URANIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT Y-12 NOW 3 YEARS BEHIND SCHEDULE
AND IS SLATED TO COST AN EXTRA $2 BILLION
The Y-12 weapons plant in Oak Ridge is currently in the process of upgrading its old,
deteriorating buildings that were built during the Manhattan Project era in the 1940s and
replacing these buildings with the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF).
According to the National Security Administration and the Department of Energy, the UPF
would be completed in 2025 and would not exceed $6.5 billion. Lamar Alexander reaffirmed this
goal. OREPA has called these numbers false and misleading from the onset.
However, this year’s budget exposes Alexander’s lie. For the last six years, taxpayers were
promised the UPF would come in on time and on budget. Last year’s budget said the completion
date would be 2025 and the total cost would be $6.5 billion. Now, suddenly, the UPF is at least 3
years behind schedule and it will cost 30% more than last year’s projection, bringing it through
the budget cap that Alexander promised would not exceed—by more than $2 billion.
