Budget & Policy

The Department of Energy’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity seeks an external consultant to assess how the Joe Biden administration’s Justice40 program has affected economically underserved communities, according to recently published procurement documents. The small business contract has a one-year base period and a one-year option period. The base period will stretch well into […]

Employees of federal agencies, including the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, were racing home early ahead of a big storm front that threatened the Washington, D.C. region with wind, rain, hail and perhaps even tornadoes. The Office of Personnel Management on Monday announced that federal offices would close at 3 p.m. That […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity seeks an external consultant to assess how the Joe Biden administration’s Justice40 program has affected economically underserved communities, according to recently published procurement documents. The small business contract has a one-year base period and a one-year option period. The base period will stretch well into […]

Aptim Federal Services of Baton Rouge, La., has been awarded a $68-million Department of Energy task order to take down the former Ion Beam Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico, DOE said in a Thursday press release. The task order, announced by the DOE Office of Environmental Management, is to […]

The Defense Department and National Nuclear Security Administration would have just three months to begin development of a nuclear sea-launched cruise missile when the Senate passes its 2024 defense policy bill.  Passed in the Senate by an 86-11 vote on Thursday, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would require that within 90 days of final […]

Using leftover appropriations, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s budget for fiscal year 2024 would be essentially what the agency requested, if a proposal approved last week by Senate appropriators becomes law. An energy and water appropriations bill passed Thursday by the Senate Appropriations would provide a net appropriation for the NRC of about $940 million. That […]

The Senate on Thursday passed its version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which this year is loaded with policy reforms for federal nuclear-energy programs. The annual military policy bill passed 86-11. It already contained the full text of Sen. Shelly Capito’s (R-WVa.)  Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of […]

Senate staffer Rory Stanley on Monday will become chief of staff of the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, the agency confirmed Thursday. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WVa.) announced Stanley’s departure from Congress Thursday on the Senate floor during debate on the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. Stanley joined the staff of the Senate Energy […]

The Defense Department and National Nuclear Security Administration would have just three months to begin development of a nuclear sea-launched cruise missile when the Senate passes its 2024 defense policy bill.  Still under consideration by the Senate as of Wednesday, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would require that within 90 days of passage the […]

Using leftover appropriations, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s budget for fiscal year 2024 would be essentially what the agency requested, if a proposal approved last week by Senate appropriators becomes law. An energy and water appropriations bill passed Thursday by the Senate Appropriations would provide a net appropriation for the NRC of about $940 million. That […]

The Senate has left town until next week, leaving the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) without a vote. Senators were scheduled to resume consideration fo the bill on Tuesday. The Senate’s version of the fiscal 2024 defense authorization bill includes $24.1 billion for nuclear defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, almost exactly in […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy would get roughly the $1.6 billion the White House requested for it in fiscal year 2024, if a bill approved this week by the Senate Appropriations Committee becomes law. The full committee approved the bill 29-0 on Thursday, setting up both a floor vote in the full […]

The House version of the 2024 defense authorization act includes funding to develop a nuclear-tipped seal-launched cruise missile, and the program will make it into law despite the White House’s desire to kill it, according to Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.). Wittman, who is vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee, chair of the tactical […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s energy and water development bill would provide about $8.5 billion in fiscal 2024 funds for the Department of Energy’s cleanup of Cold War and Manhattan Project nuclear sites, according to the bill unanimously passed out of committee Thursday.  Altogether, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management would be funded at $8.5 billion under […]

Over the next decade, the U.S. will spend an estimated $756 billion on modernizing and maintaining its current and future nuclear forces, or about $75 billion per year, a new report from the Congressional Budget Office found.  Looking at the 10 years from 2023 to 2032, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), found that U.S. spending […]

The Senate’s 2024 National Defense Authorization Act includes the text of a bill that would extend nuclear-industry indemnity for catastrophic accidents and begin reforms at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The bill text was folded into the version of the 2024 defense policy bill introduced Wednesday by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the majority leader. The Senate […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday passed a spending bill that would give the National Nuclear Security Administration nearly $2 billion more than the $22.1 billion the White House sought and almost exactly the $24 billion the House has proposed.  The bill, approved 29-0 by the committee, also includes larger-than-requested appropriations for plutonium pit factories […]

An amendment to the Senate’s fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act bill could make it easier for nuclear-site employees to receive compensation for beryllium-related illnesses associated with their work. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) successfully won approval for her amendment to the Senate version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill Thursday.  The amendment […]

An amendment to the Senate’s fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act bill could make it easier for nuclear-site employees to receive compensation for beryllium-related illnesses associated with their work. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) successfully won approval for her amendment to the Senate version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill Thursday.  The amendment […]

Nearly $19 billion is included in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s 2024 spending bill for National Nuclear Security Administration nuclear-weapon programs, with funding boosts for planned facilities that will process plutonium and uranium for refurbished nuclear weapons. The Appropriations Committee began marking up the Energy And Water Development Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bill Thursday morning. The […]

The Senate’s 2024 National Defense Authorization Act includes the text of a bill that would extend nuclear-industry indemnity for catastrophic accidents and begin reforms at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A spokesperson for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, where the nuclear-reform bill originated, said in a statement Wednesday morning that the measure would be […]

The Department of Energy is still considering how and whether it will help bail out a shuttered power plant in Michigan, a senior agency official testified Tuesday in Congress. Plant owner Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., seeks a roughly $1 billion loan for DOE and said this spring that the federal agency could conditionally approve the […]

The House version of the 2024 defense authorization act includes funding to develop a nuclear-tipped seal-launched cruise missile, and the program will make it into law despite the White House’s desire to kill it, according to Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.). Wittman, who is vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee, chair of the tactical […]

With the House passing a defense policy bill laden with non-nuclear amendments, this week’s Senate Armed Services Committee draft of the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act would allow the Department of Energy to spend up to $7.1 billion on Defense Environmental cleanup and also calls for studies into issues at big nuclear weapons cleanup […]

Released midday Tuesday, the Senate Armed Service’s version of the 2024 defense policy bill boosts spending on nuclear weapons by $276 million and increases overall funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration, compared with the agency’s funding request.  Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Ranking Member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) jointly […]

Ohio created a new state Nuclear Development Authority this month that aims to make the state a research and development hub for advanced reactors and radioactive-waste-handling equipment, among other things. The new nine-member agency, created by the legislature as part of a 2024 state budget bill approved July 3, includes three tiers of members appointed […]

The Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act narrowly passed the House of Representatives on Friday morning, when four lawmakers from each party crossed the aisle for a final vote of 219 to 210. Emerging earlier this week from the House Rules Committee, the bill ended up with a few additions pertaining to the National […]

In a letter earlier this year, two Democratic appropriators in Congress blasted the secretary of energy about moving money around in the Department of Energy’s budget to cover the soaring cost of the Uranium Processing Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. “We write to you to express our deep concerns about the Executive Branch’s fiscal year […]

The Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act is now in the hands of the full House of Representatives after a late-night vote by the Rules Committee slashed allowable amendments to 209 from a record 1,502.  Approved at 11 p.m. Tuesday by a nine to four vote split on party lines, the bill ended up […]

Released midday Tuesday, the Senate Armed Service’s version of the 2024 defense policy bill boosts spending on nuclear weapons by $276 million and increases overall funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration, compared with the agency’s funding request.  Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Ranking Member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) jointly […]