Budget & Policy

If the Obama Administration prioritizes nuclear modernization, the nuclear triad can survive a tight budgetary climate. That was the message that Clark Murdock, Director of the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, delivered on Wednesday at CSIS’ annual Global Security Forum in Washington. “The question is what does the […]

The Department of Energy estimates it has $21.4 billion in future liabilities for failing to dispose of spent nuclear fuel, a Government Accountability Office report said yesterday. Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, DOE is required to deal with the high level waste generated by commercial nuclear reactors, but due to the shuttering of the […]

After several days of a race too close call for the Congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), Republican Dan Newhouse has been declared the winner. Newhouse faced off against fellow Republican Clint Didier, a tea party candidate who had questioned increasing Hanford funding. The two faced off under Washington’s system in which […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 The Navy’s most senior officer this week expressed concern that sequestration could prompt slashes in construction personnel for nuclear forces, and could result in a long struggle to reprogram funding for projects like the Ohio replacement.  Speaking Nov. 4 at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/7/2014 While great progress has been made in the carbon capture and storage industry with 22 large-scale CCS projects in operation or under construction globally, momentum must continue in various neglected areas of focus to keep progress moving forward, according to the Global Status of CCS 2014 report, released by […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 With Republicans gaining control of the Senate this week in a wave of support during the mid-term elections, nuclear weapons experts and Congressional aides are expecting a shift toward support of modernizing the nation’s nuclear weapons complex in the GOP-controlled Congress, though the modernization aspirations of Republicans could run up […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 11/7/2014 The Energy Facility Contractors Group is eliminating nine of its 13 working groups and cutting its December semi-annual meeting following a Department of Energy request for the restructuring. The changes come as part of efforts by DOE and EFCOG to bring a greater focus to the group’s efforts and ultimately […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 The Energy Facility Contractors Group is eliminating nine of its 13 working groups and cutting its December semi-annual meeting following a Department of Energy request for the restructuring. The changes come as part of efforts by DOE and EFCOG to bring a greater focus to the group’s efforts and ultimately […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/7/2014 Regulations developed under the Clean Air Act, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, can be flexible and yet enforceable, as demonstrated by this week’s settlement with auto manufacturers Hyundai and Kia, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said during a press conference this […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/7/2014 While carbon-negative technologies like biological carbon capture and storage and direct air capture cannot replace emissions reduction efforts such as traditional fossil-fuel CCS, they must be used in conjunction to meet global climate goals, Noah Deich, consultant for the Virgin Earth Challenge, and Michael Ashcroft, an associate with The […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/7/2014 While the near-term benefits of reducing short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) like methane and black carbon are not to be dismissed, they are not significant enough to justify the delay of immediate mitigation of carbon dioxide, according to a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/7/2014 The 1.5 percent annual incremental savings suggested in building block four of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emission standards for existing coal-fired power plants is not feasibly achievable through third party energy efficiency programs alone, Omar Siddiqui, Senior Technical Executive at the Electric Power Research Institute explained during […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/7/2014 When it comes to the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions regulations for coal-fired power plants, the newly elected Republican Congress is in a situation to pick its battles, leaders of various nongovernmental organizations said following this week’s midterm elections. Prior to taking control of the Senate, Republicans in both […]

WC Monitor 11/7/2014 IN DOE The Department of Energy has awarded a $3.6 million grant to Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet for regulatory oversight of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The grant covers a period from Nov. 1 through Oct. 31, 2015, with options for four one-year extensions. The grant aims to have Kentucky “provide […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/7/2014 A more timely approach should be taken in implementing the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon regulations for existing coal burning power plants in order to address some potentially significant false assumptions made by EPA in developing the rule concerning infrastructure, time constraints and reliability impacts, according to a report […]

GHG Monitor 11/7/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Solidia Technologies will receive $752,000 from the National Energy Technology Laboratory to further research and development in the company’s carbon reducing cement and concrete processes, Solidia announced late last week. The project hopes to create an alternative type of cement that would allow for the storage of CO2 within […]

Officials from the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments’ Office of Enforcement will visit the Nevada National Security Site later this month as part of an investigation into a chemical explosion that occurred in June. The explosion at the site’s Nonproliferation Test and Evaluation Complex injured two workers when a worker moved a 55-gallon […]

Dan Newhouse held a close lead late last night in his battle against fellow Republican Clint Didier for Washington State’s vacant 4th District House seat, though the race was too close to call and could take several days before a winner is clear. Newhouse and Didier are vying to replace Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), who […]

Voters in Washington State’s 4th Congressional district, which includes the Department of Energy’s Hanford Reservation, will today pick the successor to longtime Rep. Doc Hastings (R) in a race pitting a pair of Republicans: former Redskins tight end and Tea Party favorite Clint Didier and former state Agriculture Secretary Dan Newhouse. Newhouse has been endorsed […]

Want to know what President has cut the size of the nation’s nuclear stockpile the most? Despite a high-profile pledge to push for a world without nuclear weapons, it’s not President Obama, according to the New York Times. Citing Federation of American Scientists nuclear weapons expert Hans Kristensen, the Times noted Nov. 1 that Obama […]

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) shook up the leadership of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission late last week by changing the Chairmanship as well as adding a new member. Perry appointed Brandon Hurley as the new Chair of the Commission, replacing Bob Wilson, who will continue to serve as a commission member. […]

The Department of Energy has awarded a $3.6 million grant to Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet for regulatory oversight of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The grant covers a period from Nov. 1 through Oct. 31, 2015, with options for four one-year extensions. The grant aims to have Kentucky “provide an independent, impartial, and qualified […]

As the Department of Energy moves cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory from the National Nuclear Security Administration to the Office of Environmental Management, members of New Mexico’s Congressional delegation are urging EM to keep requirements aimed at local businesses. DOE is developing a plan for transferring the cleanup work at LANL from NNSA […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/31/2014 Legal challenges from environmental groups, like the Sierra Club and its Beyond Coal Campaign, have become commonplace for carbon capture and storage projects nationwide and while these suits are generally more likely to challenge permitting as opposed to the actual CCS portion of a plant, the deployment of the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/31/2014 Total costs for the Kemper County Energy Facility have now reached $6.1 billion, according to a filing by Mississippi Power with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission this week. The latest increase, totaling $330 million, when added to previously reported overruns, results in a $418 million increase in […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/31/2014 After receiving numerous comments regarding various aspects of the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, including concerns with the 2020 interim goal “cliff” and the use of a single year of data in developing state goals, EPA released a Notice of Data Availability this week […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/31/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—A senior official in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management defended here last week EM’s use of cost caps on a set of troubled cleanup projects, though acknowledged that the best time to implement such measures was not in the middle of projects but rather more […]

Contractors: DOE Should Incentivize Maintenance Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/31/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—Maintenance and infrastructure will play an “explicit part” in the budget planning process at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management in future years, acting  Assistant EM Secretary Mark Whitney said last week. Deferred maintenance and infrastructure have been in the spotlight […]

Member Sullivan Voted Against Emergency Preparedness Recommendation Mike Nartker and Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 10/31/2014 Over the past two years, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board members have clashed on a number of issues, from a recent recommendation on emergency preparedness to the scope of the Board’s jurisdiction and access to Board information, according to notational […]

Member Sullivan Voted Against Emergency Preparedness Recommendation Mike Nartker and Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/31/2014 Over the past two years, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board members have clashed on a number of issues, from a recent recommendation on emergency preparedness to the scope of the Board’s jurisdiction and access to Board information, according to notational […]