Budget & Policy

Deputy Energy Secretary Nominee Faces Long Road After Senate Energy Hearing Todd Jacobson and Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 Madelyn Creedon was confirmed by the Senate this week as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Principal Deputy Administrator, giving the agency a full complement of Senate-confirmed officials for the first time in nearly 20 months. Creedon, […]

Madelyn Creedon was confirmed by the Senate yesterday as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Principal Deputy Administrator, giving the agency a full complement of Senate-confirmed officials for the first time in nearly 20 months. Creedon, who was confirmed by a voice vote, joins NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz, Defense Programs chief Don Cook and Nonproliferation chief […]

With hundreds of workers at risk of losing their jobs at the Portsmouth D&D project, the United Steelworkers labor union is calling on Congress to provide adequate funding for the work. Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, is projecting a funding shortfall of approximately $110 million in Fiscal Year 2015 due to a reduction in the amount of […]

In the wake of the Department of Energy awarding the new Paducah deactivation contract to a team led by Fluor, members of Kentucky’s Congressional delegation are again urging the Department to move forward with full D&D of the plant. “Following the award of the IDIQ contract, we now ask that you support commencing full scale […]

The Senate is expected to vote today on the nomination of Madelyn Creedon to be the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Principal Deputy Administrator, potentially ending a more than nine-month confirmation wait. Creedon was nominated to the position Nov. 7 but her nomination has been stalled in the Senate due to a partisan stalemate on nominees. […]

The White House reportedly intends to nominate Stephen Burns and Jeff Baran to fill the open spots on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The duo had been viewed as likely candidates for the openings for some time and their impending nomination was first reported by Politico yesterday.. Burns previously worked for the NRC, rising to general counsel […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to consider the nomination of Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall to serve as the next Deputy Secretary of Energy July 24. Randall currently serves as Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control. If confirmed by the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Reforms that have helped cut costs and streamline operations at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City Plant may not be widely applicable elsewhere across the weapons complex, according to a Government Accountability Office report released this week that summarizes previous studies of the Kansas City Plant model. The model, […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Figuring out what is wrong with the National Nuclear Security Administration may have been the easy part for the Congressional advisory panel on governance of the nuclear enterprise, but coming up with recommendations on how to fix the agency is proving to be a little more difficult. The 12-member advisory […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 7/18/2014 The potential effects of recently proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on consumers are in the hands of the states, according to a report released this week by the Analysis Group. The regulations, proposed early last month, set carbon dioxide emissions reductions targets for each […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 7/18/2014 House Democrats were unsuccessful this week in attempting to remove a provision from the Fiscal Year 2015 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from using funding to carry out proposed regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing and new coal-fired power plants […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 7/18/2014 A new bill proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank also contains language that would reverse a restriction placed on the bank preventing the financing of coal plants unless they use carbon capture technology. Such language, though, has been met with opposition from some of […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 7/18/2014 NRG Energy and partner JX Nippon Oil Exploration announced this week that construction has begun at the Petra Nova Carbon Capture Project, which upon completion will be the world’s largest post-combustion carbon capture project. The project is due to be operational by the end of 2016, NRG spokesman David […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 7/18/2014 Just over a month after signing a memorandum of understanding, CO2 Solutions and Neumann Systems Group (NSG) announced this week that due to “excellent” test results a pilot project slated for April 2015 has been moved up and will now take place in October. The pilot will test the […]

GHG Monitor 7/18/2014 IN THE STATES The University of Delaware announced this week that it has cancelled plans to build a natural gas-fueled power plant on its campus. The plant, which would have been built on the university’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) campus, was met with opposition from students and faculty, according to […]

ExchangeMonitor

A group of 18 Republican lawmakers are calling on the Department of Energy to provide additional information as to how it determined that its latest plans to transfer stocks of excess uranium for other purposes won’t have an “adverse material impact” on the domestic uranium industry. In a letter sent earlier this week to Secretary […]

The Department of Energy on provided an additional $5.4 million in funds for the program supporting the American Centrifuge technology, enough to cover work through Aug. 5, USEC said in a financial filing yesterday. Since May the company has been performing work under a subcontract with Oak Ridge National Laboratory with an aim to preserve […]

Amid reports of potential layoffs at the Portsmouth D&D project, Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown (D) and Rob Portman (R) are seeking answers from the Department of Energy as to whether the project has sufficient funding. In a July 11 letter to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, Brown and Portman said they have received “correspondence from […]

Dennis Deziel is stepping down as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Program Planning and Budget in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, effective at the end of this month, an EM spokeswoman said yesterday. Deziel is reportedly leaving DOE to take a position with Dow Chemical. “Dennis Deziel has announced he will be leaving […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 7/11/2014 A provision in the Fiscal Year 2015 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, reported out of subcommittee this week, would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from using funding to carry out proposed regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing and new coal-fired power plants. “Again this year, there is […]

Measure Provides Approx. $600 Million For DOE Fossil Energy R&D   Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 7/11/2014 The House voted late this week to approve the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which funds the Department of Energy’s fossil energy R&D efforts, after two days of debate that saw Democrats try several times […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 7/11/2014 Nine states have joined a lawsuit filed by Murray Energy Corp. against the Environmental Protection Agency challenging the legality of the EPA’s recently proposed carbon dioxide emissions standards. The proposed regulations, developed under the Clean Air Act’s section 111(d), set emissions reductions goals for each state and require the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 7/11/2014 Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week called on the Environmental Protection Agency to provide documents related to the EPA’s proposed new source performance standards (NSPS) for new-build coal-fired power plants, issuing a veiled threat that they would seek to subpoena the EPA if the request […]

GHG Monitor 7/11/2014 IN THE STATES The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection this week issued a proposed rule to repeal  rules associated with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) program. Earlier this year, a state appeals court ruled that Governor Chris Christie’s (R-N.J.) administration broke the law in 2011 when pulling out of RGGI, […]

Includes $8.2B for NNSA Weapons Program Martin Schneider NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 The House approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act this week, providing $8.2 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program, a cut of $111 million from the Obama Administration’s budget request. The House bill also provides […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/11/2014 In the face of a veto threat from the Obama Administration, the House of Representatives late this week approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which funds the Department of Energy’s cleanup program. During floor debate, two lawmakers successfully amended the bill to add […]

Administration Pulls Nominee for New DOE Under Secretary for Management Post Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/11/2014 The White House announced this week plans to nominate Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall from the National Security Council to serve as the next Deputy Secretary of Energy. At the same time, though, the Obama Administration announced with no explanation the withdrawal […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 The White House announced this week plans to nominate Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall from the National Security Council to serve as the next Deputy Secretary of Energy. Randall currently serves as Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control. If […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 As a new controversial civilian nuclear deal with Vietnam sits before Congress, some members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week voiced opposition to the agreement. The Obama Administration sent the Vietnam deal to Congress in May, where it must sit for 90 consecutive legislative days before entering into […]