AMARILLO, TEXAS -- The United States Department of Energy said they've always planned to visit all the DOE facilities in the country, and that includes Pantex.
The energy secretary said Wednesday's visit was prompted in part by the recent flood damage to that facility, but more importantly, the visit was to see what the future might hold for Pantex. "I think as usual, rumors are far, go ahead of, what reality is, we're going to try and do this in a very thoughtful way," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.
Chu was referencing job cuts. The National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, has asked for a 13% increase, and rumors of cuts aren't happening now. "We are increasing the NNSA budget. We think the role of Pantex will be there as a part of critical role of nuclear security," said Chu.
But that critical role has been put on hold, ever since the flooding damage to Pantex from the recent rainfall. Chu said, "Right now it's estimated roughly $60 million dollars will be needed."
While they don't know where money will come from to repair the damage, the Secretary says the need and future of Pantex remain safe.
"We are down-sizing the arsenal, we have to rebuild and refurbish, uh, many of the weapons we want to keep in our arsenal, and so the job of this plant is really indefinitely going forward as long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, the U.S. will have nuclear weapons and as long as the U.S. has nuclear weapons, Pantex has a critical role."
