Federal budget cuts could close one of the two naval reactors used to train sailors at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.
The lab in upstate New York is one of only two facilities where the Navy uses fueled reactors to train operators for its fleet of nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines. The Saratogian newspaper reported Monday that the lab faces a proposed $151 million reduction in its budget for 2015. A spokesman for contractor Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corp. said the reactor will close unless that cut is reduced by at least $24 million.
The 2015 budget proposal drew pledges from congressmen in the region near Albany to restore the funding, but if they are unsuccessful the Navy has indicated it would likely halve the number of students who train there. KAPL's two sites in the area employ about 2,600 people, many of whom could face job cuts.
The lab currently trains about 1,300 students each year in a 24-week program at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit. The Navy's second training unit, which uses decommissioned submarines, is located in Charleston, S.C.