Congressmen question UGA lab closing

Congressional leaders are challenging the U.S. Department of Energy’s decision to stop funding the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Lab.

Democratic Congressmen Brad Miller of North Carolina and Nick Lampson of Texas have written a letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.

They are demanding all of the records dealing with the decision to end federal support for the UGA Lab. the letter says that it’s difficult to understand why the lab would be closed just as the facility is beginning to process nearly 40 million gallons of waste from previous plutonium Production.

The lab has acted as an independent watchdog for the
government's nuclear materials facility near Aiken, South Carolina, for more than 50 years.

The Energy Department says the lab is no longer critical to the federal mission. The Congressmen want continued funding for the lab until their investigation is complete.