Budget & Policy

The Congressional appropriations process is heating up, and by the end of this week, the Fiscal Year 2015 funding picture for the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy’s cleanup program will become a lot clearer. The first of three key markups will take place this morning when Senate appropriators mark up their […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing Thursday to consider Monica Regulbuto’s nomination to be the next Assistant Secretary of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. This comes after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a separate nomination hearing last month. Regalbuto was nominated in March to head the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/07/2014 President Obama has nominated a pair of Administration officials to fill key vacancies in the Pentagon’s policy shop. On Jan. 31, Obama nominated Christine Wormuth to be the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Brian McKeon to serve as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Wormuth […]

NS&D Monitor 6/13/2014 IN CONGRESS The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee is looking to mark up its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 energy spending bill next week. The panel has scheduled a hearing June 17 beginning at 10 a.m. to consider the measure. The full Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to take up […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/13/2014 As the Department of Energy pushes for more firm-fixed price contracts and aims to better define which efforts fall under regulations for capital asset projects, the move has led to some concern within the Department. DOE Office of Acquisition and Project Management Director Paul Bosco is working on new contracting […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/13/2014 The Department of Defense has underestimated the amount of money it will cost to modernize its nuclear forces over the next 10 years, according to a new Government Accountability Office report that echoes similar findings about the NNSA. In December, the GAO highlighted shortcomings with NNSA budget estimates, noting that […]

Kenny Fletcher NS&D Monitor 6/13/2014 House appropriators are looking to rescind more than a billion dollars associated with the privatization of USEC still remaining. The House version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, reported out of subcommittee this week, would rescind the roughly $1.6 billion in the United States Enrichment Corporation […]

Bill Would Trim $111 Million From Weapons Account, Boost Funding For MOX Facility Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/13/2014 Lawmakers on the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee cleared the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act this week, including a slight $111 million cut to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program, though the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/13/2014 New National Nuclear Security Administration head Frank Klotz said this week that he “categorically rejects” the interim findings of a Congressionally mandated panel on governance of the nuclear enterprise that concluded the creation of the semi-autonomous agency was a “failed experiment.” Speaking June 10 at an Energy Facilities Contractors Group […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/13/2014   House appropriators are looking to spend less next year than what the Department of Energy is seeking for work at its set of major cleanup sites. The House version of the Fiscal Year 2015 energy appropriations bill, reported out of subcommittee this week, would provide a total of approximately […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/31/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration this week released the detailed Fiscal Year 2013 Performance Evaluation Reports for its eight sites, shedding light on what its contractors did well—and not so well—during FY 2013 (links to the reports for each site can be found on the NNSA’s web site). B&W Y-12, […]

WC Monitor 6/13/2014 IN CONGRESS The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee is looking to mark up its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 energy spending bill next week. The panel has scheduled a hearing June 17 beginning at 10 a.m. to consider the measure. The full Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to take up […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/13/2014 The Department of Energy and Southern Company will be working together to test both pre- and post-combustion carbon capture technologies, as well as coal gasification technologies, for the next five years under a new cooperative agreement signed this week. The research will be managed by the National Energy Technology […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/13/2014         Funding for the Department of Energy’s fossil energy research activities would receive a small boost under the House version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill reported out of subcommittee this week. The bill would provide $593 million, up 6 percent from […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/13/2014 One of the expected benefits of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new proposed emissions regulations for existing power plants is increased energy efficiency, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said this week at an event in Washington hosted by the U.S. Energy Association and Johnson Controls. The proposed regulations are comprised of […]

NS&D Monitor 1/31/2014 IN CONGRESS The Senate Armed Services Committee cleared the nomination of Madelyn Creedon, the Obama Administration’s pick to be the Principal Deputy Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, this week, though it’s unclear how long it might take for the full Senate to vote on her. Like Creedon, retired Air Force […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/13/2014 Kentucky has emerged as one of the strongest opponents of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new proposed rules to reduce emissions from existing power plants, though some experts have suggested the coal state may not have as many problems adapting to the new rule as originally thought. The proposal would […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/13/2014 While most injection sites for carbon dioxide in the United States are on-shore, there is a large untapped storage resource just off the coast, according to Tip Meckel, a research scientist with University of Texas at Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology. “Once you step off the shoreline there’s still […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/13/2014 Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) spoke out against the Environmental Protection Agency’s new proposal to reduce emissions from existing power plants during debate on the Senate floor this week. The regulations would cost billions, Inhofe said. “If enacted, this rule is going to cause serious damage to the economy,” he […]

GHG Monitor 6/13/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY CO2 Solutions this week added three new members to its scientific advisory board. The new members include Professor Jennifer Littlechild of University of Exeter, Professor Roberto Fernandez-Lafuente of Instituto de Catμlisis in Madrid and Professor Patrick Mills of Texas A&M University. This is the first change to the CO2 […]

NS&D Monitor 1/24/2014 The Obama Administration will release its Fiscal Year 2015 budget on March 4, about a month later than required by federal law. The release will come about a month earlier than last year—the Administration released its budget plans in April—largely because of delays in getting a budget deal and full-year FY 2014 […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/13/2014 House appropriators are looking to breathe new life into the shuttered Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository project, including more than $200 million for the effort in the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill reported out of subcommittee this week. The bill would provide $150 million to the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 Congressional appropriators nearly matched the Obama Administration’s $7.868 billion request for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program in the massive omnibus spending package that was passed by the House and Senate this week and is awaiting the President’s signature, but several funding maneuvers obscure cuts to the program. While […]

NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel backed maintaining support for the nation’s nuclear deterrent last week. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) followed up with a call to hold him to his word. In a statement issued Jan. 10, Corker urged Hagel to provide the “necessary” funding for the nation’s nuclear deterrent in the President’s Fiscal […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 Despite numerous management problems, the National Nuclear Security Administration should remain within the Department of Energy, Madelyn Creedon, President Obama’s nominee to serve as NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator, told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week. Creedon appeared before the committee for her confirmation hearing, and she largely breezed through […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 The Department of Energy is considering creating a new Departmental organization that would be responsible for DOE’s major line-item construction projects across various programs, NW&M Monitor has learned. The proposal appears to be in its early stages, and its scope remains unclear, though it likely would entail those major construction […]

New Under Sec. For Mgmt. Among Those Approved Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 Elizabeth Robinson’s nomination to fill the Department of Energy’s new position of Under Secretary for Management and Performance took another step forward this week, though it still remains to be seen when she will be approved by the full Senate and ultimately […]

The top Republican on the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee said yesterday he is still expecting major changes to the National Nuclear Security Administration following the expected release next month of recommendations from a Congressional advisory panel on governance of the nuclear enterprise, despite new Administrator Frank Klotz saying Tuesday that he rejected the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/10/2014 A pair of studies released in recent weeks have cast doubt on the affordability of the Obama Administration’s nuclear modernization plan. Shortly before Christmas, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the U.S. could need about $355 billion over the next 10 years to maintain and modernize the nation’s nuclear deterrent, […]

Committees Expected to Move Quickly on Already Cleared Noms, but Senate Floor Action Unclear Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/10/2014 The Obama Administration this week returned dozens of nominations to the Senate, including a handful of Department of Energy selections, and Senate committees began acting quickly to report out the nominations, with the Senate Armed Services Committee […]