Budget & Policy

Democrats in the House and Senate on Tuesday unveiled legislative language that would ban research, development, manufacturing, and fielding of the planned low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic-missile warhead for which Congress approved $65 million in funding during the fiscal year that begins in 13 days. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) sponsored the House bill, with co-sponsors Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), […]

Language inserted into the fiscal 2019 “minibus” appropriations bill that Congress passed last week aims to help local jurisdictions offset the cost of being stuck with spent nuclear fuel from retired nuclear power plants. If President Donald Trump signs H.R. 5895, the Department of Energy would have 180 days to submit to Congress a study […]

In a move first proposed by the Senate this summer, the final fiscal 2019 budget for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would move funding for uranium downblending into the agency’s tritium sustainment account. The move was contrary to the Donald Trump administration’s request, which grouped money for uranium downblending under the NNSA domestic uranium […]

President Donald Trump’s signature is the only thing standing between the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup office and nearly $7.2 billion in funding for fiscal 2019. That would be the highest spending level for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management since fiscal 2005, when it received nearly $7.3 billion. The House of Representatives on Thursday voted 377-20 […]

The minibus appropriations bill on its way to President Donald Trump’s desk would block the independent federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board from downsizing by about 20 percent, and require the Department of Energy to explain why it has restricted some communications with the federal nuclear safety watchdog. Bill language approved by Congress this week forbids […]

Congress approved  the National Nuclear Security Administration’s final 2019 budget this week, including increased funding for maintenance and cleanup of buildings across the nuclear security enterprise, decreased funding for a controversial plutonium-disposal project, and $65 million to make a low-yield, submarine-launched, ballistic-missile warhead. The House approved the bill 377-20 on Thursday. The Senate approved the legislation 92-5 on […]

Former Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman died Sept. 7, news outlets reported. He was 79. Bodman led the Department of Energy from 2005 to 2009 during George W. Bush’x second term in office. During his tenure, Bodman fired Linton Brooks — the second full-time administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration — following security lapses at […]

The House and Senate this week sent a multiagency spending bill to President Donald Trump’s desk that boosts the Department of Energy’s budget for nuclear warhead modernization, and reached a compromise on separate appropriations legislation that would accelerate development of the missiles that will carry those weapons. Congress overwhelmingly approved the warhead funding as part of […]

The minibus appropriations bill on its way to President Donald Trump’s desk would block the independent federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board from downsizing by about 20 percent, and require the Department of Energy to explain why it has restricted some communications with the federal nuclear safety watchdog. Bill language approved by Congress this week forbids […]

The budget for the Department of Energy’s controversial Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) under construction in South Carolina would be cut to the lowest level at least since the start of this decade, under the 2019 DOE budget Congress approved this week. The  plant, being built by CB&I AREVA MOX Services, would get a […]

The Trump administration is now 0-2 in its efforts to persuade Congress to fund the long-proposed, still-unrealized nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Senate on Wednesday voted 92-5 in favor of the fiscal 2019 “minibus” appropriations bill covering the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other agencies. The House followed on […]

As Congress prepares to vote on a final Department of Energy budget that would substantially increase funding for nuclear-warhead refurbishments, lawmakers are also racing toward a compromise on a separate spending measure that could accelerate development of the missile that will carry those weapons. House and Senate lawmakers are scheduled today to meet for final […]

With funding for cleanup of the Department of Energy’s nuclear complex approaching a decade high, the agency must show what it can do with the extra cash, Energy Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar said Wednesday. The House and Senate this week unveiled a compromise version of their DOE-funding legislation for fiscal 2019, which would provide […]

While Congress is still not prepared to fund any work on the Yucca Mountain repository, it does plan to give the Department of Energy seemingly unwanted funding for other nuclear waste management operations in fiscal 2019. The compromise version of the multiagency “minibus” appropriations bill unveiled Monday would also cut nearly $60 million in funding […]

Congress’ final 2019 budget bill for the National Nuclear Security Administration, unveiled in detail Tuesday, would increase funding for maintenance and cleanup to buildings across the nuclear weapons complex, decrease funding for a controversial plutonium-disposal project, and provide initial funding to produce a low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic-missile warhead. The House and Senate are set to vote […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is scheduled to meet in private Sept. 17 to mull a potential safety recommendation to the Department of Energy, which earlier this year bounced back the independent federal watchdog’s first draft recommendation since 2015 with a curt refusal to comment. The four-member board did not disclose the nature […]

Congress appears ready to vote this week on the final version of the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2019 budget bill: a proposal that includes more funding than requested for both active nuclear weapons programs and Cold War cleanup. Although they have not scheduled the votes yet, the full House and Senate are set to approve […]

The Trump administration is now 0-2 in its efforts to persuade Congress to fund the long-proposed, still-unrealized nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The House and Senate late Monday afternoon released the conference report for the consensus version of the fiscal 2019 “minibus” appropriations bill covering the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, […]

Former Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman died Friday, news outlets reported. He was 79. Bodman led the Department of Energy from 2005 to 2009 during George W. Bush’x second term in office. During his tenure, Bodman fired Linton Brooks — the second full-time administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration — following security lapses at the […]

Members of Congress this week voiced their displeasure about a planned downsizing of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, and with a Department of Energy order that some, including the board itself, fear will lock the federal agency out of much of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. “In light of the many concerns with the […]

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates a House of Representatives bill to reauthorize appropriations for ongoing environmental remediation at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state would cost $345 million from fiscal 2019 through 2023. The figure is based on the estimated outlays for the five years, rather than the authorized level of […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — Department of Energy officials and industry executives expressed hope Wednesday that no last-minute snags hold up passage of a fiscal 2019 budget with healthy funding for the agency’s nuclear weapons and cleanup operations. “Who wants to do layoffs in an election year?” Eric Knox, vice president of strategic development, nuclear and environment, […]

Members of Congress this week voiced their displeasure about a planned downsizing of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, and with a Department of Energy order that some, including the board itself, fear will lock the federal agency out of much of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. “In light of the many concerns with the […]

The shape of the Capitol Hill defense establishment in the post-John McCain era formally gelled Wednesday, as Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) became chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former Arizona senator Jon Kyl was sworn in to serve the remainder of the McCain’s term. McCain died on Aug. 25 after ceasing treatment for brain cancer. […]

The United States does not need as many intercontinental ballistic missiles as the Air Force plans to build, and Congress should take another look at a low-yield warhead lawmakers just approved, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee said Wednesday. “I think we have too many ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles], absolutely,” Rep. Adam […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — Department of Energy officials and industry executives expressed hope Wednesday that no last-minute snags hold up passage of a fiscal 2019 budget with healthy funding for the agency’s nuclear weapons programs. “Who wants to do layoffs in an election year?” Eric Knox, vice president of strategic development, nuclear and environment, for the […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — While it was never formally canceled, there is little doubt the Obama administration’s initiative for consent-based siting of the nation’s nuclear waste has no future while its successor is in office, a senior Department of Energy official said Wednesday. The agency still has a web page for consent-based siting, but since early 2017 […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — There is little chance the appropriations bill covering the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission will provide any funding in fiscal 2019 for licensing the long-planned Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository in Nevada, issue observers said Wednesday. Politics are at the heart of the matter, specifically safeguarding Sen. Dean Heller’s (R-Nev.) chances […]

The shape of the Capitol Hill defense establishment in the post-John McCain era formally gelled Wednesday, as Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) became chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former Arizona senator Jon Kyl was sworn in to serve the remainder of the McCain’s term. McCain died on Aug. 25 after ceasing treatment for brain cancer. […]

There is little chance the final appropriations bill covering the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission will provide any funding in fiscal 2019 for licensing the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository in Nevada, one industry observer said Wednesday. Lawmakers on the House-Senate conference committee for the “minibus” that would fund several agencies met Wednesday, […]