Budget & Policy

In a vote more than a decade in the making, the House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would smooth the way for the Department of Energy to build a permanent nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018 (H.R. 3053), shepherded through […]

The House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee on Monday approved a roughly $36-billion fiscal 2019 Department of Energy budget bill, which heads to the full committee for a markup Wednesday. The Energy Department would receive a 5-percent budget raise from 2018, if the bill the House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee marked up […]

The House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee on Monday approved a $44.7-billion energy funding bill for fiscal 2019, including extra money for the planned Yucca Mountain radioactive waste disposal repository in Nevada. A full committee markup is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday. The bill report, which provides a more detailed look at proposed funding for […]

In a vote more than a decade in the making, the House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would smooth the way for the Department of Energy to build a permanent nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018 (H.R. 3053), shepherded through […]

After a marathon of amendments and votes that began Tuesday morning and ended Wednesday morning, the House Armed Services Committee defeated a doomed-to-fail Democratic attempt to prevent the National Nuclear Security Administration from starting work on a new low-yield nuclear warhead in fiscal year 2019. Ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who called the low-yield […]

The House of Representatives on Wednesday took the final step needed for floor debate today of legislation intended to push forward the long-delayed construction of a radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. In a nearly party-line vote of 224-184-1, with Republican lawmakers almost uniformly in support and all but three voting Democrats in opposition, […]

The House Rules Committee late Tuesday afternoon approved the rules of debate for a policy bill that would make it easier to send radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain in Nevada for permanent disposal. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018 is now slated for a floor vote Thursday. Lawmakers proposed 17 amendments to the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the end of March had $464,544 remaining in its available balance from the fund that pays for its licensing activities for the planned Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository in Nevada, according to the latest update to Congress. The agency spent $42,506 of its Nuclear Waste Fund carryover during the […]

Department of Energy veteran Theodore Garrish has become the agency’s acting general counsel — a position he has held before. Garrish, whose name appeared without announcement in the general counsel spot on a Department of Energy organization chart, was already the agency’s assistant secretary for international affairs. The Senate confirmed him for the post in April. It was […]

The House’s version of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act would require the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management office to notify Congress within two days if more workers are contaminated by radioactive material at the Hanford site in Washington state. The bill also would require the Environmental Management (EM) office to provide a report to […]

The House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee approved a roughly $36-billion Department of Energy budget bill Monday, which heads to the full committee for a markup that had not been scheduled at deadline for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. The Department of Energy (DOE) would receive a 5-percent budget raise over all from 2018, if […]

Congressional panels will mark up Department of Energy budget legislation this week, beginning with the House’s first draft of the agency’s 2019 budget Monday evening. The House Appropriations Energy and Water development subcommittee is scheduled to mark up its version of the agency’s 2019 budget Monday at 5:30 p.m. in Washington. Then, on Wednesday, the […]

Charles Verdon will get his confirmation hearing in the Senate Thursday morning, about two-and-a-half months after the White House nominated the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory hand to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s $10-plus-billion-a-year nuclear weapons branch. The White House nominated Verdon Feb. 27 and the Senate Armed Services Committee is set to consider the […]

About a year after it was introduced in the chamber, a bill that would smooth the way to send nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., will get a vote on the House floor Thursday. Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments (H.R. 3053) cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee last […]

After nearly a year, the full House of Representatives is expected next week to debate and vote on legislation intended to strengthen the federal government’s ability to build a radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments (H.R. 3053) cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee last June […]

By Marc Selinger Defense Daily Recent increases in U.S. defense spending have bolstered the Air Force’s nuclear modernization efforts, but the possible return of across-the-board budget cuts in FY 2020 looms as a potential threat to those programs, a service official said May 1. The two-year budget agreement that President Trump signed into law in February […]

The House of Representatives’ version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act would authorize $65 million in funding to begin work on a new low-yield nuclear warhead for submarine-launched ballistic missiles as part of an overall $15.3 billion National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) budget, according to a bill summary provided Friday by the House […]

The House of Representatives’ version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act would authorize $65 million in funding to begin work on a new low-yield nuclear warhead for submarine-launched ballistic missiles as part of an overall $15.3 billion National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) budget, according to a bill summary provided Friday by the House […]

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Proponents of advancing disposition of the U.S. stockpile of used nuclear reactor fuel must make their voices heard in Congress, speakers said Tuesday at an industry conference here. The need for advocacy on Capitol Hill was a common refrain during the first day of the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Used Fuel Management Conference […]

WASHINGTON —The full House Armed Services Committee plans to authorize production of the low-yield nuclear warhead sought by the Donald Trump administration, a lawmaker said here Thursday. The new Nuclear Posture Review issued in February calls for the new weapon. For fiscal 2019, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has proposed spending $65 million to develop […]

WASHINGTON — There will be no discussion of low-yield warheads, plutonium pits, or a controversial plutonium-disposal plant today when the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee marks up its portion of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). However, the bill will recommend setting the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) fiscal 2019 budget higher even […]

Congressional markups of the fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill begin at the House Armed Services Committee on April 26. The committee’s six subcommittees will take up the legislation, starting with readiness at 9 a.m., emerging threats and capabilities at 10 a.m., military personnel at 11 a.m., tactical air and land forces at 12:30 p.m., […]

The three current members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission are scheduled to appear before the Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee Wednesday to testify on the agency’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal. The nuclear industry regulator has requested $971 million for the budget year starting Oct. 1. That would be up from the $911 […]

The Energy Communities Alliance got some good news last month when the omnibus budget for fiscal 2018 kept in place existing Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) agreements, ECA Director of Nuclear Energy Programs Kara Colton said Monday. The budget does call for a report on how the Energy Department formulates PILT payments to communities […]

The White House wants $65 million in fiscal 2019 for the Department of Energy to start work on the low-yield ballistic-missile warhead called for in the latest Nuclear Posture Review: a weapon Congress must authorize before the agency can start building it. The Donald Trump administration made the funding request official on April 13 in […]

Over 400 days into the Donald Trump administration, two of the four National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) leadership slots requiring Senate confirmation remain empty, and there is no nominee for one of them. Lisa Gordon-Hagerty was confirmed as NNSA administrator in February, and Brent Park followed her into NNSA headquarters in March as deputy administrator […]

Over 400 days into the Donald Trump administration, two of the four National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) leadership slots requiring Senate confirmation remain empty, and there is no nominee for one of them. Lisa Gordon-Hagerty was confirmed as NNSA administrator in February, and Brent Park followed her into NNSA headquarters in March as deputy administrator […]

The White House wants $65 million in fiscal 2019 for the Department of Energy to start work on the low-yield ballistic-missile warhead called for in the latest Nuclear Posture Review: a weapon Congress must authorize before the agency can start building it. The Donald Trump administration made the funding request official Friday in proposed amendments […]

Leaders of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will appear before the Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee on Wednesday to discuss the agency’s budget request for fiscal 2019. The Army Corps overall is requesting $4.8 billion for the budget year beginning Oct. 1. That would include $120 million for the Formerly Utilized Sites […]

The Energy Communities Alliance got some good news last month when the omnibus budget for fiscal 2018 kept in place existing Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) agreements, ECA Director of Nuclear Energy Programs Kara Colton said Monday. The budget does call for a report on how the Energy Department formulates PILT payments to communities […]