The announcement, made in a press release, followed inclusion of language in the Defense Authorization Act requiring removal by the U.S. Army no later than March 31, 2007.
Inhofe said, "Today we have a solution to this long-standing problem in Gore and I am pleased we were able to reach an agreement with the Army allowing us to clean up this site."
Boren commented, "After 13 years of uncertainty we can now safely say the uranium will be out of Gore within a year. It's long past time to get it out of Eastern Oklahoma."
About 1,200 barrels, or 1.5 million pounds, of depleted uranium has been stored at the former Sequoyah Fuels Corp. site near Gore since 1993 when the facility finished contract work involving uranium provided by the federal government. The site was used to convert DU6 to DU4 for use by the Army in anti-tank ammunition.
Over the past 13 years Sequoyah Fuels and the Army have been deadlocked over whose responsibility it was to remediate the site. Inhofe broke the logjam this week by including language in the Senate version of the Defense Authorization Act, requiring the Secretary of the Army to transport all government-furnished uranium from Sequoyah Fuels no later than March 31.
After numerous attempts to engage the Department of Defense on the issue, Boren offered an amendment to the House version of the Defense Authorization Act in May requiring the Secretaries of Defense and Energy to submit a report to Congress outlining remediation plans for the site. The Army responded on June 5, noting that "The indefinite storage of the material at the Gore site is not an acceptable solution."
It was also noted that the agency lacked congressional authorization to remove the depleted uranium.
Inhofe said, "I appreciate Rep. Boren's assistance with this issue and I am confident we have a lasting solution after this week's action."
Boren concluded, "With the senator's help we were able to put this issue to rest once and for all."
The press release did not reveal how the depleted uranium would be removed from the site or to where it would be taken for disposal.
Nick Choate with Boren's office said Friday afternoon the details of removal of the depleted uranium would be left up to the U.S. Army. He also said that other contaminated materials believed to be at the site are not included in agreement to remove the depleted uranium.
Sequoyah Fuels officials and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are working on a decommissioning plan for the plant, which would allow for other contaminated materials to be stored on site. Area residents have opposed the plan to store the materials at Sequoyah Fuels.
