Budget & Policy

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has invited the head of the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management office to a Nov. 28 public hearing about a controversial order the board fears will limit its access to defense-nuclear sites across the country. And, the independent federal safety watchdog said, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) Anne […]

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 […]

A trio of advocacy groups asked the Department of Energy and the Pentagon to provide a little budget bump for three National Nuclear Security Administration-funded optics facilities across the country, including one in Rochester, N.Y., the Donald Trump administration tried to cancel last year. In a Wednesday letter, the groups urged Energy Secretary Rick Perry […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) voted against submission of a preliminary fiscal 2020 budget request to the White House Office of Management and Budget after three of the four board members questioned whether the document reflected the agency’s funding and staffing needs, according to a recently published voting decision. On Oct. 17, the DNFSB […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has concerns about the Department of Energy’s proposed change to nuclear safety management rules governing the agency and its contractors. The proposed rule, published in the Aug. 8 Federal Register, does not spell out certain bedrock nuclear safety principles such as “defense in depth” and the “hierarchy of controls,” […]

In another sign the final end of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) might be near, South Carolina is trying to negotiate a settlement with the Department of Energy over $100 million the state says it is owed because the unfinished, now-terminated plant never processed plutonium. That is according to an order filed Tuesday […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) voted against submission of a preliminary fiscal 2020 budget request to the White House Office of Management and Budget after three of the four board members questioned whether the document reflected the agency’s funding and staffing needs, according to a recently published voting decision. On Oct. 17, the DNFSB […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has concerns about the Department of Energy’s proposed change to nuclear safety management rules governing the agency and its contractors. The proposed rule, published in the Aug. 8 Federal Register, does not spell out certain bedrock nuclear safety principles such as “defense in depth” and the “hierarchy of controls,” […]

Nearly a week after President Donald Trump suggested his administration could rethink its efforts to license a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada, there were no details on what such an approach might look like. Any new plan would run counter to the Trump White House’s efforts in its first two budget requests […]

In another sign the final end of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) might be near, South Carolina is trying to negotiate a settlement with the Department of Energy over $100 million the state says it is owed because the unfinished, now-terminated plant never processed plutonium. That is according to a Tuesday order filed […]

Two Democratic lawmakers from Nevada said Wednesday they directly called on President Donald Trump to follow through on his seeming pledge to reconsider federal efforts to send tens of thousands of tons of nuclear waste to their state. In its first two budget proposals, the Trump administration has unsuccessfully sought congressional appropriations to resume licensing […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) voted against approving submission of a preliminary fiscal 2020 budget request to the White House Office of Management and Budget after three of the four board members questioned whether the document reflected the agency’s funding and staffing needs, according to a recently published voting decision. On Oct. 17, […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has concerns about the Department of Energy’s proposed change to nuclear safety management rules governing the agency and its contractors. The proposed rule, published in the Aug. 8 Federal Register, does not spell out certain bedrock nuclear safety principles such as “defense in depth” and the “hierarchy of controls,” […]

President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested his administration could rethink its efforts to license a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the Washington Post reported. “I think you should do things where people want them to happen, so I would be very inclined to be against it,” Trump told Reno radio station KRNV. “We […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has scheduled a series of meetings, including a closed-door session to brew up a new safety recommendation and two public hearings about a controversial Department of Energy order the board says would weaken its oversight of defense-nuclear sites. In the closed meeting, scheduled for Oct. 23, the board […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee this week postponed a confirmation hearing for the Donald Trump administration’s nominee to be second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). William Bookless, a senior physicist form the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, was scheduled to testify before the panel Tuesday, but “this hearing has been postponed,” the committee […]

A delegation of high-profile South Carolina politicians met Thursday with President Donald Trump at the White House to make a last-minute plea to save an embattled plutonium-disposal plant in the Palmetto State — a facility the Department of Energy wants to convert into a weapon factory. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), along with Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has scheduled a series of meetings, including a closed-door session to brew up a new safety recommendation and two public hearings about a controversial Department of Energy order the board says would weaken its oversight of defense-nuclear sites. In the closed door meeting, scheduled for Oct. 23, the […]

Shooting down a claim to the contrary by his opponent in the upcoming midterm election, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said he would indeed attend a scheduled Thursday meeting at the White House, during which he and other palmetto state pols plan to ask President Donald Trump to the reverse the Department of Energy’s decision to […]

Four universities will split more than $40 million in grant funding under a National Nuclear Security Administration program designed to bolster fundamental science applicable to nuclear weapons, and encourage students to come to work in the nuclear security enterprise, the agency announced Monday. The four universities funded under the recently announced round of the National […]

Rita Baranwal, the former Westinghouse executive tapped to be assistant secretary of energy for nuclear energy, will have her confirmation hearing Nov. 15, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee announced Tuesday. Baranwal was one of many White House nominees who were supposed to have a confirmation hearing ahead of the U.S. midterm elections Nov. […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee this week cancelled a scheduled nomination hearing for the man the Donald Trump administration’s nominated to be second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). William Bookless, a senior physicist form the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California was scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, but […]

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) expects to meet with President Donald Trump Thursday to plead a case for reversing the White House’s Oct. 10 decision to terminate the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, the palmetto state chief said Monday. The exact timing of the meeting could change due to how sudden […]

Days after the Department of Energy said it was cancelling MOX Services’ contract to build the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) vowed to appeal the decision directly to the White House. The local Aiken Standard reported Graham’s comments Saturday  As first reported Friday by Weapons Complex Morning Briefing’s affiliate publication Nuclear Security […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in August spent $5,892 from its remaining Nuclear Waste Fund balance, with some of it going to legal costs in a petition against one of the commissioners. The agency after that spending had $443,310 remaining in unexpended, unobligated money from the fund intended to pay for development of the planned […]

The public has 60 days to weigh in on a proposal to modify the fashion in which the Department of Energy classifies “high-level radioactive waste” (HLW), following publication Wednesday of a formal notice in the Federal Register. The Energy Department announced Oct. 4 it would seek to classify HLW more on its radioactive traits and […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a confirmation hearing next month for the White House nominee to lead the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. The White House last week announced the intended nomination of Rita Baranwal as assistant energy secretary for nuclear energy. The actual nomination paperwork was submitted to […]

The public has 60 days to weigh in on a proposal to modify the fashion in which the Department of Energy classifies “high-level radioactive waste” (HLW), following publication Wednesday of a formal notice in the Federal Register. The Energy Department announced Oct. 4 it would seek to classify HLW more on its radioactive traits and […]

Charles Verdon, a longtime manager at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, on Tuesday officially started his new job leading the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) $11-billion-a-year nuclear weapons portfolio. Verdon was sworn in as NNSA deputy administrator for defense programs by Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, according to an agency press release. […]

The public has 60 days to weigh in on a proposal to modify the fashion in which the Department of Energy classifies “high-level radioactive waste” (HLW), following publication Wednesday of a formal notice in the Federal Register. The Energy Department announced last Thursday it would seek to classify HLW more on its radioactive traits and […]