Budget & Policy

Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee have raised “significant concern” with the Pentagon’s move to classify reconciliation spending plans, urging the department to provide more public details on how the $150 billion is being allocated. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, led by Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the lawmakers say […]

A January report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Congress’s policy research division, said alternatives were not explored to the trilateral agreement between Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. The trilateral agreement, called AUKUS, includes the future sale of Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) to Australia, and AUKUS Pillar 1 refers to delivering submarines while […]

The United States should prioritize the permanent disposal of defense high-level radioactive waste over commercial spent nuclear fuel, a group of panelists said during a Thursday webinar. In the Energy Communities Alliance’s (ECA) webinar “Options for High Level Waste and Used Nuclear Fuel”, Matt Bowen, a former Department of Energy official, said that defense high-level […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup complex will soon become host to “energy dominance parks,” Tim Walsh, the assistant secretary of energy for Environmental Management, said here Tuesday evening. In coming months, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management will make announcements for both data centers for artificial intelligence (AI) and new nuclear power, […]

Sens. James Risch (R-Idaho) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) reintroduced a bill Tuesday focused on a funding program to reduce financial risk for new nuclear projects.  The 18-page Accelerating Reliable Capacity (ARC) Act establishes a risk reduction program for new reactors by placing safeguards against potential costs through financing terms and a limited federal cost share, […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup complex will soon become host to “energy dominance parks,” Tim Walsh, the assistant secretary of energy for Environmental Management, said here Tuesday evening. In coming months, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management will make announcements for both data centers for artificial intelligence (AI) and new nuclear power, […]

The Department of Energy issued a request for information (RFI) Wednesday seeking states interested in hosting Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses. The proposed campuses must support capabilities of the full nuclear fuel cycle, such as fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and disposal of waste, according to DOE’s press release. The approach could be more […]

A bipartisan panel of radioactive waste experts issued a study Thursday urging formation of a corporation of nuclear reactor owners to manage disposal of spent nuclear fuel from power plants and high-level waste from weapons production. The NuCorp, or Nuclear Corporation, would be required by federal legislation and set up by reactor owners, according to […]

President Donald Trump wants to see deployment of a nuclear power reactor on the moon as soon as 2030, according to a recent executive action. In the Dec. 18 executive order 14369, “Ensuring American Space Superiority”, the Trump White House called for Americans to return to the moon by 2028 through NASA’s Artemis Program, a […]

Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee have raised “significant concern” with the Pentagon’s move to classify reconciliation spending plans, urging the department to provide more public details on how the $150 billion is being allocated. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, led by Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the lawmakers say […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has established a categorical exclusion from certain National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures for approving and constructing advanced reactors. The exclusion is a “category of actions that the agency has determined, as established in its agency NEPA procedures, normally does not significantly affect the quality of the human environment and […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has launched an agency-wide reorganization to streamline decision-making in an effort to create more efficient licensing procedures. NRC said it will reorganize around core business lines of new reactors, operating reactors and nuclear materials and waste, according to the agency’s Wednesday press release.  Within the overhaul, “licensing and inspection functions […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has overhauled and hollowed out much of its nuclear safety regulations, according to a recent National Public Radio report.  According to the Jan. 28 NPR article, over the course of fall and winter, DOE has slashed hundreds of pages of requirements for security at the reactors, loosened protections for groundwater […]

President Trump Tuesday signed a spending package ending the partial government shutdown that temporarily affected the Pentagon, with the legislation that included the final $839 billion fiscal year 2026 Defense Appropriations Bill with an $8.4 billion increase after the Senate passed it 71-29 last week and the House narrowly passed it 217-214 Tuesday. The spending […]

ARLINGTON, VA. – The current administration is taking “meaningful action on regulatory reform” on a “breathtaking” timeline at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), according to Kim Budil, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. “So I think the biggest thing for us has been the meaningful action on regulatory reform,” Budil said on a panel […]

The Department of Justice recently launched an online portal for radioactive waste survivors to submit claims for assistance through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). “GREAT NEWS – the DOJ has launched the online portal for radioactive waste survivors to submit their RECA claims,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), one of the bipartisan advocates for RECA, […]

The Department of Justice recently launched an online portal for radioactive waste survivors to submit claims for assistance through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). “GREAT NEWS – the DOJ has launched the online portal for radioactive waste survivors to submit their RECA claims,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), one of the bipartisan advocates for RECA, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has launched an agency-wide reorganization to streamline decision-making in an effort to create more efficient licensing procedures. NRC said it will reorganize around core business lines of new reactors, operating reactors and nuclear materials and waste, according to the agency’s Wednesday press release.  Within the overhaul, “licensing and inspection functions […]

The Department of Justice recently launched an online portal for radioactive waste survivors to submit claims for assistance through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). “GREAT NEWS – the DOJ has launched the online portal for radioactive waste survivors to submit their RECA claims,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), one of the bipartisan advocates for RECA, […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has established a categorical exclusion from certain National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures for approving and constructing advanced reactors. The exclusion is a “category of actions that the agency has determined, as established in its agency NEPA procedures, normally does not significantly affect the quality of the human environment and […]

The current administration is taking “meaningful action on regulatory reform” on a “breathtaking” timeline at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), according to Kim Budil, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. “So I think the biggest thing for us has been the meaningful action on regulatory reform,” Budil said on a panel at Exchange Monitor’s […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit Wednesday there was a “pretty cohesive desire” to finish funding the government, but “whether we get it done by Friday” he was unsure. Friday, Jan. 30 is the final day of funding in the current continuing resolution (CR), which extended fiscal 2025 […]

The Department of Energy issued a request for information (RFI) Wednesday seeking states interested in hosting Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses. The proposed campuses must support capabilities of the full nuclear fuel cycle, such as fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and disposal of waste, according to DOE’s press release. The approach could be more […]

Weakening the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) radiation protection standard is not supported by current research and could harm people, especially women and children, a former Department of Energy official wrote in a Jan. 23 article. Former DOE assistant secretary of Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff published an opinion piece in Scientific American cautioning against the idea […]

The Department of Energy issued a request for information (RFI) Wednesday seeking states interested in hosting Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses. The proposed campuses must support capabilities of the full nuclear fuel cycle, such as fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and disposal of waste, according to DOE’s press release. The approach could be more […]

ARLINGTON, VA – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is embracing a culture of urgency and shifting from a scientific to production mindset, according to Administrator Brandon Williams Tuesday in his day 2 keynote at Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. “Urgency requires a fundamental, fundamental shift in how we work,” Williams said of the Department […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit Wednesday there was a “pretty cohesive desire” to finish funding the government, but “whether we get it done by Friday” he was unsure. Friday, Jan. 30 is the final day of funding in the current continuing resolution (CR), which extended fiscal 2025 […]

The Department of Energy issued a request for information (RFI) Wednesday seeking states interested in hosting Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses. The proposed campuses must support capabilities of the full nuclear fuel cycle, such as fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and disposal of waste, according to DOE’s press release. The approach could be more […]

ARLINGTON, VA – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is embracing a culture of urgency and shifting from a scientific to production mindset, according to Administrator Brandon Williams Tuesday in his day 2 keynote at Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. “Urgency requires a fundamental, fundamental shift in how we work,” Williams said of the Department […]

Newly elected New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) has signed an executive order to form a state interagency nuclear task force focused on developing new nuclear generation. The Jan. 20 executive order leans on developing new megawatts in the short term with energy sources such as solar and battery and long-term nuclear power. The power […]