§2297h–5 Leasing of Gaseous Diffusion Facilities

Summary

When the government privatizes the gaseous diffusion plants, it must give the private corporation the existing lease for the rest of its term. The private corporation can choose to keep leasing the plants after that first term ends. The Secretary may not lease any facility used to make highly enriched uranium to the private corporation, but may allow the Corporation to use those facilities for other work under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. The government (the Secretary) must pay all cleanup, decontamination, and corrective costs for problems that existed before July 1, 1993. Those pre-1993 conditions will be identified from the environmental audit done under section 1403(e) of the Atomic Energy Act (42 U.S.C. 2297c–2(e)). Any lease or lease extension here counts as a contract under section 170d (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)), and signing or transferring the lease is not treated as a major federal action under section 4332. For the Paducah, Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio plants, security rules must require that armed security officers with arrest authority be on duty at all times. The Department of Energy (DOE) will pay the share of those arming and arrest costs that matches the share of workers who are DOE employees or who do work for DOE. The private entity leasing the plant pays the share that matches its non‑DOE workers. Neither the DOE nor the private entity can cut other payments or be reimbursed to avoid its share. This does not change DOE’s duty to pay safety, safeguards, and security costs for its highly enriched uranium activities.