Budget & Policy

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has laid out its plans for traversing the government shutdown which began on Wednesday. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent out an approved lapse plan for the independent agency on Tuesday.  Under the plan, when carryover funds at the NRC are all exhausted, activities, including licensing, inspections […]

The federal government shut down just past midnight Wednesday after the Senate failed to reach 60 votes on a stopgap bill to keep agencies open and funding flowing through Nov. 21. The upper chamber voted 55-45 on a Republican-led bill that needed a three-fifths majority to pass. Two Democrats, Sens. John Fetterman (Penn.) and Catherine […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has postponed its three-judge panel’s oral arguments scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Oct. 6 on challenges to Long Mott Energy’s construction permit application due to the ongoing government shutdown. The company has applied to develop a small modular reactor in Seadrift, Texas.  NRC announced the postponement of the Atomic […]

If the government’s lapse in appropriations lasts five days or less, “there would be no disruption” to Department of Energy operations, according to DOE’s shutdown contingency plan. “DOE has historically had sufficient previously appropriated funds that remain available to support operations during a short term lapse,” according to the plan made public Wednesday Oct. 1. […]

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) cited the potential impact on in-state military installations as well as the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site as her reason for supporting a Republican-led continuing resolution Tuesday night. “A government shutdown would force tens of thousands of Nevada military personnel, union members, law enforcement agents and military nurses […]

Top management for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office should use available information to identify the scope and cost of remediating contaminated soil and legacy landfills, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last week.  DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) should also use that information to prioritize work at nuclear sites, GAO said in […]

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) cited the potential impact on in-state military installations as well as the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site as her reason for supporting a Republican-led continuing resolution Tuesday night. “A government shutdown would force tens of thousands of Nevada military personnel, union members, law enforcement agents and military nurses […]

If the government’s lapse in appropriations lasts five days or less, “there would be no disruption” to Department of Energy operations, according to DOE’s shutdown contingency plan. “DOE has historically had sufficient previously appropriated funds that remain available to support operations during a short term lapse,” according to the plan made public Wednesday Oct. 1. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has laid out its plans for traversing the government shutdown which began on Wednesday. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent out an approved lapse plan for the independent agency on Tuesday.  Under the plan, when carryover funds at the NRC are all exhausted, activities, including licensing, inspections […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has not used effective strategies to manage cost growth notifications for its construction projects, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO squeezed this report on NNSA and one more Sept. 30 before the government shut down at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday. “Over the […]

The federal government was set to shut down just past midnight Wednesday after the Senate failed to reach 60 votes on a stopgap bill to keep agencies open and funding flowing through Nov. 21. The upper chamber voted 55-45 on a Republican-led bill that needed a three-fifths majority to pass. Two Democrats, Sens. John Fetterman […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A panel of nuclear fusion experts urged a subcommittee of the House Science Committee Thursday to support a major investment in nuclear fusion in order to keep up with China. During the House Science Subcommittee on Energy hearing, the panel heard testimony from Oak Ridge National Laboratory director of fusion energy division […]

The Department of Energy this week announced $134 million in funding towards two fusion energy-based technology programs. DOE has allocated $128 million towards Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) collaboratives, according to the Wednesday press release. It also allocated $6.1 million for the Innovative Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program. Nuclear fusion is a source of […]

As the government funding deadline looms and the House is until Wednesday, government agencies, including the Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, are preparing for the possibility of a shutdown. If no eleventh-hour stopgap is agreed to, a shutdown could start at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday Oct. 1, just after the end […]

Top management for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office should use available information to identify the scope and cost of remediating contaminated soil and legacy landfills, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last week.  DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) should also use that information to prioritize work at nuclear sites, GAO said in […]

Uncertainty over a potential government shutdown is rising after the Senate last Friday Sept. 19 rejected a House-passed stopgap funding bill that also included spending flexibility for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons activities.  After the House earlier in the day narrowly approved a GOP-led continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open through Nov. […]

Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said this week a potential conflict of interest exists between Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Oklo, a company where Wright previously served on the board of directors.  Markey, a frequent nuclear critic, voiced his concerns to President Donald Trump in a letter Tuesday. Markey posed several questions to the White House […]

Brandon Williams, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the National Nuclear Security Administration, was sworn into his role Thursday morning, according to James McConnell, NNSA’s associate principal deputy administrator. McConnell announced the news during a panel discussion shortly after 10 a.m. Eastern Time at the Department of Energy’s National Cleanup Workshop in Arlington, Va.  Williams […]

Uncertainty over a potential government shutdown is rising after the Senate last Friday Sept. 19 rejected a House-passed stopgap funding bill that also included spending flexibility for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons activities.  After the House earlier in the day narrowly approved a GOP-led continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open through Nov. […]

Nuclear waste management in the United States is not a technical issue but a political one due to differing energy priorities from administration to administration, a panel said Monday at City College of New York in New York, N.Y. The hybrid panel for “What Now, What Next: Tackling Spent Nuclear Fuel for a Sustainable Future” […]

The financial health of U.S. nuclear plants can be affected by factors such as the market they operate in, electricity prices and the availability of tax credits, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported this week. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) oversees the safety and commercial use of nuclear energy, but is not overly involved with […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) does not have a plan to safely continue operating in an aged uranium processing facility until the new one is ready, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said. The Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) next-generation factory for nuclear-weapons secondary stages at the Oak Ridge […]

The Department of Energy nuclear cleanup office has awarded $15-million in financial help to the Georgia-based Southern States Energy Board to provide technical assistance in moving transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The agreement, announced Thursday by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, starts Nov. 1 and runs five years through […]

Uncertainty over a potential government shutdown is rising after the Senate last Friday Sept. 19 rejected a House-passed stopgap funding bill that also included spending flexibility for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons activities.  After the House earlier in the day narrowly approved a GOP-led continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open through Nov. […]

Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said this week a potential conflict of interest exists between Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Oklo, a company where Wright previously served on the board of directors.  Markey, a frequent nuclear critic, voiced his concerns to President Donald Trump in a letter Tuesday. Markey posed several questions to the White House […]

Nuclear waste management in the United States is not a technical issue but a political one due to differing energy priorities from administration to administration, a panel said Monday at City College of New York in New York, N.Y. The hybrid panel for “What Now, What Next: Tackling Spent Nuclear Fuel for a Sustainable Future” […]

Joel Bradburne, the Department of Energy’s acting head of its $8-billion nuclear remediation branch, will help kick off the National Cleanup Workshop Wednesday in Arlington, Va. Bradburne was appointed this month to oversee DOE’s Office of Environmental Management following the forced departure of Roger Jarrell. Jarrell apparently differed with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on […]

President Donald Trump’s Department of Energy nominees for undersecretary of science and general counsel were among those winning confirmation in a 51-to-47 Senate floor vote last week. Dario Gil, the White House nominee for DOE undersecretary of science, and Jonathan Brightbill, the general council nominee, were both among those winning confirmation Sept. 18. Gil had […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) does not have a plan to safely continue operating in an aged uranium processing facility until the new one is ready, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said. The Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) next-generation factory for nuclear-weapons secondary stages at the Oak Ridge […]

Uncertainty over a potential government shutdown is rising after the Senate last Friday rejected a House-passed stopgap funding bill that also included spending flexibility for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons activities.  After the House earlier in the day narrowly approved a GOP-led continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open through Nov. 21 with […]