Budget & Policy

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed an omnibus budget that would give the Energy Department about $30 billion for the remainder of fiscal 2017: a roughly 3-percent raise from the last budget year, but more than 2 percent less overall than the Obama administration requested for the agency more than a year ago. Within the total, […]

The United States must increase its share of the global market for nuclear energy technologies if it wants to ensure that customer nations are securing sensitive materials and equipment against illicit uses, the head of the nuclear industry’s lobbying arm and a prominent nonproliferation advocate said Tuesday. Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the Nuclear […]

There is no funding for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada in the omnibus appropriations bill Congress is expected to pass this week to keep the Energy Department and the rest of the federal government funded through September. The Donald Trump administration wants to restart DOE’s application to license Yucca Mountain with […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Monday released an omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal 2017 that suggests congressional support for former President Barack Obama’s proposed alternative method of plutonium disposition, raising questions about the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility under construction in South Carolina. The omnibus bill provides $12.9 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) would wind up with an annualized budget of $6.4 billion for fiscal 2017, about 3 percent more than last year, if an omnibus spending bill unveiled Monday becomes law. The proposed budget, which is expected to pass Congress, gives the Environmental Management office about 5 percent more, […]

The head of the lobbying arm for the nuclear energy industry is urging the Trump administration to halt what she called “misleading budget tactics” by its predecessor related to the Nuclear Waste Fund. A federal appeals court in November 2013 directed that the Department of Energy stop collecting payments into the fund from utilities because […]

Editor’s note: This is the final in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office and the U.S. nuclear deterrent during the new administration’s crucial first days. The Donald Trump administration continues to shape its nuclear arms policy even as it very slowly advances its efforts […]

Congress on Friday passed a one-week continuing resolution that would hold the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup budget at the fiscal 2016 level of just over $6 billion through May 5. President Donald Trump was expected to sign the bill but had not at deadline Friday for Weapons Complex Monitor. The latest bill contained no new […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration may be underestimating the costs of its various weapons modernization programs by up to billions of dollars, raising concerns that some life-extension programs might be underfunded or even deferred, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Wednesday. The report said fiscal 2017 budget materials from the semiautonomous Department of Energy […]

The Trump administration appeared to harden its resolve to open the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository over host state Nevada’s objections this week, even as word leaked that a site contractor was marshalling its workforce to restart the project and a House panel held a hearing on new pro-Yucca legislation. On Wednesday, after the hearing […]

Congress on Friday passed a one-week continuing resolution that would hold the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup budget at the fiscal 2016 level of just over $6 billion through May 5. President Donald Trump was expected to sign the bill but had not at deadline Friday for Weapons Complex Monitor. The latest bill contained no new […]

WASHINGTON — AREVA Federal Services is preparing for the Energy Department to formally announce plans to restart the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada “in the coming weeks,” according to an undated, internal company document. Weapons Complex Morning Briefing obtained a copy of the document, which an AREVA spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed was a page from […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration should better address concerns over the affordability of its nuclear modernization programs in future agency documents, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Wednesday. The report said the NNSA’s fiscal 2017 budget materials do not align with its modernization plans, “raising concerns about the affordability of NNSA’s planned […]

A Democratic congressman from Illinois said Thursday he is serving notice to his colleagues against cutting the U.S. contribution to the United Nations agency that is taking an increasing leadership role in global efforts to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear weapons. The United States annually provides nearly $200 million in support of the International Atomic […]

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) continued to pound the pulpit this week in opposition to the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in his state, vowing to lead the fight against the Trump administration’s apparent plan to revive the dormant project. “I’m standing between this Republican administration and Yucca, and I will lead this fight,” […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration said Monday it is seeking providers for the transport of radioactive irradiated tritium-producing burnable absorber rods (TPBARs). The request for information also said the agency wants to “identify small business concerns with the capability to perform the services” in order to assess a possible set-aside. The acquisition is meant to […]

The contractor for cleanup of the former fast-breeder reactor research and development facility at Dounreay, Scotland, said last week it anticipates cutting up to 200 jobs over the coming year as decommissioning progresses. Roughly 10 percent to 15 percent of staff would be offered “voluntary arrangements” to exit their positions in that time frame, Dounreay […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration intends to award a sole-source contract for night vision goggles and accessories by Sept. 30, according to a special notice posted last week. A small business set-aside acquisition is expected to procure binocular night vision device kits in support of the NNSA’s Office of Secure Transportation, which oversees the transport […]

One, and only one, of Nevada’s U.S. senators on Thursday asked the Senate Appropriations Committee not to include any funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the stopgap spending bill Congress must produce this month to keep the federal government funded through September. “As you finalize legislation to continue funding for the Fiscal […]

The Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday issued guidance directing federal agencies to make workforce reductions in accordance with the White House’s budget blueprint and develop a plan to reform departmental activities in an attempt to right-size their hiring practices. OMB Director Mick Mulvaney announced a day earlier that the government hiring freeze in place […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is scheduled this spring to release a long-awaited physical security infrastructure plan as it wrestles with outdated alarms, sensors, and other protective measures at its sites, the Government Accountability Office said in a report Tuesday. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency charged with sustaining the U.S. deterrent oversees four facilities that hold […]

The contractor for the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee should in a matter of months deliver a new cost estimate and other information needed for the Department of Energy to sign off on construction of the complex. The Department of Energy expects by the end of fiscal 2017, Sept. 30, […]

One, and only one, of Nevada’s U.S. senators on Thursday asked the Senate Appropriations Committee not to include any funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the stopgap spending bill Congress must produce this month to keep the federal government funded through September. “As you finalize legislation to continue funding for the Fiscal […]

The latest step in the Trump administration’s plan to shrink the federal government, released Wednesday, directs agencies to base their fiscal 2018 headcounts on a budget proposal that prescribes an almost 10-percent funding increase for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. The Environmental Management (EM) office, which cleans up nuclear waste created by Cold […]

The Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday issued guidance directing federal agencies to make workforce reductions in accordance with the White House’s budget blueprint and develop a plan to reform departmental activities in an attempt to right-size their hiring practices. OMB Director Mick Mulvaney announced a day earlier that the government hiring freeze in place […]

The latest step in the Trump administration’s plan to shrink the federal government, released Wednesday, directs agencies to base their fiscal 2018 headcounts on a budget proposal that prescribes an almost 10-percent funding increase for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. The Environmental Management (EM) office, which cleans up nuclear waste created by Cold War-era […]

The contractor for the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee is preparing a new cost estimate and other information needed for the Department of Energy to sign off on construction of the complex. The Department of Energy expects by the end of fiscal 2017, Sept. 30, to receive a design that […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is scheduled this spring to release a physical security infrastructure plan as it wrestles with outdated alarms, sensors, and other protective measures at its sites, the Government Accountability Office said in a report Tuesday. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency charged with sustaining the U.S. deterrent oversees four facilities that […]

WASHINGTON — As contractors and locals wait to learn how much more funding their Cold War nuclear-cleanup projects might get in fiscal 2018 under the Trump administration’s proposed budget increase for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management, the head of that office on Wednesday focused ruminations about next year’s budget on work that hasn’t […]

President Donald Trump’s choice for deputy energy secretary, former DOE and Capitol Hill hand and current lobbyist Dan Brouillette, is said to have been handpicked by new Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Trump gave formal notice that he intends to nominate Bouillette in a statement posted online Tuesday. The nomination had not been sent to the U.S. Senate […]