Budget & Policy

The full House passed legislation Friday that would reform the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program in a vote of 245 to 161, but the “No More Solyndras Act” would still leave USEC eligible for a $2 billion loan guarantee. Though the bill eventually aims to phase out the program, it would still allow loan […]

The Senate is set to pass a six-month Continuing Resolution in the next few days that would keep the government running through March of next year, though it might have to navigate around some procedural speed bumps. The bill includes exceptions for NNSA’s weapons program and USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant project but funds the rest […]

A roll-call vote on a House bill to create a Manhattan Project National Historical Park is expected today after the bill was debated under a suspension of House rules yesterday. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) who opposes the proposed national park, successfully called for a roll call vote rather than a voice vote. “The bomb is […]

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives Friday by Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) would shift responsibility for protecting National Nuclear Security Administration sites to the military as fallout from the July security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex continues. The “Securing Our Nuclear Weapons and Facilities Act,” which is unlikely to gain traction […]

A Continuing Resolution that would boost funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program and USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant Project for the first six months of Fiscal Year 2013 awaits President Obama’s signature after it was passed by the Senate late Friday. The Senate cleared the measure by a vote of 62-30 on Friday, […]

Former New Mexico Environment Secretary Ron Curry has been named the new administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 6, which covers Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Curry came to the EPA from the University of New Mexico, and previously headed the New Mexico Environment Department from 2003 to 2010. He replaces Al […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee appears willing to support a National Nuclear Security Administration plan to reprogram $120 million in Fiscal Year 2012 funds for an alternate plutonium sustainment strategy, with a catch: that the agency use part of the money to keep the deferred Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility alive. Suggesting he was […]

New Mexico Democratic Senate candidate Martin Heinrich lashed out at Republic opponent Heather Wilson’s support of Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s budget proposal yesterday, questioning Wilson’s support for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons laboratories. The labs would face steep cuts in Ryan’s budget plan—10 percent for Sandia National Laboratories and 17 percent for Los […]

New legislation introduced yesterday by Massachusetts Congressmen would prevent the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from granting license renewals to nuclear facilities more than ten years prior to the expiration of a current license. Reps. John Tierney (D) and Ed Markey (D) introduced the Nuclear Reactor Safety First Act (HR 6554) as a way to "provide greater […]

Here’s a look at the events we will be keeping an eye on this week:  The chairs of the various Citizens Advisory Boards located near Department of Energy cleanup sites are scheduled to meet this week in Washington. The Oct. 2-3 meeting, to be held at DOE headquarters, will involve presentations from DOE cleanup chief […]

With the bulk of the federal government now operating under a six-month Continuing Resolution that maintains funding at approximately Fiscal Year 2012 levels, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is seeking to minimize potential layoffs that could occur at some cleanup sites because of funding issues. As a result of the CR, some […]

Longtime Government Accountability Office executive Gene Aloise will retire from the Congressional watchdog agency in early September to take a top position with the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, NW&M Monitor has learned. Aloise, who has been the director of Nuclear Security, Safety and Nonproliferation on GAO’s Natural Resources and Environment team since 2002, […]

A book that hits the shelves today on President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan claims that White House officials put pressure on the Department of Energy to grant a $2 billion loan guarantee to USEC. Matt Rogers, the former DOE Senior Advisor in charge of Recovery Act implementation, said he “once encountered White House pressure,” when […]

Rep. Cliff Stearns, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, was defeated in a Florida Republican primary election Aug. 14. Stearns came in second in a four-person field, according to reports, with the primary won by Ted Yoho, a Gainesville-based veterinarian.

Should USEC receive funding in the Continuing Resolution that is set to fund federal agencies in lieu of FY 2013 appropriations when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1? The financially troubled uranium enrichment company says yes, but so far House and Senate appropriators don’t appear receptive.  USEC has made no secret of the fact […]

A draft version of the Republican National Committee’s 2012 platform takes square aim at the Obama Administration’s nuclear weapons policy, suggesting that President Obama’s decision to scale back plans to modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons complex and arsenal have weakened the nation’s nuclear deterrent. The 2012 platform is expected to be ratified at this week’s […]

The Kansas City Council is expected to vote today on whether to allow local voters to have a say in whether the city is financially involved in future nuclear weapons construction efforts. Through a complicated financing arrangement, the Kansas City Council signed off on bonds that are financing the construction of the National Nuclear Security […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program and USEC’s research, development and deployment program for the American Centrifuge Project would get boosts in the forthcoming Fiscal Year 2013 Continuing Resolution, according to a list of “anomalies” recently sent to Congress by the White House Office of Management and Budget. While most federal programs—and the bulk […]

The Democratic National Committee released its 2012 platform yesterday, and provisions involving nuclear weapons and nonproliferation policy not surprisingly mirror the Obama Administration’s nuclear security agenda. The platform, which is expected to be adopted at this week’s Democratic National Convention, indicates Obama’s interest in working with Russia on a new arms control agreement with “responsible […]

The late-July security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex will be a hot topic on Capitol Hill next week as two House committees are scheduled to hold hearings about the unprecedented break-in. The House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee scheduled a hearing for Wednesday on the topic last month, and the House […]

The Obama Administration may disagree with the National Nuclear Security Administration reform approach taken by House authorizers, but NNSA Defense Programs chief Don Cook suggested yesterday that it is nonetheless time to look at how the NNSA oversees its contractors. Speaking at the Capitol Hill Club yesterday, Cook said he favored a “partnership” approach between […]

The weapons complex is likely headed for another round of budgeting-by-Continuing Resolution when Fiscal Year 2013 begins in October. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) made it clear Tuesday that the Senate won’t be taking up any appropriations bills before the end of the year due to a partisan rift over spending policies, drawing an […]

Contractors at Department of Energy sites are set to soon see more rapid payments under a new Obama Administration policy unveiled yesterday. While federal agencies typically have 30 days to pay prime contractors, DOE and other agencies have been directed to accelerate such payments to within 15 days of receiving proper documentation, with the aim […]

Legislation to establish a new Manhattan Project national park took a step forward yesterday, with the House Natural Resources Committee approving the measure by unanimous consent. The bill would require the Manhattan Project National Historical Park to be set up within one year and specifies the facilities and areas at Hanford, Los Alamos National Laboratory […]

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, which has raised concerns about the relaxed oversight across the weapons complex and contractor assurance systems across the National Nuclear Security Administration, is holding a hearing on the topic at 9:30 a.m. Friday in Room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The subcommittee hasn’t […]

  Here’s a look at the key events we’ll be keeping an eye on this week: Today and tomorrow, the National Academy of Sciences will hold the first meeting to kick off its follow-on study of the quality of science and engineering research being performed at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nuclear weapons laboratories. The […]

A bipartisan group of eight Senators wants the Obama Administration to reverse course on the deferred Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility, and they are appealing to the Department of Defense to lead the effort. In a June 29 letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta obtained by NW&M Monitor, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Ben Nelson […]

The House Subcommittees on Environment and the Economy and on Energy and Power will call on new Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane and the four other commissioners to testify at a joint hearing on NRC policy and government oversight, set for July 24. Macfarlane was sworn in July 9 to complete the final year […]

The House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing Friday on oversight of the National Nuclear Security Administration will include testimony from three high-ranking DOE officials as well as the Department’s Inspector General and the head of the Government Accountability Office’s Natural Resources and Environment Department. According to a witness list released by the […]

With the Obama Administration contemplating new reductions to the nation’s nuclear stockpile, the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee is set to hold a hearing next week about the “proper” size of the nation’s nuclear arsenal. The hearing will take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Room SD-192 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building, and […]