Budget & Policy

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 […]

Some of the 1,502 amendments filed in the House for an annual defense policy bill deal directly with the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise, including a call to allow the National Nuclear Security Administration more time to make 80 new plutonium pits annually. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) filed an amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization […]

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 […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would receive $200 million for its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program in fiscal 2024, or half the fiscal 2023 total for the effort, under the energy and water development bill approved last week by the House Appropriations Committee. Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) funds for cleaning […]

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wants an oversight hearing on “misleading” statements Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm made to the panel in April about her stock ownership. “During the hearing, Secretary Granholm claimed she did not own any personal financial stocks, when in fact, she held […]

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wants an oversight hearing on “misleading” statements Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm made to the panel in April about her stock ownership. “During the hearing, Secretary Granholm claimed she did not own any personal financial stocks, when in fact, she held […]

The Michigan legislature on Wednesday evening easily passed a bill that would provide a $150-million grant to help restart the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Covert County. If signed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the bill would provide half the funding that Holtec International, the current Palisades owner, has said it needed from the state […]

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wants an oversight hearing on “misleading” statements Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm made to the panel in April about her stock ownership. “During the hearing, Secretary Granholm claimed she did not own any personal financial stocks, when in fact, she held […]

The Senate Armed Service Committee’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 line with a House committee’s version of the bill.  The Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday said its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) […]

The House Appropriations Committee late Thursday approved a bill that would give the National Nuclear Security Administration a slightly larger 2024 budget than requested, owing mostly to added funding for a plutonium pit plant being built in South Carolina. After a lengthy markup session that ran late into the night, the committee voted 34-to-24, essentially […]

Early Thursday, a House committee approved a bill to cap National Nuclear Security Administration spending in 2024 at about $23.8 billion and blocked a plan to repeal legal deadlines to make new nuclear weapon cores. The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would also approve $70 million to fund development of a sea-launched variant of […]

The GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a fiscal 2024 energy and water development spending bill that would keep funds for the Department of Energy’s Cold War and Manhattan Project cleanup at roughly $8.3 billion. The final committee vote was 34-to-24. The full House had not scheduled the bill for a vote at deadline […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission would receive just under $1 billion, as requested, for 2024, under a spending bill the House Appropriations Committee was to mark up Thursday. Separately, a much smaller nuclear waste agency would also get its requested budget if the 2024 energy and water development appropriations bill becomes law. NRC is the primary […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday was to mark up a bill that would increase funding for next-generation nuclear energy programs at the expense of accounts that fund nuclear waste, among other things. Generally, the bill would provide DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy with more funding than requested for development of high assay low-enriched uranium […]

The House Armed Services Committee on Thursday approved its version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes allowing the Department of Energy to spend up to $7.5 billion on Defense Environmental cleanup. The committee approved the bill early Thursday after a long markup and debate that began on Wednesday. Defense Environmental is the […]

Early Thursday, a House committee approved a bill to cap National Nuclear Security Administration spending in 2024 at about $23.8 billion and blocked a plan to repeal legal deadlines to make new nuclear weapon cores. The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would also approve $70 million to fund development of a sea-launched variant of […]

The House Armed Services Committee was set Wednesday to begin its annual marathon markup of the bill that sets spending ceilings and defense policies for the coming fiscal year. Committee debate of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was to begin at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time on Capitol Hill in Washington in room 2118 […]

A House Appropriations subcommittee led by a lawmaker with a local interest in the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee on Thursday voted to keep nuclear cleanup spending roughly $8.3 billion in fiscal 2024, sending the measure onto the full committee. The House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Chuck […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission would receive its requested budget for fiscal year 2024, under a Republican-authored spending bill unveiled this week in the House. The civilian nuclear power and waste regulator would get about $979.2 million for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 if the bill, written by the House Appropriations energy and water development […]

Members of the House Armed Services Committee propose to withhold funding for retirement of the W76-2 warhead unless the military and National Nuclear Security Administration can prove there is no need for the lower-yield submarine-launched weapon. The bill would also withhold 20% of travel funding for National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator Jill Hruby until […]

Civilian nuclear weapons programs would get a little more funding than requested in fiscal year 2024 if a bill sent to the House Appropriations Committee this week becomes law. The House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee’s version of the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2024 spending bill would provide $48.8 billion overall for the agency, […]

A House Appropriations panel wants to give the federal government’s independent safety watchdog for nuclear weapon sites almost as much money as the White House requested, bill published this week show. On Thursday, the House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee chaired by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn), passed a draft budget bill that would provide […]

A House Appropriations panel wants to give the federal government’s independent safety watchdog for nuclear weapon sites almost as much money as the White House requested, a bill published Wednesday shows. On Wednesday, the House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee chaired by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn), released its draft budget plan Wednesday that would […]

A House Appropriations panel led by a lawmaker with a local interest in the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee would keep nuclear cleanup spending roughly $8.3 billion in fiscal 2024, according to a draft budget bill released Wednesday. That is about flat compared with the 2023 appropriation, and while numbers don’t change […]

Civilian nuclear weapons programs would get a little more funding than requested in fiscal year 2024 if a budget bill released Wednesday by a House panel becomes law. The House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water’s version of the fiscal 2024 spending bill provides $48.8 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE), $133 million more […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission would receive its requested budget for fiscal year 2024, under a Republican-authored spending bill unveiled Wednesday in the House. The civilian nuclear power and waste regulator would get about $979.2 million for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 if the bill, written by the House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee, […]

Members of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee are proposing to withhold funding for retirement of the W76-2 warhead unless the military and National Nuclear Security Administration can prove there is no need for the lower-yield submarine-launched weapon. The proposal is included in the subcommittee’s markup of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), […]

With a deficit deal in place, the House and Senate now plan to write the annual bill authorizing budgets for Department of Energy defense-nuclear programs by June 23. Disrupted by negotiations over spending levels and U.S. borrowing authority, markups of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) are now set to resume next week, according to […]

With a deficit deal in place, the House and Senate now plan to write the annual bill authorizing budgets for Department of Energy defense-nuclear programs by June 23. Disrupted by negotiations over spending levels and U.S. borrowing authority, markups of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) are now set to resume next week, according to […]

The bipartisan debt ceiling bill, which President Joe Biden (D) signed into law on Saturday, passed the Senate Thursday with 63 affirmative votes, but it drew a lot of Republican opposition, including from members representing Department of Energy weapons complex states. Senators who voted no included Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sen. […]