The chairman of the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday criticized the Obama administration for failing to adequately fund research into making sure hydraulic fracturing and nuclear waste storage is safe.
During a hearing on the Department of Energy's fiscal 2014 budget request, Senator Ron Wyden said he would attempt to increase funding in those two areas through his committee and also through his work on the Senate Budget Committee.
"Budget priorities ought to also make sure that addressing problems that are already at hand, like fracking or spent nuclear fuel storage, are real priorities, not afterthoughts," the Oregon Democrat said.
Under the 2014 budget request, DOE would provide $17 million for research into the safety of the controversial process of fracking. Some environmental groups say the process leads to emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and could taint groundwater.
"The $17 million budgeted for this program doesn't begin to reflect the importance of addressing the challenges of improving the way fracking is done and the implications that has for US energy production and competitiveness," Wyden said.
Shale gas deposits exploited through horizontal drilling and fracking have boosted US natural gas production to record highs.
In fact, the presumptive next energy secretary, Ernest Moniz, has said that while fracking is important for the US economy, it must be done safely and with oversight.
Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman, who testified on DOE's budget request, said the agency can get "big bang for the buck" in fracking research.
"The dollars that we have dedicated to this technology are the right dollars," Poneman said.
Wyden also said DOE's cut to nuclear research was wrong-headed in light of the administration's decision in 2010 to terminate the long-planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. In the request, DOE would cut fuel-cycle research and development to $165 million in 2014, down from $181 million in 2012.
"In the wake of the decision to cancel the Yucca Mountain repository, it is hard to understand how it makes sense to reduce funding on the nuclear fuel-cycle program," Wyden said.
