Cassidy Questions Energy Secretary on Natural Gas and Nuclear Energy
Press Release
Today, Congressman Bill Cassidy participated in an Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Dr. Cassidy questioned Secretary Moniz on the approval process of offshore LNG export facilities in Louisiana and also on a separate Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility.
"We need the Department of Energy to be responsive to a six-month old request on a review process for offshore deep-water port facilities. If this was done, we'd have more construction, mining and maritime jobs with good benefits and wages for Americans who need jobs."
Dr. Cassidy questioned Secretary Moniz on two proposed offshore export LNG facilities by Freeport-McMoRan Energy and Delfin LNG. These proposed facilities would create jobs for thousands of Louisiana workers. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), these facilities must go through a separate approval process from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is reviewing 22 other permit applications. Dr. Cassidy asked Secretary Moniz why his Department has not responded to DOT's request for a separate and simultaneous review process for offshore deep-water port facilities. This request was made 6 months ago from the Maritime Administration.
Additionally, Dr. Cassidy questioned Secretary Moniz on a MOX fuel fabrication facility currently under construction at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken County, South Carolina. The MOX facility is designed to remove impurities from plutonium feedstock obtained from nuclear weapon pits, form the plutonium into MOX fuel pellets and fabricate pellets into fuel assemblies for use in a nuclear reactor. It would help meet our nuclear energy needs and is more cost-effective then other processes used to develop nuclear fuel.
Currently, the Department of Energy is proposing to put the facility on "cold standby," even though that would cost taxpayers over $1 billion. Dr. Cassidy questioned Secretary Moniz on this subject and why the MOX facility cannot be constructed.
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