technology is one which is very energy-intensive and I would rather us invest in more forward technologies improve centrifuges, for example."
Chu testified before the Senate appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development.