Budget & Policy

President Barack Obama has appointed Department of Energy veteran Joyce Connery as chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the DNFSB announced last week. Connery, who most recently served as director of nuclear energy policy in the National Security Council’s Office of International Economics, was confirmed by Congress as a DNFSB member earlier […]

Publications

The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition on Tuesday announced Sarah Hofmann, a Vermont Public Service Board member, as its new chair. Hofmann, a former director of a New England association of state utility commissioners and now a Vermont utility regulator, replaces Greg White, who has retired from the Michigan Public Service Commission. “I am excited to […]

Construction of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at the Savannah River Site is expected to cost $1.4 billion more than originally planned and should open roughly a decade later than anticipated, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General’s Office said in a report released Wednesday. The South Carolina installation stores 37 million gallons of high-level […]

August 10-21          Publication Break: Exchange Monitor Offices closed 13           NRC Briefing on Greater-Than-Class-C Low-Level Radioactive Waste- Rockville, Md., 9 a.m. September 7             Exchange Monitor offices closed for Labor Day Holiday 8-11       The ExchangeMonitor RadWaste Summit- Summerlin, Nev. October 1             Texas Low-Level Radioactive […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking greater funding to address its $3.6 billion backlog of deferred maintenance projects, spokeswoman Shelley Laver told NS&D Monitor in reference to two Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports released in the past two weeks on the Department of Energy (DOE) branch’s nuclear enterprise modernization budget estimates. A GAO […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Joyce Connery and Joseph Hamilton as members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Connery is leaving her post as director of nuclear energy policy within the National Security Council (NSC) Office of International Economics, a position she has held since 2012. Hamilton has […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) 2015 long-term budget estimate for its nuclear arms modernization programs has increased by $17.6 billion since last year, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released yesterday. The report says NNSA’s 2015 estimate of $293.4 billion over 25 years represents “an increase of […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 The United States’ Long-Range Strike Bomber, the Ohio-class submarine replacement, and the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) programs are the main fuel of potential budget overruns for the U.S. nuclear forces, according to newly released projections from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).  These programs will “drive the potential […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 8/7/2015 The Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup chief responded to the state of Tennessee’s concerns about reduced funding for Oak Ridge Reservation environmental projects and said they shared common interests, but he didn’t make any promises about future budgets or address the state’s specific concerns about funding trends. Mark Whitney, DOE’s […]

Chris Schneidmiller and Lance Moore WC Monitor 8/7/2015 The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Monica Regalbuto as the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for environmental management. The DOE veteran will lead the office tasked with managing the cleanup of U.S. nuclear arms operations and government-supported atomic energy activities. She most recently served as associate principal deputy […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 Following the release of a more stringent final version of the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon pollution standards for coal-fired power plants, the United States has been hailed a leader in efforts to combat climate change. In a meeting with President Barack Obama following the release of the final Clean […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 A proposed federal implementation plan (FIP), taking the form of a market-based system, was released this week alongside the Environmental Protection Agency’s final carbon emission standards for existing coal-fired power plants, giving states threatening noncompliance the first look at what their future might hold. The proposed FIP would be […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 Despite their best efforts, Democrats on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works were unable to keep Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s (R-W.Va.) “Affordable Reliable Electricity Now Act” (ARENA) from being reported out of committee this week. The bill would repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s newly finalized carbon emissions […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 As states begin to wade through the final version of the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, announced early this week, initial reactions range from cautious optimism to stark disappointment. The rule, dubbed the “Clean Power Plan,” requires states to develop action plans to […]

As is our annual practice, GHG Monitor is taking a summer publication break and will not publish for the next two weeks. The next regular issue will be on your desk Aug. 28. We will issue a Special Bulletin should any major news break in the interim.

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 Within the Environmental Protection Agency’s final New Source Performance Standards for new-build coal-fired power plants, the agency has introduced a process through which projects utilizing captured carbon for reuse in innovative ways may apply for recognition as a means for carbon storage. “The EPA recognizes that potential alternatives to […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 While the deployment of carbon capture and storage technology is an international goal, what path is taken to reach large-scale deployment in different areas is very much dependent on regional drivers, according to a report released by the International Energy Agency this week. The report notes that varying circumstances […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 Carbon capture and storage alone will not be enough to keep global temperatures from exceeding the internationally recognized 2-degree Celsius limit, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications. ”We find that negative emissions are required at significant levels (that is, 41 [gigatonnes of carbon] […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 8/7/2015 Amid reports of disagreement between the nuclear industry and senior senators on the path forward on management of U.S. nuclear waste, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee canceled the Aug. 4 hearing to discuss the bipartisan “Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2015.” No official reason was given for […]

The Senate confirmed yesterday Monica Regalbuto as the Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management. “Having served in both the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Nuclear Energy, Monica is more than ready for her new role at the Department,” said Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz in a statement. “Her hands-on experience […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) yesterday reported out the nominations of Joyce Connery and Joseph Hamilton to be members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). These nominations were put on indefinite hold last month. Current DNFSB Vice Chair Jessie Roberson was also nominated to serve on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but would […]

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments’ (CSBA) newly released projections of the cost of maintaining and modernizing U.S. nuclear forces identify the Long-Range Strike Bomber, the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine replacement, and the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) programs as the greatest drivers of potential cost overruns. These three programs “are going to drive the […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) yesterday reported out the nominations of Joyce Connery and Joseph Hamilton to be members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Confirmation of the two would free up DNFSB Vice Chairwoman Jessie Roberson to be confirmed for her nominated position—commissioner on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  Connery’s and Hamilton’s […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee canceled last week the Aug. 4 hearing to discuss the bipartisan Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2015. No reason for the cancellation was given, but the committee’s priorities have focused on the comprehensive energy package meant to update the nation’s energy infrastructure and policies. The bill was introduced […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/31/2015 The Pentagon’s base funding account could require $500 billion above Budget Control Act (BCA)-permitted funding levels over eight years to comprehensively modernize U.S. nuclear forces and support other key missions, according to a recently released RAND study on national security. “Choices for America in a Turbulent World” outlines an average […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 7/31/2015 Ten-year nuclear modernization budget estimates submitted in 2014 by the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Defense (DOD), although “generally consistent” with the agencies’ initiatives, omitted $1.6 billion for two DOE activities and lacked transparency in some DOD calculations, according to a Government Accountability Office report released yesterday. In […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 7/31/2015 The state of Tennessee has raised concerns about the Department of Energy’s future cleanup funding for the Oak Ridge Reservation and says if things don’t change it may be forced to take actions – such as installing more legally enforceable milestones – to get the cleanup done in a timely […]