Budget & Policy

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration needs to be integrated with the rest of the Department of Energy not only because of its important national security work with the nuclear weapons stockpile but also because of its nonproliferation and emergency response work, outgoing Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman said during remarks […]

RW Monitor 10/3/2014 IN DOE The Department of Energy this week issued a draft solicitation for up to $12.6 billion in loan guarantees for advanced nuclear energy projects. The four key areas of interest include advanced nuclear reactors, small modular reactors, upgrades at existing facilities, and $2 billion for front-end nuclear projects such as uranium […]

The Department of Energy yesterday issued a draft solicitation for up to $12.6 billion in loan guarantees for advanced nuclear energy projects. The four key areas of interest include advanced nuclear reactors, small modular reactors, upgrades at existing facilities, and $2 billion for front-end nuclear projects such as uranium enrichment and conversion plants. “For the […]

Officials within the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Secure Transportation did not report or properly assess a “deliberate example of unauthorized access to nuclear weapons,” the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said yesterday. DOE’s IG released only a summary of its Sept. 24 inspection report yesterday, raising questions about OST’s human reliability program, though […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration needs to be integrated with the rest of the Department of Energy not only because of its important national security work with the nuclear weapons stockpile but also because of its nonproliferation and emergency response work, outgoing Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman said during a speech and question-and-answer session at […]

With the new fiscal year set to begin on Wednesday, construction will continue for the time being at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility rather than a move to “cold standby,” the National Nuclear Security Administration said Friday. “Under the current continuing resolution, the contractor will continue construction of the MOX facility,” NNSA spokesman Derrick […]

Three senior members of the House Armed Services Committee will begin a visit to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s two nuclear weapons laboratories in New Mexico today. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chairman of the panel’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee, is heading the visit, and will be accompanied by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), the ranking member […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 Numerous operations and security issues at Savannah River’s tritium facilities have led the Department of Energy and the site’s managing contractor, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, to step up oversight of operations at the plant. In July, the facilities experienced 10 events involving conduct of operations, quality control or security deficiencies, […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory could be subject to penalties from its federal overseers for charging unallowable insurance costs to the government, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General assessment report released this week. The Aug. 13 report, released publicly Sept. 23, notes that from Fiscal Year 2008 to FY […]

Former WRPS Worker Says She Was Terminated for Raising Concerns Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/26/2014 Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who has long been an advocate for whistleblowers at Hanford, is not happy with how the site’s tank farms contractor is handling its challenge to a preliminary order from the Department of Labor to reinstate a […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/26/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency may have “missed the boat” in terms of crediting states who have taken early action to reduce carbon emissions in their proposed carbon emission standards for existing coal-fired power plants, some state and utility officials said during a panel discussion hosted by the Bipartisan Policy […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/26/2014 Top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee challenged in a letter to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz this week the legality of the Environmental Protection Agency’s selection of Carbon Capture and Storage Technology as the Best Source of Emission Reduction (BSER) in its proposed New Source Performance […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/26/2014 The United States must act now to combat climate change without putting the nation’s future fiscal security at risk and businesses across the country are ready, Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said at two events held this week. “As an economic […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/26/2014 Reps. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced legislation late last week aimed at helping to retrain coal industry workers who  have lost their jobs due to the downturn in the industry caused by “actions by the Federal Government, the low-cost of other forms of energy, the existence […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/26/2014 Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning and cement production reached an all-time high in 2013 and are expected to increase even more in 2014, according to a report released this week by the multinational tracking initiative, Global Carbon Project. The project’s annual Global Carbon Budget report finds that […]

GHG Monitor 9/26/2014 IN INDUSTRY The Rockefeller Brothers Fund announced early this week that is will divest from fossil fuels including coal and tar sands to better align its investments with the foundation’s Sustainable Development program goals. That shift will move forward “as quickly as possible,” the organization said in a release. “Given the structure […]

Calling plans to modernize the nation’s weapons complex and nuclear arsenal “unwise and beyond what the nation can afford,” the New York Times editorial board yesterday accused the Obama Administration of “backsliding” on its nuclear promises and suggested money earmarked for modernization would be better spent on nuclear security. “The administration is making a foolish […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory could be subject to penalties from its federal overseers for charging unallowable insurance costs to the government, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General assessment report released yesterday. The report notes that from Fiscal Year 2008 to FY 2012 the lab unjustly billed as operating costs $621,900 in directors and […]

Using the National Nuclear Security Administration’s new Kansas City Plant as a backdrop, the New York Times yesterday chronicled efforts—and future plans—to modernize the nation’s weapons complex and nuclear arsenal, raising questions about the price tag for the modernization plans. The Times noted that the modernization efforts come under President Obama, who was awarded the […]

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who has long been an advocate for whistleblowers at Hanford, is not happy with how the site’s tank farms contractor is handling its challenge to a preliminary order from the Department of Labor to reinstate a former employee who has charged she was terminated for raising concerns. Late last week, Washington […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 With a large bill to modernize the bomber- and ground-based legs of the nuclear triad looming, Air Force officials are discussing the potential creation of a national strategic deterrent fund, similar to the Sea-Based Deterrence Fund the Navy has proposed as a way to pay for its Ohio-class nuclear submarine […]

South Carolina: ‘Treatment Delay Is Unacceptable’ Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/19/2014 The Department of Energy has approved a new baseline for the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility that includes a nearly $1 billion cost increase from previous official estimates and pushes back plant startup by as much as five years. The baseline change […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/19/2014 Congress late this week completed work on a stop-gap measure intended to continue to fund the federal government at the start of Fiscal Year 2015 in the absence of completed individual spending bills. The Continuing Resolution will fund most Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration programs at annualized […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/19/2014 The Senate late this week confirmed the Obama Administration’s choice of Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall to serve as the next Deputy Secretary of Energy. Sherwood-Randall last served as Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control. Among her previous positions, […]

DOE Silent on Potential Actions Against Contractor Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/19/2014 Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions is challenging a preliminary order from the Department of Labor to reinstate a former employee who has charged she was terminated for raising concerns. Late this week, close to the end of a 30-day deadline, […]

Hommert: B61 Can ‘Survive’ Short-term Stopgap Funding Measure, but Long-Term CR ‘Gets Dicier’ Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 Engineering work at Sandia National Laboratories on the refurbishment of the B61 bomb will continue during Fiscal Year 2015 largely unaffected by a short-term Continuing Resolution, but the work can’t continue as planned under Fiscal Year 2014 […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 The Congressional advisory panel on the governance of the nuclear security enterprise is close to completing its work, co-chairman Norm Augustine said in a recent interview with NS&D Monitor, but it’s unclear when the report will be released. Speaking on the sidelines of a National Lab Day event Sept. 16, […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 9/19/2014 With work on the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Authorization Act pushed back until after the November Congressional elections, House and Senate Armed Services Committee members began meeting this week for “pre-conference” talks, but Senate authorizers were absent when House members of the Strategic Forces subcommittee gather for discussions. According to […]

Mexico Moving to Deploy CCS, EOR Under Ambitious Timeline EPA Extends Public Comment Period for Proposed Carbon Regs 45 Days Businesses Ready for Carbon Price, Report Says House Passes Energy Package With Measure to Block Proposed EPA Regs Global Commission: Economically Feasible Climate Mitigation Possible Australian State Government to Provide $5 Mill for CCS R&D […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 The Senate late this week confirmed the Obama Administration’s choice of Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall to serve as the next Deputy Secretary of Energy. Sherwood-Randall last served as Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control. Among her previous positions, […]