Budget & Policy

The House last night passed by a vote of 390-3 the “Nuclear Terrorism Conventions Implementation and Safety of Maritime Navigation Act of 2013,” a bill necessary for U.S. implementation of amendments to two international treaties aimed at curbing nuclear terrorism. Addressing some acts not covered by current anti-terrorism laws, the bill addresses possessing radioactive or […]

  New Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz laid out his priorities for the Department of Energy moments after being sworn in yesterday morning, emphasizing what he called the “clean energy climate agenda” as his top priority. “All said and done, that fundamentally is the real driver in my coming back to help advance the President’s […]

Concerned about the National Nuclear Security Administration’s ability to pull off an interoperable warhead that could be replace the W78 and W88 weapons systems, the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee unveiled legislation yesterday that would require the Nuclear Weapons Council to broaden the scope of its refurbishment studies. The NWC already broadened the scope […]

  One week before the legislature adjourns, a bill in the Texas state legislature that was set to increase the annual cap on imported shipments to Waste Control Specialists was defeated late in the evening May 20 when long-time opponent of the site, state Rep. Lon Burnham (D-Ft. Worth), raised a technical issue with the […]

  The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing today to consider the renomination of Allison Macfarlane to serve a full term as Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Macfarlane was nominated a year ago, after the March 2012 resignation of then-Chairman Gregory Jaczko, and Macfarlane was set to serve the […]

After the original bill to expand annual import limits was killed by a technicality May 20, late yesterday Waste Control Specialists succeeded in getting that expansion added via amendment to another bill, ultimately gaining House approval. In amendments added to a bill addressing the Texas Compact Commission’s funding, approved by the Texas state House on […]

The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee easily cleared its version of the Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act yesterday, with unanimous support from lawmakers on the panel. The subcommittee’s portion of the bill sets policy and authorizes funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. […]

Newly-sworn in Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz addressed federal employees during a webcast meeting yesterday, answering questions from across the complex and touching on major issues he intends to tackle during his tenure. Highlights included:   ON NNSA: ““Reducing the stockpile, [the] Comprehensive Test-Ban [Treaty]—the discussions are hardly worth having, frankly, if DOE isn’t doing its […]

With the U.S. and Russia still negotiating a new Cooperative Threat Reduction umbrella agreement, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) yesterday introduced a bill aimed at bolstering threat reduction efforts in the Middle East and North Africa. Modeled after the landmark Nunn-Lugar CTR program, Shaheen’s “Next Generation Cooperative Threat Reduction Act of 2013” would authorize $30 million […]

  The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing today to consider the renomination of Allison Macfarlane to serve a full term as Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Macfarlane was nominated a year ago, after the March 2012 resignation of then-Chairman Gregory Jaczko, and Macfarlane was set to serve the […]

New Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will meet with the directors of the Department of Energy’s national laboratories Monday in Oak Ridge in his first formal trip as a cabinet official in the Obama Administration, NW&M Monitor has learned. The location of the meeting appears to be somewhat symbolic, near the Y-12 National Security Complex site […]

A New Mexico-based nuclear watchdog group is pushing for safety to play a more prominent role in the annual performance evaluation reviews at the National Nuclear Security Administration, and in particular, the agency’s Pantex Plant. In a letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Nuclear Watch New Mexico noted that improving safety culture at […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program is expected to get another boost when President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget is released today, though the agency’s nonproliferation account would take a significant hit, according to a report released yesterday by the Center for Public Integrity. According to the report, the President is set to ask […]

With the Obama Administration set to finally submit its Fiscal Year 2014 budget request to Congress today (approximately two months late), here are some of the things Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will be looking for in DOE’s portion:  Will the Administration look to again request a total of approximately $5.65 billion for the Office of […]

Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, the Air Force’s Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, acknowledged that budget austerity was forcing tough decisions about the future of the nation’s nuclear deterrent. But in a discussion at the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Forum yesterday, he emphasized that any cost-cutting decisions should be made with […]

With the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project expected to face a significant budget cut in the Administration’s budget request, a number of advocacy groups are weighing in on MOX. The Project on Government Oversight yesterday contacted supporters urging them to submit a form letter to lawmakers opposing funding for the project. “The project is […]

Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) took the Department of Energy to task yesterday for the relative lack of information contained in its Fiscal Year 2014 budget request. The request, which was officially rolled out yesterday, contained primarily only top-line and site-by-site specific funding amounts for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, with the Department saying that additional […]

Acting Under Secretary of Energy David Sandalow will be leaving the Department by June 1 to take a job at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. Sandalow, who also serves as assistant secretary for policy and international affairs, is among a number of officials to leave the under secretary slot in recent years. The […]

With President Obama’s budget out, budget hearings for the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Pentagon’s nuclear forces are already beginning to ramp up. Acting NNSA Administrator Neile Miller will appear before the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday to testify about the NNSA’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget. Also on Wednesday, […]

Leaking waste tanks at Hanford would not present a risk to visitors to Hanford’s historic B Reactor, said Kennewick Mayor Steve Young in response to questioning at a congressional hearing Friday on creating a new Manhattan Project Historical Park. The bill to create a national park with sites at Hanford, Los Alamos and Oak Ridge […]

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Friday that “in a week or two” he plans to discuss in detail plans for nuclear waste legislation. Wyden has been developing the legislation with Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ranking Member Lamar Alexander […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s budget request for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility does not project funding for the plant beyond Fiscal Year 2014. In budget details released by the NNSA yesterday, funding for the project in FY 2015 and beyond is marked “TBD.”  Notably, that is a change from an earlier version of […]

Future approaches to extending the lives of the nation’s nuclear warheads are likely to be restrained in their scope in the wake of the challenges faced by the National Nuclear Security Administration to contain costs on the B61 refurbishment, the former head of the agency said yesterday. Estimates to refurbish the B61 bomb have reached […]

Stymied in its attempts to achieve ignition last year, the National Nuclear Security Administration has shied away from setting an exact date for reaching the elusive goal at the National Ignition Facility. But budget documents released this week indicate that the agency expects to demonstrate thermonuclear burn that would enhance the uses of the National […]

The Department of Energy has released more details on its Fiscal Year 2014 budget request for the Office of Environmental Management. While last week’s budget information broke down funding on a site-by-site basis, the 300-page  report released yesterday includes funding levels for specific programs, out-year funding and other details. It can be found here.

A Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s budget scheduled for today has been postponed until next week. The panel had planned for acting NNSA Administrator Neile Miller to testify before the committee at 2:30 p.m. today, but a conflict involving the schedule of subcommittee chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein […]

The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee appeared to open the door yesterrday to changes by the Obama Administration in its plans to modernize the nuclear weapons stockpile and arsenal. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the panel, has been among the most outspoken critics of the Administration’s modernization […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee appears likely to report out MIT physicist Ernest Moniz’s nomination to serve as the next Secretary of Energy during a business meeting scheduled to be held today at 9:45 a.m. Moniz received bipartisan support from committee members, including Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) during a hearing held on his […]

In an effort to find consensus on a sustainable nuclear posture for the United States, eight nuclear weapons experts suggested that modernizing the weapons complex and improving governance of the National Nuclear Security Administration should be a priority. The Pentagon-sponsored study was facilitated by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and an agreement on […]

Here’s a look at the events we will be keeping an eye on this week: Three Administration officials will testify about its proliferation prevention programs before the Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 222 of the Russell Senate Office Building. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic […]