Budget & Policy

Twelve months ago, Anne Marie White was eagerly anticipating her first full year at the helm of the U.S. Department of Energy’s $7 billion-plus Office of Environmental Management. But her tenure as Energy Department assistant secretary for environmental management turned out to be closer to the end rather than the beginning. After being sworn into […]

David Blee, president, founder, and CEO of the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council business consortium, died Sunday, apparently while visiting family in Kentucky. His death was confirmed Monday by USNIC Director Caleb Ward. “From what I understand, David had a negative reaction with the medication he was taking to get over his cold,” Ward said in […]

David Blee, president, founder, and CEO of the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council business consortium, died Sunday apparently while visiting family in Kentucky. His death was confirmed Monday by USNIC Director Caleb Ward. “From what I understand, David had a negative reaction with the medication he was taking to get over his cold,” Ward said in […]

The Trump administration is not saying yet whether it will try again to transfer a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers nuclear cleanup program to the Department of Energy, even as it continues to argue the benefits of the move. Congress blocked the White House request for the 2020 federal fiscal year to relocate the Formerly […]

By Llewellyn King Special to RadWaste Monitor David Blee could have been anything he wanted to be, so long as the job involved people. David, who died suddenly and tragically early at 66, was dynamic in everything he did — and he did nothing better than people. He could lead them, inspire them, cajole them, […]

David Blee, president and CEO of the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council business consortium, died Sunday apparently while visiting family in Kentucky. His death was confirmed Monday by USNIC Director Caleb Ward. “From what I understand, David had a negative reaction with the medication he was taking to get over his cold,” Ward said in a […]

Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published Wednesday in observance of New Year’s Day. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Thursday.

A 2020 appropriations package passed by Congress this week would fully fund the next generation of nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles, along with the civilian-operated infrastructure that makes their warheads. Gone from the 2020 budget are nearly all the restrictions House Democrats wanted to put on the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) procurement, and supporting infrastructure and […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) would receive a roughly a $31 million budget for fiscal 2020, which it would have to use to employ the equivalent of at least 110 full-time staff, under a 2020 appropriations package Congress approved this week. Explanatory language appended to the bill, which President Donald Trump was set […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration appears set to get all the money it wants for the current budget year, and a little more, including some $710 million to start work on a controversial two-state plutonium pit complex intended to bring a new nuclear-weapon mission to South Carolina. A compromise budget bill that passed through […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) would receive a roughly a $31 million budget for fiscal 2020, which it would have to use to employ the equivalent of at least 110 full-time staff, under a 2020 appropriations package Congress approved this week. Explanatory language appended to the bill, which President Donald Trump was set […]

A compromise budget passed by Congress this week would fund the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management at almost $7.5 billion. President Donald Trump is expected today to sign the fiscal 2020 domestic priorities and international assistance minibus, which encompasses appropriations bills for a long list of federal agencies. The House approved the bill […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be budgeted at $842.2 million for salaries and expenses in the current federal fiscal year, under a wide-ranging appropriations package passed by Congress this week. The Senate on Thursday voted 71-23 in favor of the domestic priorities and international assistance minibus, two days after the House’s 297-120 vote. President […]

Congress again provided no direct funding for nuclear waste storage or disposal in a massive fiscal 2020 appropriations bill that was waiting on President Donald Trump’s signature Friday afternoon. While the House and Senate had left little doubt they would reject the administration’s latest request for money for the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, they […]

Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published during the week of Dec. 23-27, in observance of the Christmas holiday. Look for the next edition in your inbox on Monday, Dec. 30.

The U.S. Senate passed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Tuesday, as the House approved appropriations bills for the federal fiscal year: legislation that, together, would provide year-over-year raises for almost all Department of Energy nuclear cleanup and weapons programs. The NDAA passed on a no-doubt margin of 86-8, with four Democrats and […]

The two offices at the U.S. Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state would enjoy higher funding in a compromise appropriations bill for fiscal 2020, according to supporting material released Tuesday. The energy and water development bill agreed to by the House and Senate as part of a larger appropriations package would fund Hanford’s Richland […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) would receive a roughly a $31 million budget for fiscal 2020, which it would have to use to employ the equivalent of at least 110 full-time staff, if a 2020 appropriations package the House approved Tuesday becomes law.  Explanatory language appended to the bill, which advanced out of […]

Congress plans to provide no funding for nuclear waste storage or disposal in a massive fiscal 2020 appropriations bill rolled out Monday evening. House and Senate appropriators released two packages encompassing 12 separate spending bills for the budget year that began on Oct. 1. H.R. 1865, the domestic and international assistance appropriations minibus, features a […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management would receive almost $7.5 billion under a compromise fiscal 2020 appropriations bill released by House and Senate lawmakers on Monday. That’s equal with the Senate Appropriation Committee’s energy and water development bill, approved in September, and well above the $7.2 billion in last year’s appropriation: an amount roughly […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration would get all the money it needs, and more, in what’s left of fiscal year 2020, including some $710 million to start work on a controversial two-state plutonium pit complex that would bring a new nuclear-weapon mission to South Carolina. The compromise budget bill, details of which the House unveiled […]

The compromise National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2020 would allow almost $2.1 billion for defense environmental cleanup operations the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Defense environmental cleanup is the largest tranche of funding for Hanford and other properties managed by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. In total, the office would […]

A major defense policy bill would effectively block the U.S. Department of Energy from applying its new interpretation of high-level radioactive waste during fiscal 2020 in Washington state. That would cover the Hanford Site, a former plutonium production complex that is DOE’s largest cleanup project and home to much of its high-level waste. The fiscal […]

Just before becoming the 15th U.S. secretary of energy this month, Dan Brouillette skirted a Nevada senator’s questions regarding his position on requiring consent from states and local and tribal communities in selecting the site for disposal of nuclear waste. The issue of consent is of keen interest to Nevada’s state leadership and congressional delegation, […]

A defense policy bill on the verge of passage would require the U.S. Energy Department to provide Congress with anticipated costs of complying with court-enforced consent decrees at nuclear cleanup sites. The final version of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed easily out of the House of Representatives Wednesday on a vote […]

Less than two months after U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) announced plans to leave Congress, several declared candidates are jockeying to take his place. Three Democrats and three Republicans have filed to run in their respective party primaries on May 19, 2020, according to the Ballotpedia website. The victors would then square off in the […]

A major defense policy bill would effectively block the U.S. Department of Energy from applying its new interpretation of high-level radioactive waste during fiscal 2020 in Washington state. That would cover the Hanford Site, a former plutonium production complex that is DOE’s largest cleanup project and home to much of its high-level waste. The fiscal […]

The U.S. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) would move to keep inspectors on the job at Department of Energy defense nuclear sites beyond Dec. 20, if the federal government shuts down when the current stopgap spending measure expires. In the event of a government closure, “the Chairman may designate resident inspectors at designated DOE defense […]

The U.S. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) would move to keep inspectors on the job at Department of Energy defense nuclear sites beyond Dec. 20, if the federal government shuts down when the current stopgap spending measure expires. In the event of a government closure, “the Chairman may designate resident inspectors at designated DOE defense […]

Members of the federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board would generally not be allowed to serve in expired terms any longer, if Congress’ compromise 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) becomes law. The measure would make an exception in cases where the departure of a board member would leave the nominally five-member body without its […]