Budget & Policy

Energy Secretary Rick Perry and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley have been named as regular attendees on the National Security Council’s Principals Committee, according to a new national security presidential memorandum. The memo, published Wednesday in the Federal Register, notes the addition of those two positions as well as the reinstatement of […]

A group of House lawmakers from states with legacy nuclear cleanup sites overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dusted off their annual plea for more program funding with a request for $150 million to the leaders of the House budget panel that writes the first drafts of the federal government’s annual energy and water […]

WASHINGTON — As contractors and local stakeholders wait to learn how much more funding their Cold War nuclear-cleanup projects might get under the Trump administration’s proposed $500-million budget increase for the Energy Department office that manages this work, the head of that office focused ruminations about the fiscal 2018 federal budget here Wednesday on projects that […]

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. Brouillette is currently senior vice president at the United Services […]

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority expects to spend £3.24 billion ($4.03 billion) in its just-started 2017-2018 financial year to carry out its work of decommissioning 17 nuclear facilities around the United Kingdom, according to the organization’s latest business plan. The U.K. government will provide £2.36 billion of the funding and commercial operations the remaining £0.88 billion. […]

The White House’s proposed budget cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency would dramatically delay the end of nuclear cleanup at the Hanford Site, the head of Washington state’s nuclear cleanup oversight program told lawmakers Wednesday in a Capitol Hill hearing. Hanford has “historically stood out for the slow pace of cleanup,” and the pace would […]

The White House’s proposed budget cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency would dramatically delay the end of nuclear cleanup at the Hanford Site, the head of Washington state’s nuclear cleanup oversight program told lawmakers Wednesday in a Capitol Hill hearing. Hanford has “historically stood out for the slow pace of cleanup,” and the pace would […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is after the Energy Department for a long-overdue update on the agency’s plan to tighten emergency preparedness at active and former nuclear weapons sites. Sean Sullivan, appointed DNFSB chairman by President Donald Trump in January, made the request in a Feb. 16 letter to then-acting Energy Secretary Grace […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is after the Energy Department for a long-overdue update on the agency’s plan to tighten emergency preparedness at active and former nuclear weapons sites. Sean Sullivan, appointed DNFSB chairman by President Donald Trump in January, made the request in a Feb. 16 letter to then-acting Energy Secretary Grace […]

U.S. and international officials are wrestling with the question of what the State Department funding cuts the White House proposed last week would mean for U.S. diplomacy worldwide. In the fiscal 2018 budget blueprint released last week, the White House requested $25.6 billion in base funding for the State Department, or 28 percent less than […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is after the Energy Department for a long-overdue update on the agency’s plan to tighten emergency preparedness at active and former nuclear weapons sites. Sean Sullivan, appointed DNFSB chairman by President Donald Trump in January, made the request in a Feb. 16 letter to then-acting Energy Secretary Grace […]

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt on Monday endorsed a legislative resolution reaffirming the state’s opposition to storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. The resolution was introduced last week in the Nevada Legislature, after the White House released its fiscal 2018 budget proposal, which included $120 million for the Energy Department to […]

President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal calls for $120 million to restart licensing activities for the mothballed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, and in the meantime for a “robust” interim storage program. “These investments would accelerate progress on fulfilling the Federal Government’s obligations to address nuclear waste, enhance national security, and reduce […]

The Energy Department’s Cold War nuclear-cleanup budget would rise more than 5 percent in fiscal 2018 to the highest inflation-adjusted level in nearly 10 years, if a federal budget proposed Thursday by the Trump administration becomes law. The White House proposed a roughly $6.5 billion budget for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) for the budget […]

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order directing federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, to eliminate “duplication and redundancy” as part of what he called a “long-overdue reorganization of our federal departments and agencies.” Trump said the cost-cutting effort would be led by Mick Mulvaney, the newly installed director of the White House […]

The Trump administration’s budget outline for 2018 proposes an 11 percent funding increase for the National Nuclear Security Administration while cutting overall funding for the Department of Energy. The White House released the budget blueprint Thursday, requesting $28 billion for DOE, down $1.7 billion or 5.6 percent from its 2017 annualized level under the continuing […]

Motor carriers of radioactive sources are not directly inspected for compliance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s security requirements, the Government Accountability Office found in a report released last week. Radioactive sources, used worldwide for medical, industrial, research, and other applications, are vulnerable to theft by groups seeking to create radiological “dirty bombs,” or devices that […]

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order directing federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, to eliminate “duplication and redundancy” as part of what he called a “long-overdue reorganization of our federal departments and agencies.” The text of the executive order was not available at press time for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, and details […]

Motor carriers of radioactive sources are not directly inspected for compliance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s security requirements, the Government Accountability Office found in a report released Thursday. Radioactive sources, used worldwide for medical, industrial, research, and other applications, are vulnerable to theft by groups seeking to create radiological “dirty bombs,” or devices that use […]

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Wednesday introduced legislation that would limit funding for the Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) nuclear cruise missile, a controversial weapon intended to replace the aging air-launched cruise missile. Democrats in Congress say the missile, expected to cost roughly $20 billion to $30 billion over 20 years for approximately 1,000 missiles, would increase […]

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Wednesday introduced legislation that would limit funding for the Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) nuclear cruise missile, a controversial weapon intended to replace the aging air-launched cruise missile. Democrats in Congress say the missile, expected to cost roughly $20 billion to $30 billion over 20 years, would increase the risk of nuclear […]

Three Democratic Senators on Monday asked newly minted Energy Secretary Rick Perry to instate new whistleblower protections at the agency that the Trump administration delayed as part of a government-wide regulatory freeze. The whistleblower protection was part of a rule published in the waning days of Barack Obama’s administration that clarified DOE may assess civil penalties against contractors that […]

The absence of senior leadership at the Trump administration’s Cabinet agencies threatens to leave contractors without clear policy direction on matters including the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons and cleanup complexes, executives said Tuesday. There is no imminent end in sight to this dilemma, they acknowledged. Panelists at the ExchangeMonitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit spoke two […]

The Senate on Thursday confirmed James Richard “Rick” Perry as U.S. secretary of energy, installing the former Texas governor to the government’s top nuclear weapons, waste, and energy post after an uncontroversial 62-37 vote. Every Senate Republican and 10 Democrats voted for Perry. All 37 “no” votes were from Democratic senators, plus Vermont independent Sen. […]

The Savannah River Site is on pace to meet its fiscal 2017 goal to double-stack and safely store 200 canisters of treated radioactive waste, according to a site official. In October, liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR) began stacking canisters of vitrified waste on top of each other in Glass Waste Storage Building 1 […]

The White House will pitch a big increase for defense spending in fiscal 2018, while other parts of the federal government will have to “do more with less,” President Donald Trump said Monday. “This defense spending increase will be offset and paid for by finding greater savings and efficiencies across the federal government,” Trump said […]

The Senate on Thursday confirmed James Richard “Rick” Perry as U.S. secretary of energy, installing the former Texas governor to the government’s top nuclear weapons, waste, and energy post after an uncontroversial 62-37 vote. Perry was sworn in hours later and addressed employees at DOE headquarters for the first time today. Every Senate Republican and 10 […]

If the Senate maintains the pace it has set this week in confirming President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry will be secretary of energy before the weekend. Perry is one of six nominees for whom Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) began confirmation proceedings on the Senate floor last month. On Wednesday morning, […]

Several nongovernmental organizations on Wednesday enouraged Congress to discontinue funding for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility being built at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. The Project on Government Oversight, Savannah River Site Watch, Taxpayers for Common Sense, and National Taxpayers Union signed the letter sent to lawmakers, highlighting a newly […]

The White House will pitch a big increase for defense spending in fiscal 2018, while other parts of the federal government will have to “do more with less,” President Donald Trump said Monday. “This defense spending increase will be offset and paid for by finding greater savings and efficiencies across the federal government,” Trump said […]