Budget & Policy

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday signed off on the Trump administration’s nominee to lead the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy. Rita Baranwal, currently director of DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program, now waits for a vote by the full Senate in the waning days of the […]

A Michigan Senate committee next week will again consider legislation that would set specific radioactivity limits for disposal of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) in state landfills. The bill from Sen. Tom Casperson (R) would add a number of amendments to the 1994 state Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, including citing a […]

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) this week called on the top leaders and appropriators in the House of Representatives to prevent any funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in her state in the next federal budget bill. “We are about a week out from the deadline to fund the government and there are efforts […]

Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) will be the assistant Democratic leader in the 116th Congress come January, bolstering the political bona fides of the six-termer, whose 3rd Congressional District includes the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Luján confirmed the news in a Twitter post late Wednesday. It is a relatively low-ranking leadership post — fourth after […]

Nearly lost amid higher-profile nomination hearings in high-octane committees this week is a nuts-and-bolts piece of legislation that could open the door for more whistleblower disclosures in the nuclear weapons, waste, and power industries. The bill, slated for a hearing Thursday in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee along with several other pieces of legislation, […]

A bill introduced Wednesday by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), and supported by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), would prohibit the Trump administration from extending the primary U.S.-Russia nuclear arms-control treaty beyond 2021 without renegotiating the deal to curtail shorter-range Russian missiles.  The ‘‘Stopping Russian Nuclear Aggression Act’’ would prohibit the executive branch from spending any money […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday signed off on the Trump administration’s nominee to lead the Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy. Rita Baranwal, currently director of DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program, now waits for a vote by the full Senate in the waning days of the 115th Congress. […]

A Michigan Senate committee is scheduled today to consider legislation that would set specific radioactivity limits for disposal of Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM) in state landfills. The bill from Sen. Tom Casperson (R) would add a number of amendments to the 1994 state Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, including citing a […]

William Bookless, the Trump administration’s choice for second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), is set for a crucial confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The committee is scheduled to vet Bookless, a veteran nuclear weapons hand who spent decades at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other spots before retiring […]

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has added his support to a call by 76 nongovernmental groups across the nation to allow more time to comment on a Department of Energy proposal to change its interpretation of the definition of high-level radioactive waste. The current 60-day comment period ends Dec. 10. Wyden and the stakeholder groups […]

President Donald Trump’s nominee to become Energy Department general counsel, William Cooper, is still waiting on a vote by the full Senate, although he has apparently already started working at the federal agency in another role. Cooper, a former staff director for the House Natural Resources mineral resources subcommittee, is now a senior adviser to […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has “underperformed” its mission to protect the public from the hazards posed by defense nuclear weapons sites, and the quality of the small agency’s interactions with the Department of Energy has fallen to “an all-time low,” according to a study published this week. The DNFSB contracted the National Academy […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled on Nov. 29 to vet William Bookless, an experienced nuclear weapons scientist who spent much of his career at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to be second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Donald Trump administration on Aug. 16 nominated Bookless as principal deputy administrator for […]

WASHINGTON — The aspiring chair of the House Armed Services Committee wants to scrap the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, whip up a multilateral Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces-style treaty, and take a run at making no-first-use the nuclear law of the land. Speaking here Wednesday at the Ploughshares Fund’s “Future of U.S. Nuclear Policy” conference, Rep. […]

WASHINGTON — The aspiring chair of the House Armed Services Committee wants to scrap the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, whip up a multilateral Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces-style treaty, and take a run a making no-first-use the nuclear law of the land. Speaking here Wednesday at the Ploughshares Fund’s “Future of U.S. Nuclear Policy” conference, Rep. […]

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who is running for chair of the House Armed Services Committee in the incoming 116th Congress, is set today to make his first nuclear weapon-oriented speech since Democrats secured control of the House of Representatives in last week’s midterm elections. Smith is slated to speak at 9:20 a.m. Eastern time in […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled on Nov. 29 to vet William Bookless, a veteran nuclear weapons scientist who spent much of his career at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to be second in command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Donald Trump administration on Aug. 16 nominated Bookless as principal deputy […]

The New Mexico congressman whose district covers the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s wants a leadership role with the House Democrats, who in midterm elections Tuesday secured control of the lower chamber for the next two years. Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a five-term congressman who just won a sixth, announced the move online Wednesday, including […]

The results of the Nov. 6 midterm elections, from the Democratic takeover of the House to the extra GOP pickups in the Senate, will be reflected in the two chambers’ armed services committees. As of Wednesday afternoon, Democrats had taken control of 222 House seats and the Republicans control 196, with 418 out of 435 […]

Democrats this week won control of the House of Representatives, and the aspirant chair of the House Armed Services Committee said they plan to go after nuclear weapons when the 116th Congress convenes in January. In the cross hairs: the 30-year nuclear modernization program established by the Barack Obama administration in 2016 and augmented this year […]

Having won control of the House of Representatives for the upcoming 116th Congress, Democrats are likely to heighten scrutiny of the nuclear arsenal modernization regime and paint a big target on the back of the low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile authorized this year. In the past few months, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), likely chair of the House Armed […]

The results of the Nov. 6 midterm elections, from the Democratic takeover of the House to the extra GOP pickups in the Senate, will be reflected in the two chambers’ armed services committees. As of Wednesday afternoon, Democrats had taken control of 222 House seats and the Republicans control 196, with 418 out of 435 […]

The New Mexico congressman whose district covers the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s wants a leadership role with the House Democrats, who in midterm elections Tuesday secured control of the lower chamber for the next two years. Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a five-term congressman who just won a sixth, announced the move online Wednesday, including […]

The defeat of Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) could remove one major political obstacle to funding and other legislative measures that would advance the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) took slightly more than 50 percent of the statewide vote to unseat Heller in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The first-term congresswoman, who […]

Democratic Party lawmakers from Nevada are urging President Donald Trump to follow through on his apparent pledge to re-evaluate plans for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, after Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the administration continues to support the project. “These contradictory remarks from Secretary Perry underline why the White House must follow through on […]

The congressional district that covers the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) will have new representation in January after incumbent Rep. Steve Pearce stepped aside to run for New Mexico governor. Pearce is facing off against a colleague in Congress, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), to succeed term-limited governor Susana Martinez, a Republican. Pearce, […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management will attend a Nov. 28 public hearing about a controversial agency order the independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) fears will limit its access to defense-nuclear sites across the country. Anne Marie White, assistant secretary for environmental management, accepted the invitation on or […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management will attend a Nov. 28 public hearing about a controversial agency order the independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) fears will limit its access to defense-nuclear sites across the country. Anne Marie White, assistant secretary for environmental management, accepted the invitation on or […]

A Democratic House with a Democratic Armed Services Committee chairman who is openly skeptical of the established nuclear modernization program is perhaps the most plausible consequence of the 2018 midterm elections, for those who watch the National Nuclear Security Administration. Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.) are not in particularly competitive races. In […]

By John Stang The always controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository could play a role in determining whether Republicans or Democrats control the U.S. Senate after the midterm elections on Tuesday. Incumbent Nevada senior Sen. Dean Heller (R) is campaigning to retain his seat against a challenge from Rep. Jacky Rosen (D). He has been seen […]