Budget & Policy

A group of Democratic House lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation aimed at requiring the expeditious removal of spent nuclear fuel from spent fuel pools to dry cask storage. Reps. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) submitted the “Dry Cask Storage Act” (H.R. 3587), which largely resembles a bill […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/9/2015 The Department of Energy has issued a revised funding direction that enables Portsmouth Site contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth to postpone up to 500 previously announced layoffs at least until Congress passes its final fiscal 2016 appropriations bill, after which DOE is expected to review the legislative language and make a final […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/9/2015 Officials are seeking a $27 million plus-up over President Barack Obama’s original fiscal 2016 request for nuclear materials funding within the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), according to an Oct. 5 internal email obtained by WC Monitor that was sent from Savannah River Site (SRS) Office of Integration […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/9/2015 Top Officials Say Dilution and Disposal Cheaper, More Practical Future costs and risks to build the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility are significantly greater than those associated with a dilute-and-dispose approach for 34 metric tons of excess U.S. weapon-grade plutonium, according to the executive summary of the second phase of […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/9/2015 The Senate on Wednesday voted 70-27 to pass the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2016, following an Oct. 1 House vote of 270-156 to pass the bill. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the bill because of language that pluses up his fiscal 2016 […]

Top Officials Say Dilution and Disposal Cheaper, More Practical Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/9/2015 Future costs and risks to build the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility are significantly greater than those associated with a dilute-and-dispose approach for 34 metric tons of excess U.S. weapon-grade plutonium, according to the executive summary of the second phase of […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/9/2015 The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2016 passed the Senate this week in a 70-27 vote, moving the bill – identical to the version passed by the House of Representatives last week – to the desk of President Barack Obama, who has said he will veto it. The […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/9/2015 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) faces employee morale, recruitment, and retention challenges in the next year, according to a report released earlier this month by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector General’s Office (IG). The board, though, has increased its performance on staff engagement significantly,  the Office of Personnel […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/9/2015 Geoscientists and engineers specializing in carbon storage this week called for the consideration of carbon capture and storage as a mitigation option during the climate agreement negotiations to take place in Paris in December. In an Oct. 8 letter sent to Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/9/2015 The Environmental Protection Agency’s recently finalized carbon emissions standard for existing coal-fired power plants and the associated proposed federal implementation plan are no more than a backdoor way for the agency to institute a cap and trade program, Republican members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Energy […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/9/2015 The United States ranks among the best countries in the world in the development of a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for handling carbon capture and storage (CSS) activities, according to a recently released analysis by the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute. Five countries –  the U.S., Canada, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/9/2015 The United States needs for the global climate agreement hoped to be struck at the end of the year to be nonbinding because it will not be ratified by the Senate. Because of this, other countries have built-in leverage going into the negotiations, Lisa DeMarco, a partner at Zizzo […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/9/2015 The Obama administration late last week nominated John Kotek as assistant secretary for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. Kotek currently serves as acting assistant secretary for NE after former Assistant Secretary Pete Lyons retired earlier this summer. Kotek previously served as the staff director for the […]

The Energy Department is “getting close to finalizing” a three-month to one-year plan intended to allow the avoidance of some 500 previously expected involuntary layoffs of workers performing decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) work at the Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told senators yesterday. President Barack Obama last week signed into law […]

The Obama Administration late last week nominated John Kotek for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy’s Assistant Secretary position. Kotek currently serves as Acting Assistant Secretary for the office following the former Assistant Secretary Pete Lyons stepping down earlier this summer. Kotek previously served as the former staff director for the Blue Ribbon […]

The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee will on Wednesday host a hearing on “Plutonium Disposition and the MOX Project,” where members will testimony from National Nuclear Security Administrator Frank Klotz, John MacWilliams, senior advisor to the Energy Secretary, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will […]

Senate to Vote on Bill Next Week   Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/2/2015 The House of Representatives yesterday passed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2016 yesterday by a vote of 270-156, and the Senate plans to vote on its version of the bill next week, in the face of a threatened veto from […]

Brian Bradley and Jeremy Dillon WC Monitor 10/2/2015 Congress this week passed a continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through Dec. 11 at fiscal 2015-enacted levels and avoids a government shutdown. The CR gives Congress an additional 10 weeks to work toward a budget solution, but with uncertainty in the House following Speaker […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/2/2015 Refusing to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants is nothing more than a cry for attention by states, Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA), said this week. Under the rule, the Clean Power Plan, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/2/2015 Congress this week passed a continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through Dec. 11 at fiscal 2015 enacted levels and avoids a government shutdown. The CR gives Congress an additional 10 weeks to work toward a budget solution, but with uncertainty in the House following Speaker John […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/2/2015 The House of Representatives passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2016 yesterday in a 270-156 vote that authorizes President Barack Obama’s total $611.9 billion request for defense discretionary spending. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill next week before sending it to […]

Senate to Vote on Bill Next Week Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/2/2015 Amid Capitol Hill rumblings of a possible cancellation of the beleaguered Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 passed this week by the House would require Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz to re-baseline project construction and […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 10/2/2015 Congress this week passed a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the federal government through Dec. 11 at fiscal 2015 enacted levels and prevents a government shutdown. The CR, which President Barack Obama signed on Wednesday, provides Congress an additional 10 weeks to work toward a budget solution for fiscal […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/2/2015 The Department of Energy this week returned to the U.S. Treasury Department $1.27 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds earmarked for carbon capture and storage projects. This sum consists of unspent money from four different projects, one that was shut down and three that were unable to […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/2/2015 The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is urging the Department of Energy (DOE) to re-evaluate the benefits package at the heart of the strike at the Pantex nuclear weapons plant and calling for special attention toward the facility’s deferred maintenance issues. Unionized workers at the Pantex Plant have […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/2/2015 Following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent announcement that his nation will institute a cap and trade program by 2017, members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works at a hearing this week questioned China’s commitment to the plan. The emissions trading system, announced during Xi’s visit to […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/2/2015 A House energy package that was reported out of subcommittee in July by unanimous vote took a turn this week when the addition of several partisan measures cost it the support of Democratic members of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The two-day markup opened with the submission of […]

GHG Monitor               10/2/2015 IN CONGRESS Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, will not seek re-election at the end of his current term, the congressman’s office announced this week. Whitfield, a staunch opponent of the Obama administration’s climate change agenda, is serving his 11th term, which […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/2/2015 Funding for both an interim storage pilot program and the Yucca Mountain licensing process should be included in a possible omnibus spending bill in December, House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said this week at the Department of Energy’s National Cleanup Workshop in Arlington, Va. […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/2/2015 Congress this week passed a continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through Dec. 11 at fiscal 2015 enacted levels and avoids a government shutdown. The CR gives Congress an additional 10 weeks to work toward a budget solution, but with uncertainty in the House following Speaker John […]