Budget & Policy

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who this week voted against the Senate’s fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act because it would authorize the Department of Energy to create a low-yield nuclear warhead, has signaled her support for a 2019 budget bill that actually funds the weapon. However, Feinstein also wants to amend the spending bill to […]

The Energy Department last week issued the first of what it said will be annual summaries of the finances for the federal fund intended to pay for the radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. In a letter attached to the summary, DOE Deputy General Counsel Eric Fygi said the department was acceding to the […]

The Senate on Tuesday began debate on the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2019 budget bill, but adjourned after voting only on a few amendments unrelated to the agency’s nuclear weapons and waste programs. Senators were set to resume debate Wednesday and could vote on the measure this week. Like the House, the Senate is considering […]

The Senate late Monday approved a fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that would clear the way for the Department of Energy to build one, and possibly more, low-yield nuclear warheads. The Senate bill also would prohibit DOE from dismantling the unfinished Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina for at least a year, […]

A newly updated organizational chart suggests the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management has made further changes to its management hierarchy. Angela Watmore as of June 1 is listed as an acting chief of staff and senior adviser within DOE’s nuclear cleanup branch. The slot was described as “vacant” in an April 19 version of […]

The Senate was set to resume consideration of its 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) today, then begin consideration of a three-bill appropriations package that includes the Department of Energy’s 2019 budget. The Senate could vote on the NDAA as soon as 5:30 p.m. today. The bill sets policy and spending limits for defense programs […]

Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) late Tuesday secured her party’s nomination to oppose Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) for a U.S. Senate seat in November’s general election. Rosen, who was endorsed by the Democratic National Committee shortly after declaring she would run to take Heller’s seat, defeated four opponents in Nevada’s closed Demcoratic primary. Rosen collected 77 […]

The Trump administration has officially nominated former corporate environmental lawyer Teri Donaldson to be the Department of Energy’s inspector general, but a logjam in the Senate means it could be a while before she gets a nomination hearing. Donaldson, currently the general counsel for Sen. John Barraso (R-Wyo.), was officially nominated Monday evening, when the […]

The Department of Energy could be allowed to develop new nuclear warheads, or modify existing ones, without permission from Congress, after the Senate on Thursday defeated an amendment to its 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The version of the defense policy bill pending before the Senate would still authorize $65 million in 2019 spending […]

The Trump administration has officially nominated former corporate environmental lawyer Teri Donaldson to be the Department of Energy’s inspector general, but a logjam in the Senate means it could be a while before she gets a nomination hearing. Donaldson, currently the general counsel for Sen. John Barraso (R-Wyo.), was officially nominated Monday evening, when the […]

The federal fund intended pay for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada was valued at $44.5 billion at the end of fiscal 2017, down by $1.5 billion from the prior year, according to a newly released report from the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office. The Nuclear Waste Fund as of Sept. 30, […]

After a nail-biter of an amendment vote Wednesday, the Department of Energy may still have to seek congressional approval to start work on new nuclear warheads, if the Senate’s version of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act becomes law. However, the measure still would authorize $65 million for the department to start work in fiscal […]

The Trump administration has officially nominated former corporate environmental lawyer Teri Donaldson to be the Department of Energy’s inspector general, but a logjam in the Senate means it could be a while before she gets a nomination hearing. Donaldson, currently the general counsel for Sen. John Barraso (R-Wyo.), was officially nominated Monday evening, when the […]

Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) late Tuesday secured her party’s nomination to oppose Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) for a U.S. Senate seat in November’s general election. Rosen, who was endorsed by the Democratic National Committee shortly after declaring she would run to take Heller’s seat, defeated four opponents in Nevada’s closed Demcoratic primary. Rosen collected 77 […]

The federal fund intended pay for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada was valued at $44.5 billion at the end of fiscal 2017, down by $1.5 billion from the prior year, according to a newly released report from the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office. The Nuclear Waste Fund as of Sept. 30, […]

A group of Senate Democrats led by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) wants to strip funding for a new low-yield nuclear warhead out of the Senate’s 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and use the money to develop a plan to help verify North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, should that ever happen. Markey introduced his amendment to […]

President Donald Trump last week said he intends to nominated Teri Donaldson, Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-Wyo.) general counsel and a former practitioner of corporate environmental law, to be the Department of Energy’s inspector general. Donaldson moved to Washington less than a year ago to start working for Barrasso’s office, where she has served since September, […]

After clearing a procedural threshold Monday, the Senate is set to debate its version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA): a bill that would give the National Nuclear Security Administration the authority to begin work on at least one low-yield nuclear warhead. The bill was put on the Senate floor last week, […]

The Senate plans to resume deliberations late Monday of the fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill. The upper chamber’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 would allow $65 million for production of new low-yield nuclear warheads for ballistic missiles. The weapon would be developed by converting the W76 […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration did a generally good job estimating its share of the cost to upgrade the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb, but the agency has yet to explain a roughly $2.5 billion gap between its forecast and one provided by a nominally independent intra-agency office, according to the Government Accountability Office. The National […]

The House of Representatives on Friday approved legislation that fully funds a new low-yield warhead in fiscal 2019, shies away from a future warhead usable by both Air Force and Navy missiles, and potentially trips up the National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan to make warhead cores in two states. The House voted 235-179, essentially along […]

The Senate adjourned for the week Thursday without passing a 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that would authorize work on a new low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead, and delay the National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan to begin producing plutonium pits in South Carolina. A report appended to the massive military policy bill would also ratchet up […]

The Energy Department’s staggering environmental liability at its Manhattan Project and Cold War nuclear sites keeps Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White “up at night,” she said Thursday in Washington, D.C. Environmental liability is one of the U.S. government’s larger line items, behind the federal debt and entitlement programs such as Social […]

For the second year in a row, the full House has passed a Department of Energy budget bill that would fund the agency’s application to license Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., as a permanent repository for nuclear waste. And, also for the second consecutive year, the measure faces stiff opposition in the Senate, where […]

Colorado Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne on Wednesday signed legislation enabling the state to establish regulations for management of certain radioactive materials. Lynne assumed the duties of governor while Gov. John Hickenlooper was out of the state. The state’s Radiation Control Act prohibited Colorado from establishing regulations on naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally […]

By John Stang In the wake of President Donald Trump ordering the federal government to help keep struggling nuclear and coal-fired power plants afloat, FirstEnergy Solutions contends it still needs help from the governments of Ohio and Pennsylvania to keep its four reactors online. Several news organizations reported a week ago that Trump has ordered Energy […]

The House of Representatives is set to debate a 2019 Department of Energy budget bill today, including amendments that would cut or reshuffle funding for the agency’s nuclear waste and weapons programs. Among these is an amendment offered by a cadre of Democratic lawmakers to cut $65 million in funding for a low-yield nuclear warhead […]

Besides backing a new low-yield warhead and at least one more year of building a plutonium disposal plant, the Senate Armed Services Committee is pressing the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to exchange some weapons personnel with the Pentagon, in a bid to improve relations between the government’s major nuclear weapons agencies. That is according […]

The Senate’s latest National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would allow the Department of Energy to spend $5.63 billion on defense environmental cleanup operations in fiscal 2019. That matches the department’s request for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, but it is $50 million lower than the level authorized in the House NDAA. The Senate measure […]

Partisan gridlock over federal judges and intragovernmental strife over trade tariffs threaten to bog down Senate debate on a 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that would be key for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) work on a new low-yield nuclear-warhead. In a Tuesday email, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said […]