Budget & Policy

The 2013 Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum kicks off tonight in Amelia Island, Fla. Speakers for the opening session tomorrow will be U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Chief Operating Officer Mark Lesinski and Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Vice President Joan Miller, and there will be a roundtable discussion with executives from B&W, CB&I, CH2M Hill, […]

An article in the Oct. 17 issue of the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing identified a memo from Sandia National Laboratories Director Paul Hommert as being sent to employees Oct. 16. The memo obtained by Weapons Complex Morning Briefing was a draft, and no memo was sent to employees. The memo included contingency plans in case […]

Elizabeth Robinson’s heretofore smooth path to serve as the Department of Energy’s new Under Secretary for Management and Performance hit a roadblock yesterday when Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) placed a hold on her nomination. In a letter to Robinson, who currently serves as NASA’s Chief Financial Officer, Vitter raised questions over NASA’s seeming delay in […]

Leadership ranks are set to be reshuffled on the House Appropriations Committee following the Oct. 18 death of Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.), with Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) the most likely candidate to take over the coveted defense slot, according to Congressional aides. Frelinghuysen has been the chairman of the House Energy […]

The lack of a senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management for the past two years has not impacted EM’s relationship with state regulators, an EM official said yesterday at the Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum. As DOE prepares to renegotiate key milestones at a number of sites, EM Senior […]

After a first attempt at a hearing was postponed during the government shutdown, the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee will hear testimony on the B61 life extension program and the future of the nation’s nuclear stockpile at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 2212 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Testifying at the hearing will […]

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced yesterday that he plans to block all of President Obama’s cabinet appointments until the Administration releases additional information on the survivors of the 2012 Benghazi attack, a move that could impact the pending nominees Frank Klotz, for National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator, and Elizabeth Robinson, for Under Secretary of Energy […]

Following the Senate confirmation earlier this month of Brad Crowell to lead the Department of Energy’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz announced yesterday three new members of the office’s leadership team. “CI will have two Principal Deputy Assistant Secretaries (PDAS), one for Congressional Affairs and one for Intergovernmental and External […]

Senior leaders from the Pentagon, National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Strategic Command and Sandia National Laboratories spoke out in support of the B61 life extension program during a House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing yesterday, suggesting that the expensive refurbishment was the cheapest approach that would still meet military requirements. The refurbishment, which will […]

An alleged British hacker was arrested late last week in connection with a cyber security breach that occurred at the Department of Energy that put the personal information of tens of thousands of employees at risk. Lauri Love, 28, has been charged in a criminal complaint filed by the U.S Attorney for the Eastern District […]

The White House yesterday announced plans to nominate two individuals to fill senior-level management positions at the Department of Energy. Joseph Hezir has been tapped to serve as DOE’s Chief Financial Officer. He currently serves as a Research Engineer and the Executive Director of The Future of Solar Energy Study at the Massachusetts Institute of […]

The Department of Energy this week provided USEC with an additional $13.6 million in funds for a program supporting the American Centrifuge Plant, but the company says that won’t be enough to complete the program by its target at the end of the year. The Department has been incrementally funding a research, development and deployment […]

A safety culture study conducted by the National Nuclear Security Administration this summer on its federal staff found a “lack of trust” among the agency’s employees, problems with communication and a “fear of reprisal” for raising concerns. The safety culture study obtained by NW&M Monitor follows reports that have been critical of the safety culture […]

Former New Mexico lawmaker Heather Wilson began a $10,000 a month consulting job with Sandia National Laboratories on the day she left the House of Representatives in January of 2009, according to documents obtained by Nuclear Watch New Mexico. The Department of Energy Inspector General revealed earlier this year that Wilson was paid more than […]

While the Department of Energy has taken steps in the last year to correct cyber security weaknesses in its systems, numerous vulnerabilities remain, according to a DOE Office of Inspector General report released Friday. Those weaknesses were exploited in the cyber security breach last summer that compromised the personal information of over 100,000 former and […]

Here’s a look at the events we’ll be keeping an eye on this week: The U.K. Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee plans to hold a hearing today on Nuclear Decommissioning Progress at Sellafield, which will include testimony from Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Chief Executive John Clarke. USEC plans to hold its third quarter earnings call with investors […]

The Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board added two new areas of concern to its annual submission to Congress, highlighting the aging double-shell tanks at the Hanford Reservation and degrading fire protection pumps and tanks at the Savannah River Site’s A Area. The two issues were the only new entries on the Defense Board’s annual report, […]

Madelyn Creedon is returning to the National Nuclear Security Administration. President Obama yesterday announced his intent to nominate Creedon as the NNSA’s principal deputy administrator, marking her return to an agency she played a role in creating. Creedon served as the Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs at the NNSA from 2000 to 2001 and was […]

Though CBS’ “60 Minutes” Friday retracted a report on Benghazi that helped spark Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) plans to place a hold on all Administration nominees, Graham yesterday reaffirmed his threat. Graham said on CNN’s “State of the Union”on Sunday that he will still press the Administration to allow Congress to interview five survivors of […]

Here’s a look at the events we’ll be keeping an eye on this week: The American Nuclear Society’s winter meeting is taking place from today through Wednesday in Washington, D.C. On the agenda are Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane and Pete Lyons of DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has begun a public search for a new Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. The position, dubbed “EM 2.1,” serves “as the lead official within EM to address and resolve issues and concerns regarding overall site integration and operations,” according to the job posting on the USAJobs website. […]

Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons highlighted the need for legislative progress on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future’s recommendations for the disposal of radioactive waste in remarks to reporters at the American Nuclear Society’s Winter Meeting yesterday. “We need something to move before we have the legislative authority […]

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) is taking over the top spot on the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee in what is expected to be a big boost for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. Simpson is taking over for Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), who moved to the top spot on the Defense Appropriations […]

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) isn’t giving up his fight to cut funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s B61 life extension program. Quigley said he was in the “beginning stages” of drafting a bill to cut funding for the nuclear bomb refurbishment despite a failed attempt to trim money from the program during debate on […]

Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter waded into a long-running debate about how much the U.S. spends on its nuclear arsenal, suggesting late last week that the reductions proposed by the Obama Administration won’t generate big savings. Carter said at the Aspen Security Forum that the Pentagon spends about $16 billion a year to maintain the […]

Lawmakers on a House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee yesterday pressed Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman about late adjustments to the evaluations of bidders on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12/Pantex contract, with one Republican suggesting that the changes don’t “smell right.” Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) pushed Poneman for answers on the subject, […]

New acting National Nuclear Security Administration chief Bruce Held is heading up a security task force established by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, and he’ll visit the Y-12 National Security Complex today in an effort to better familiarize himself with the location of one of the most high-profile security breaches in recent NNSA history. Held, who […]

As the Department of Energy begins moving forward with a new reorganization effort, Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman gave one of the strong indications to date yesterday that changes may be in store for the Department’s Office of Health, Safety and Security. There has been speculation in recent weeks that new DOE Secretary Ernest […]

President Barack Obama yesterday nominated former Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee staff director Bob Simon to serve as Associate Director for Energy and Environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Simon has served as a consultant in the Office of Science and Technology Policy since June, and previously served as […]

Nuclear waste will be at the forefront of the minds of the U.S. Congress this week, with hearings set in both the House and Senate. First the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee will meet July 30 to consider nuclear waste legislation, introduced in June by a bipartisan group of Senators including the committee chairman […]