Budget & Policy

The Department of Energy’s fiscal 2020 budget bill remained in legislative limbo in the Senate on Wednesday, after an essentially party-line fight over President Donald Trump’s planned southern-border wall. The motion to invoke cloture — a Senate parliamentary move that limits debate on a bill — failed 51-44, with only two Republicans voting no. One […]

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The U.S. Air Force is considering whether to move funding from the B-1B Lancer program to buy additional next-generation B-21 bombers in the fiscal year 2021 budget, as changes are considered for the overall future of the aging bomber force. Accelerating procurement of the Northrop Grumman-developed B-21 Raider is a priority for the […]

House lawmakers on Tuesday officially moved to start final negotiations with the Senate on the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, but partisan gridlock in the Senate threatened to limit progress on budget negotiations this week to a stopgap spending bill, or continuing resolution. The House late Tuesday queued up a vote for either Thursday or […]

The head of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was briefly on President Donald Trump’s short list to replace John Bolton as national security adviser, media reported Tuesday. However, Trump on Wednesday announced via Twitter he had selected Robert O’Brien, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs at the State Department and a former […]

A former staffer at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) who worked on radioactive waste issues has returned as a commissioner. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Monday appointed Bobby Janecka to the third spot on the commission, according to a press release. The other members are Chairman Jon Niermann and Commissioner Emily Lindley. […]

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee is recommending an $841.2 million budget for most operations at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the upcoming 2020 federal budget year. That would be just over $66.5 million less than the federal regulator requested for salaries and expenses for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. However, the committee directed that the nuclear […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday advanced legislation that would prohibit any large reorganization of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) unless “specifically authorized by law.” The language was place in the fiscal 2020 energy and water development spending bill that is now due to be considered by the full Senate. If the restriction […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) on Thursday said he would not seek to succeed Lamar Alexander in the Senate. “I’m not going anywhere,” Fleischmann said during a presentation at the U.S. Energy Department’s National Cleanup Workshop. “I’m staying in the House. I’m not running for the Senate.” After Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced in […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved legislation that would provide $7.45 billion in fiscal 2020 for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. The nuclear cleanup funding in the Senate energy and water appropriations bill outstrips the roughly $7.2 billion approved by the House of Representatives in a “minibus” spending package in June, along […]

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday rolled out and quickly passed energy and water development legislation that would again give nothing for licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Instead, the $48.9 billion Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for fiscal 2020 would provide funding for a pilot program […]

A senior official at the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday placed the onus squarely on Congress to provide the means for permanent disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste. For now, that is the long-planned Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, as directed under the 1987 amendment to the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, Undersecretary of […]

Senate appropriators on Thursday joined their House counterparts in nixing a request from the Trump administration to transfer the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers back to its former home at the Department of Energy. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 31-0 in favor of the $48.9 billion […]

With congressional negotiations set to begin next week on the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the White House asked the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee not to cut development of new proliferation-detection technologies at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed in […]

Two senior Democrats on Tuesday requested that the U.S. Congressional Budget Office evaluate the potential costs to the United States from expiration of the New START nuclear arms control treaty. The 2011 accord prohibits the United States and Russia from deploying more than 1,550 strategic warheads on a maximum of 700 fielded long-range delivery systems. […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would get every penny it seeks in fiscal 2020, and then some, under legislation advanced Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The energy and water bill sent to the full Senate would give the agency just under $17 billion for the budget year starting Oct. 1: about $425 million above […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday advanced legislation that would provide $65 million more than the White House requested for fiscal 2020 for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation, nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile. The Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program would receive $635 million for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, under the 2020 Defense Appropriations Act. The […]

A subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee on Wednesday advanced legislation that would expand the mission of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) to aiding permanent disposal of U.S. radioactive waste. The waste language is one part of the much broader ARPA-E Reauthorization Act of 2019 from Rep. Eddie […]

Two senior Democrats on Tuesday requested that the U.S. Congressional Budget Office evaluate the potential costs to the United States from expiration of the New START nuclear arms control treaty. The 2011 accord prohibits the United States and Russia from deploying more than 1,550 strategic warheads on a maximum of 700 fielded delivery systems. It […]

A top official at the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday placed the onus squarely on Congress to provide the means for permanent disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste. For now, that means the long-planned Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, as directed under the 1987 amendment to the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, Undersecretary of […]

The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee on Tuesday advanced legislation that would provide $65 million more than the White House requested for fiscal 2020 for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation, nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile. The Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program would receive $635 million for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, under the 2020 Defense Appropriations Act […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July again spent little of its remaining balance from the fund intended to pay for a federal nuclear waste repository. The agency spent just $704 in the month for unspecified program planning and support. That left the NRC with a total balance of $434,262, with $408,039 of that not […]

The leaders of the House and Senate have each announced plans to buy time for Congress to move through the fiscal 2020 appropriations process by passing a continuing resolution, but the chambers each have their own proposed process. The Senate will move quickly to pass as many regular appropriations bills as possible, and then pass […]

With just a handful of business days until the fiscal 2020 budget year begins, the Senate Appropriations Committee is rushing to approve its spending bills. The full panel has scheduled markups for 10 a.m. Thursday of its defense; energy and water; state, foreign operations, and related programs; and labor, health and human services, education, and […]

As negotiations begin on the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act this week, the White House asked the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee not to cut development of new proliferation-detection technologies at the National Nuclear Security Administration. The Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed in June, would not authorize some […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — Congress appears set to again deny the Trump administration’s request to appropriate funding for licensing of a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev., one issue watcher said Tuesday. The White House for fiscal 2020 requested $116 million for Yucca Mountain and interim storage of radioactive waste, the large majority of that […]

Longtime Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), perhaps the loudest voice on Capitol Hill in favor of building a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada, on Aug. 30 announced he would not seek re-election in 2020. Shimkus will until his retirement continue to press for a solution to the long impasse over permanent disposal of […]

HENDERSON, Nev. – Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal on Wednesday said there is value in “parallel paths” for management of the nation’s nuclear waste, encompassing consolidated storage and a permanent repository. Speaking at the ExchangeMonitor’s RadWaste Summit, Baranwal said she last week walked 5 miles through the planned underground disposal site at […]

HENDERSON, Nev. – Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal on Wednesday said there is value in “parallel paths” for management of the nation’s nuclear waste, encompassing consolidated storage and a permanent repository. Speaking at the ExchangeMonitor’s RadWaste Summit, Baranwal said she last week walked 5 miles through the planned underground disposal site at […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — Congress appears set to again deny the Trump administration’s request to appropriate funding for licensing of a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev., one issue observer said Tuesday. The Trump administration for fiscal 2020 requested $116 million for Yucca Mountain and interim storage of radioactive waste, the large majority of that […]

Longtime Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), perhaps the loudest voice on Capitol Hill in favor of building a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada, on Friday announced he would not seek re-election in 2020. This would have been Shimkus 13th campaign for the House. He was first elected in 1996 and has represented three different […]