Budget & Policy

House defense appropriators on Friday pressed the top two Air Force officials to explain the Pentagon’s cost estimate for the long-range strike bomber (LRSB). “I certainly appreciate the age of some of our bomber assets,” Rep. Jim Visclosky (D-Ind.), Ranking Member on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said during a hearing on Air Force’s Fiscal […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/27/2015 Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz anticipates that Congressional action would be needed before the Department of Energy could begin storing waste at the proposed Waste Control Specialists spent fuel/high-level waste interim storage facility, he told reporters after a hearing this week before the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 Weeks after the Obama Administration requested hefty funding increases to fuel the acceleration of cruise missile warhead procurement from Fiscal Year 2027 to 2025, a former Democratic staffer on the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee thinks the project could be in danger. “Whether you believe the cruise missile is […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/27/2015 As the Department of Energy’s cleanup program disposes of thousands of excess facilities and properties, data and policy issues are hampering effective DOE management of those facilities, according to a Government Accountability Office report released this week. Between 2003 and 2013, DOE disposed of almost 2,000 facilities, the vast majority […]

Richland, WIPP Focus of Concern Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/27/2015 House lawmakers pressed Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz about proposed budget cuts for cleanup work at Hanford and the Waste Isolation Pilot in a set of hearings this week. Among the areas of concerns is DOE’s proposed cut for funding to the Richland Operations Office […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/27/2015 The Obama Administration nominated for a second time this week Monica Regalbuto to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management. Regalbuto was first nominated last spring to fill the vacancy left when Ines Triay stepped down as Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management in July 2011. Regalbuto had […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 2/27/2015 Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) reintroduced legislation this week aimed at accelerating the commercial deployment of carbon capture and sequestration through a combination of loan guarantees, tax credits, multi-year R&D funding and government-industry cost-share projects. The bill, the Advanced Clean Coal Technology for Our Nation (ACCTION) Act, was introduced last […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 2/27/2015 States would still be required to submit action plans to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal fired power plants even if lawmakers blocked the EPA from using Fiscal Year 2016 funds to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told lawmakers this […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 2/27/2015 A new bill introduced in the Illinois state legislature this week would direct the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to develop a market-based “cap-and-invest” program to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal fired power plants upon the rule’s finalization. The proposed EPA rule […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 2/27/2015 Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) this week re-introduced a bill that would require the purchase of carbon permits by covered sources and distribute the proceeds of these purchases to Americans in the form of a quarterly dividend. The bill is similar to legislation introduced by Van Hollen last year, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 2/27/2015 The final version of the European Commission’s Energy Union Package, released this week, calls for a number of actions to be taken to drive innovation in carbon capture and storage technology. The package calls for, “A forward-looking approach to carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and use […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/27/2015 In preparation for a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board hearing this spring on last year’s incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, DNFSB Members Sean Sullivan and Daniel Santos plan to visit Carlsbad, N.M. next week. While the date and agenda for this spring’s public meeting have not yet been […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 2/27/2015 The Department of Energy is considering establishing a committee to help prioritize infrastructure needs across the DOE complex, a senior Office of Science official told a panel examining the effectiveness of the Department’s national laboratories this week. Joseph McBrearty, the Office of Science’s Deputy Director for Field Operations, stressed that […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The top Republican and Democrat on the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee vowed this week to push back against House leadership plans to set funding levels for the nation’s strategic and nuclear forces at sequestration levels, with Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), the ranking member of the subcommittee, suggesting such […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 2/27/2015 In a set of Congressional hearings this week, lawmakers pressed senior Obama Administration officials on the implications of the Department of Energy’s decision to suspend funding for the FutureGen 2.0 carbon capture and storage project on the Environmental Protection Agency’s justification for qualifying CCS as a best system of […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 2/27/2015 Several states, including Kentucky and Maryland are beginning to plan for the implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions regulations for existing coal fired power plants, dubbed the Clean Power Plan. The proposed rule, which is due to be finalized sometime this summer, requires states to develop […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The Air Force is expanding its five-year nuclear enterprise funding portfolio to foster morale, equipment, and modernization improvements, as the service has programmed an additional $5.6 billion in the Fiscal Year 2016-2020 Future Years Defense Program over last year’s FYDP projection, the top Air Force official told Senators this week. […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 2/27/2015 The United Kingdom has run out of time to develop new technologies to meet its climate goals, but instead must invest in known but neglected technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, according to a report released last week by the Energy Technologies Institute, a U.K. public-private partnership. “There […]

GHG Monitor 2/27/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY The United Kingdom’s Carbon Capture and Storage Research Center (UKCCSRC) announced this week that its Pilot-scale Advanced Capture Technology (PACT) Facilities have become part of the International Test Center Network. The network was initiated by Norway’s Technology Center Mongstad in 2012 to facilitate the sharing of knowledge amongst the […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 A top official at Consolidated Nuclear Security, the Bechtel-led partnership that manages the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants under a combined contract, said last week that there’s “not much flexibility at this point” for moving funds back and forth between the Tennessee and Texas plants. Dave Beck, vice president […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told House appropriators this week that about $200 million in additional funding would be needed in Fiscal Year 2016 and beyond above the President’s budget request for optimal construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. Testifying before the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Feb. […]

Republican senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Steve Daines (Mont.) yesterday voiced their respective approval to Air Force leaders concerning proposed Fiscal Year 2016 investments in a consolidated stealth and nuclear alert facility at Whiteman AFB, and in the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), which could fill up to 150 silos at Malmstrom AFB. According to the […]

The Obama Administration yesterday nominated for a second time Monica Regalbuto to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management. Regalbuto was first nominated last spring to fill the vacancy left when Ines Triay stepped down as Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management in July 2011. Since then, the position has been filled in […]

The Heritage Foundation yesterday released its “2015 Index of U.S. Military Strength,” which assesses the overall military power of U.S. nuclear forces as “marginal.” Warhead modernization, delivery systems modernization, the weapons complex and nuclear test readiness were ranked as “weak”; warhead surety, national labs talent and force readiness were dubbed “marginal”; and only delivery platform reliability and […]

Retired Gen. Robert Kehler, former commander of U.S. Strategic Command, on Friday emphatically championed sweeping investments in nuclear command, control and communications (NC3), and cautioned against segregating individual NC3 components from funding. Speaking at the Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, Kehler joined a group of active leaders throughout the nuclear enterprise in endorsing an upgrade of […]

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will soon lead his first meeting of the Nuclear Deterrent Enterprise Review Group (NDERG), after former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel held two NDERG meetings following the completion of one internal and one external review that both uncovered morale and equipment flaws within the nuclear enterprise, according to Greg Weaver, Principal Director […]

Here’s a look at events we’ll be following this week:  Babcock & Wilcox plans to hold its earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2014 on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. EST, with a webcast available here. The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology will hold a hearing Wednesday at 10 a.m. on the Department […]

Here’s a look at events we’ll be following this week:  Babcock & Wilcox plans to hold its earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2014 on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. EST, with a webcast available here. The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology will hold a hearing Wednesday at 10 a.m. on the Department […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/20/2015 With the Department of Energy facing cleanup-related fines in numerous states, some state officials are balking at the Office of Environmental Management’s position that any penalties will come out of cleanup dollars. Notably, New Mexico recently levied $54 million in fines against DOE and has warned of potentially $100 million […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 Sequestration cuts would have a “devastating” and wide-ranging impact on the work of the National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz said this week. Speaking Feb. 18 at the Seventh Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit in Washington, Klotz referred to the across-the-board sequestration cuts that would go into effect in […]