Budget & Policy

The Department of Energy is gearing up for an inquiry into an allegation of a hostile work environment within the DOE Office of Acquisition and Project Management. DOE issued a solicitation yesterday seeking a contractor to provide “fact finder services” to look into a “recent allegation” of a hostile work environment filed by a federal […]

The Department of Energy could potentially save more than $2.3 million over the next three years by increasing efficiency  in acquisition and management of mobile devices such as phones, tablets and air cards, according to a DOE Inspector General report released yesterday. The review covered 10 sites in Fiscal Year 2012, and found ways to […]

The Department of Energy’s directives revision process is “too cumbersome” and creates confusion, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chairman Peter Winokur said in a letter earlier this month to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. In his April 4 letter, which was made public only recently, Winokur urged Moniz to review the directives revision and updating process […]

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, sworn in as the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration late last week, will be making his first visit to Capitol Hill in his new job today and tomorrow. Klotz will meet with House and Senate authorizers and appropriators—likely mostly staff since Congress remains out until next […]

South Carolina yesterday filed a motion for summary judgement in its challenge to the Department of Energy’s planned suspension of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. The state filed suit last month in the U.S. District Court for South Carolina soon after the Department’s announcement that it planned to immediately put the facility into “cold […]

It’s been a week since the Senate confirmed retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz to be Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, but it’s not clear when he will officially assume his new role. Bruce Held is continuing to serve as the acting NNSA chief while Klotz undergoes an administrative review, according to […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration unveiled its Fiscal Year 2015 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan late Friday afternoon, revealing updated costs figures for the agency’s rebalanced “3+2” warhead modernization strategy. The NNSA delayed work on the first interoperable warhead, cruise missile warhead and the First Production Units for the B61 refurbishment and W88 Alteration 370 […]

The Department of Energy’s $93 million cut to cleanup programs at the Richland Operations Office in the Fiscal Year 2015 budget request puts at least four cleanup milestones at risk, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said yesterday. Murray noted that Richland received the largest cut out of the EM budget. “Several high-risk projects close to the […]

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) both attacked the Department of Energy’s plans to suspend the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at a budget hearing yesterday with Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. “My point is that this committee told you to build the MOX program. We didn’t tell you to study some other […]

The Congressionally appointed advisory panel on National Nuclear Security Administration governance won’t wrap up its final report until later this summer, but the chairmen of the panel told the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee yesterday they will have the “essence of the report” completed by Memorial Day. The panel’s recommendations are likely to come […]

Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) yesterday criticized the Department of Energy’s emphasis on weapons programs in the Fiscal Year 2015 budget request and is expected to work to boost funds for nonproliferation and cleanup programs. Feinstein yesterday pressed DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz on the issue at a subcommittee budget hearing. […]

Responding to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said he will introduce a bill today that would suspend all National Nuclear Security Administration work in Russia. The wide-ranging bill would prohibit the “contact, cooperation or transfer of technology” between the NNSA and the Russian Federal until Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz certifies that Russia […]

With at least one commissioner spot on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission opening up this summer, potential candidates have begun to emerge as possible nominations, RW Monitor has learned. The leading candidates reportedly include Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner, the current chief of staff for NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane, Sam Fowler, a long-time Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee […]

With sharp questioning and conflicting reports about the $30 billion lifecycle cost estimate for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, National Nuclear Security Administration chief Bruce Held yesterday referred inquiries to an unreleased plutonium disposition alternatives assessment that could come out next week. The study launched last spring and led by Department of Energy Senior […]

As the National Nuclear Security Administration pivots toward a smaller and cheaper way of maintaining its uranium processing capabilities at the Y-12 National Security Complex, acting NNSA chief Bruce Held acknowledged yesterday that about half of the $1.2 billion that has been spent on the Uranium Processing Facility has been wasted. Appearing before the House […]

More than seven months after Frank Klotz was nominated to head up the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Senate finally confirmed the retired lieutenant general, clearing him by a voice vote late yesterday afternoon. Klotz’s confirmation ends the NNSA’s 15-month gap without a permanent administrator; Neile Miller, Michael Lempke and Bruce Held have led the […]

Subcommittees of the House Armed Services Committee will mark up their portions of the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Authorization Act April 30 and May 1 before the full committee marks up the bill May 7, committee chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said yesterday. The Strategic Forces Subcommittee, which authorizes and sets policy for the Department […]

It’s going to be another busy week for the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration on Capitol Hill, with a massive eight-person House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing kicking things off at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 2118 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Naval Strategic Systems Programs Director Vice Adm. Terry […]

AREVA is challenging the $30 billion lifecycle cost officials have cited for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, stating that the actual cost would be half that, according to reports. The Fiscal Year 2015 budget request cited the $30 billion figure, which was again used by Department of Energy officials in Congressional testimony last week. […]

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said yesterday the Department of Energy was examining ways to “soften the blow” to the skilled workforce currently building the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility as DOE moves to put the facility into cold standby. The Department’s decision to put the facility in cold standby has drawn significant opposition from South […]

The Department of Energy is looking to make changes to its human capital and IT services that could result in a greater consolidation from the field to DOE headquarters, Weapons Complex Monitor has learned. Among the proposals under consideration, according to officials familiar with the discussions, is the shift of some human capital functions from DOE’s […]

The Department of Energy has moved to fill the set of new Chief Security Officer positions created as part of reorganization of the Department’s health, safety and security functions, according to a message sent to employees late last week. Michael Lempke has been named acting Chief Security Officer for the National Nuclear Security Administration and […]

Attempting not to get “overly nasty,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) ripped into the Obama Administration’s decision to put the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project into cold standby, arguing at a Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee hearing yesterday that MOX was the only viable option for disposing of 34 metric […]

The Administration’s should urge continued use of appropriated funds for construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, rather than the planned suspension of the project, a bipartisan group of 20 House lawmakers said in a letter yesterday to Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. They note that funds were “explicitly provided” for construction, not […]

Here are the events we’ll be keeping an eye on this week: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will testify this week twice on the Fiscal Year 2015 budget request—at a House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday at 10 a.m., and Thursday morning at a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing. On Tuesday at […]

More than three weeks after the Obama Administration announced plans to immediately place into cold standby the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, the project’s contractor is still continuing work as normal without any direction on how to proceed. The National Nuclear Security Administration said in the budget request released early this month that it would […]

The Shallow Land Disposal Area, located in Parks Township, Pa., received the largest bump in requested funding in the Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works budget, according to detailed budget documents released this week. The Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program’s (FUSRAP) cleanup site has come under heavy scrutiny lately from Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) […]

The Congressionally appointed panel on National Nuclear Security Administration governance hasn’t come up with any recommendations yet, but the co-chairman of the committee made it clear yesterday at a House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing that the current governance structure for the agency is not working. The panel’s co-chairmen, former Lockheed Martin CEO Norm […]

The appropriations process may go faster this year than in previous years, according to House Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho).  The Appropriations Committee is making an effort to hasten the pace of its effort to try and deliver a budget by the beginning of the fiscal year in […]

The United States reaffirmed its commitment to continue developing efforts to use low-enriched uranium as a replacement fuel for research reactors and in the production of medical isotopes, according to a National Progress Report from the Whitehouse for the Nuclear Security Summit this week. The U.S. along with other international partners has been supporting an […]