Budget & Policy

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) is preparing legislation aimed at restarting licensing efforts for the mothballed Yucca Mountain repository with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a staffer confirmed Wednesday. Shimkus spokesman Jordan Haverly said the bill would address controversial land and water rights in Nevada that the Energy Department has said make the project “unworkable.” The legislation, […]

President Donald Trump’s apparent preference for U.S. nuclear might over stockpile reductions does not necessarily preclude the United States and Russia from reaching a deal to extend the New START accord – or even sealing an all-new arms control plan, experts said. During his campaign and in the early weeks of his presidency, Trump has […]

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) is preparing legislation aimed at restarting licensing efforts for the mothballed Yucca Mountain repository with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a staffer confirmed Wednesday. Shimkus spokesman Jordan Haverly said the bill would address controversial land and water rights in Nevada that the Energy Department has said make the project “unworkable.” The legislation, which […]

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up on news affecting U.S. nuclear cleanup during the […]

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up on news affecting the U.S. nuclear deterrent during […]

It could take until the end of February for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, President Donald Trump’s energy secretary-designate, to be approved for the Cabinet post to which he was officially nominated about two months ago. On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) began procedural work that would set up six of Trump’s Cabinet […]

Republicans in both houses of Congress on Thursday introduced legislation intended to press Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, following reports that the nation has deployed a new cruise missile in contravention of the accord. The Intermediate-Range Forces Treaty Preservation Act, from Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), […]

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up to date on news affecting Department of Energy […]

A group of utilities on Tuesday sued the state of Illinois, arguing that a recently passed package of nuclear subsidies improperly intrudes on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authority over the wholesale electric market. Led by the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of […]

South Carolina’s new governor thinks the state Attorney General’s Office should refile its $100 million plutonium disposition claim against the Department of Energy. Meanwhile, a spokesperson said Attorney General Alan Wilson is still contemplating his next move after a federal judge last week dismissed the state’s monetary claim over DOE’s failure to meet its plutonium […]

Cold War nuclear cleanup managed by the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for more than half of the federal government’s total environmental liability of $447 billion, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said this week. The cost of the remaining cleanup work across DOE’s nuclear complex was estimated at $257 billion as of […]

South Carolina’s new governor thinks the state Attorney General’s Office should refile its $100 million plutonium disposition claim against the Department of Energy. Meanwhile, a spokesperson said Attorney General Alan Wilson is still contemplating his next move after a federal judge last week dismissed the state’s monetary claim over DOE’s failure to meet its plutonium […]

Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily The projected cost to operate, maintain, and modernize America’s nuclear forces during the next 10 years is $400 billion, an average of $40 billion annually, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). CBO’s new estimate of nuclear force plans for the departments of Defense and Energy is based on fiscal 2017 […]

President Donald Trump has yet to lay out a straightforward message regarding his approach to nuclear arms control, but any pullback from the U.S.-Russian New START accord could be unfortunate at best, according to Thomas Countryman, who last month ended his decades-long career at the State Department as the agency’s top arms control official. “So […]

The Department of Energy is responsible for the overwhelming majority of the federal government’s environmental liability, which has more than doubled from $212 billion to $447 billion over the last two decades, the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday. DOE represents 83 percent of that liability: $372 billion as of fiscal 2016; it is followed distantly […]

Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published Monday in observance of Presidents Day. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

A group of utilities on Tuesday sued the state of Illinois, arguing that a recently passed package of nuclear subsidies improperly intrudes on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authority over the wholesale electric market. Led by the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, […]

The United States appears set to spend $400 billion on its nuclear deterrent over the next decade, with spending rising as weapons modernization advances, the Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday. “If carried out, the plans for nuclear forces delineated in the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) and the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) budget requests for fiscal […]

Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Friday toured the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California while discussing solutions for managing American nuclear waste. Shimkus, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which holds jurisdiction over nuclear waste management, has longed voiced his support for the planned repository at […]

The Senate could vote this week to confirm former Texas Governor Rick Perry as U.S. secretary of energy, minority Democrats on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee said Friday. “No confirmed dates yet on floor debate or votes on the Perry and [Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.)] nominations, although we suspect at least one may move […]

Republican lawmakers in both chambers of Congress last week introduced legislation that would cut U.S. funding to international body that oversees Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The bills, from Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), would prohibit funding for the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization, with the exception of money […]

Legislation supporting consolidated interim storage for nuclear waste is unlikely to get consideration in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a committee aide said Wednesday. The Interim Consolidated Storage Act, the latest version of which was introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in January, would allow the Department of Energy to enter into public-private […]

The South Dakota House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that would require the Legislature’s or governor’s approval for processing or depositing high-level nuclear waste in the state. House Bill 1071, introduced by Rep. Lana Greenfield (R), will need confirmation from the Senate and Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R). Nuclear waste has been a controversial issue in […]

One of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nonproliferation technology development programs does not sufficiently track its project outcomes, the Government Accountability Office found in a newly released report. The NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) implements programs worldwide meant to eliminate and help prevent the spread of sensitive nuclear material. DNN features two programs […]

President Donald Trump on Thursday faced a fresh round of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and arms control advocates following a report that he had decried the New START nuclear accord during his first phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Citing several sources, Reuters reported that Trump during the Jan. 28 call had to ask an […]

A federal judge has dismissed South Carolina’s claim seeking $100 million for the missed plutonium disposal deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs on Wednesday also sent another request against the Department of Energy – for the removal of 1 metric ton of nuclear […]

A federal judge has dismissed South Carolina’s claim seeking $100 million for the missed plutonium disposal deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs on Wednesday also sent another request against the Department of Energy – for the removal of 1 metric of weapons-usable plutonium […]

A Washington state House of Representatives committee heard testimony from ill Hanford Site workers and their families on Thursday that even critics of a proposed workers’ compensation bill called compelling. But those opponents told the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee that while they were sympathetic to the suffering of the workers who testified, House […]

At least one Energy Department rule, which would strengthen protections for whistleblowers at agency contractors, was delayed by the regulatory freeze President Donald Trump put in place last month, a DOE spokeswoman confirmed Thursday. The new rule, published by now-former President Barack Obama’s administration, clarified that DOE may assess civil penalties against contractors that retaliate against […]

A federal judge has dismissed South Carolina’s claim seeking $100 million for the missed plutonium disposal deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs on Wednesday also sent another request against the Department of Energy – for the removal of 1 metric of weapons-usable plutonium […]