Budget & Policy

With the White House ending mandatory COVID-19 vaccination rules for most federal workers, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has postponed oral arguments on a case involving the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The San Francisco-based court Tuesday told the parties, including DOE and hundreds of plaintiff government and contractor employees, […]

The flood of employees leaving National Nuclear Security Administration sites that peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic has ebbed and the workforce needed to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons complex is short-staffed but holding, the head of the agency said Wednesday.  “The overall attrition is close to normal now at both Los Alamos and Sandia and […]

Over the past year, the Department of Energy decided to change the location of a planned fire station at the Hanford Site in Washington state because similar facilities are being developed in nearby Richland, Wash., an agency spokesperson said. Rather than building in Hanford’s 400 area as initially planned, managers at the 580-square-mile Hanford Site […]

While happy to see Washington state and federal agencies cut a new deal on cleanup of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday DOE’s fiscal 2024 budget request is “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Hanford’s Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office would […]

Washington state and the federal government reached a “conceptual agreement” for future management of about 56 million gallons of radioactive waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, the parties announced Tuesday. DOE, Washington state Department of Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a press release negotiators have reached “conceptual agreement […]

While happy to see Washington state and federal agencies cut a new deal on cleanup of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday DOE’s fiscal 2024 budget request is “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Hanford’s Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office would […]

Over the past year, the Department of Energy decided to change the location of a planned fire station at the Hanford Site in Washington state because similar facilities are being developed in nearby Richland, Wash., an agency spokesperson said. Rather than building in Hanford’s 400 area as initially planned, managers at the 580-square-mile Hanford Site […]

WASHINGTON — The secretary of energy must approve the National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan to let one company manage the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, for up to 20 years, the head of the nuclear-weapons agency said here Wednesday. Details of the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract were published on April 28. The draft solicitation included a five-year […]

The flood of employees leaving National Nuclear Security Administration sites that peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic has ebbed and the workforce needed to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons complex is short-staffed but holding, the head of the agency said Wednesday.  “The overall attrition is close to normal now at both Los Alamos and Sandia and […]

With the White House ending mandatory COVID-19 vaccination rules for most federal workers, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has postponed oral arguments on a case involving the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The San Francisco-based court Tuesday told the parties, including DOE and hundreds of plaintiff government and contractor employees, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration, in cooperation with U.S. partner nations, plans to establish an integrated global system to detect smuggled nuclear material before it can be used in acts of terrorism.  The NNSA’s Office of Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) announced deployment of a Counter Nuclear Smuggling System on the federal government’s contracting […]

Senior Department of Energy officials will defend their fiscal year 2024 budget requests before Senate appropriators on Wednesday. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk will be joined by National Nuclear Security Administration head Jill Hruby to testify before the Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Dirksen […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. 03: Hearing, Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee. “A Review of the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Energy, including the National Nuclear Security Administration.” Jill Hruby, administrator of the National […]

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm touted big liquid-waste-cleanup milestones in Idaho and Washington state in testimony Wednesday at the Senate Armed Services Committee. Though the fiscal year 2024 budget request for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is about flat overall, tweaks to the 2024 proposal support a big “a ramp up […]

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, former two-term governor of Michigan, will headline a fundraising event for the South Carolina Democratic Party Friday evening in Columbia, S.C., roughly an hour’s drive from Aiken, where the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is located. “She is not on official travel” but personal travel, and the federal government […]

In the first of a trio of reports after its testing last fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District said Tuesday the now-closed Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Mo., is safe, from a radiological standpoint. The 460-page report “provides additional data from our structural surveys and sampling, all of which have confirmed […]

Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, the landlord contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is in the market for a sub to replace old electric power lines and related equipment at the former plutonium production complex. In an online procurement notice this week, the site management contractor said it was seeking […]

Problems with components are mostly responsible for the two-year delay to the warhead for the next nuclear-tipped air-launched cruise missile, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration told lawmakers Wednesday.  There are “few components that are pacing the schedule” for the W80-4, Jill Hruby, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) told the […]

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm touted big liquid-waste-cleanup milestones in Idaho and Washington state in testimony Wednesday at the Senate Armed Services Committee. Though the fiscal year 2024 budget request for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is about flat overall, tweaks to the 2024 proposal support a big “a ramp up […]

In the first of a trio of reports after its testing last fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District said Tuesday the now-closed Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Mo., is safe, from a radiological standpoint. The 460-page report “provides additional data from our structural surveys and sampling, all of which have confirmed […]

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, former two-term governor of Michigan, will headline a fundraising event for the South Carolina Democratic Party Friday evening in Columbia, S.C., roughly an hour’s drive from Aiken, where the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is located. “She is not on official travel” but personal travel, and the federal government […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. 24-27: The Nuclear Energy Institute’s Used Fuel Management Conference. Paris Las Vegas 3655 S. Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas, Nev. 89109. Register online. 26: Hearing, Senate Armed Services Committee. “To receive testimony on the Department of Energy […]

It will be another year before the National Nuclear Security Administration knows roughly how much it will cost to build the infrastructure to make 80 nuclear-weapon cores annually, the head of the agency told Senators Tuesday. NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby on Tuesday told the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces that initial cost estimates […]

Los Alamos County, New Mexico, started its annual budgeting process Monday night with a public hearing on the proposed spending plan for fiscal year 2024, which includes a massive more-than-doubling of the fire department outlay to cover a cooperative agreement with the National Nuclear Security Administration.  The Los Alamos Fire Department provides firefighting and emergency […]

Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), co-chair of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) have reintroduced the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act to prohibit the U.S. President from launching a nuclear strike without prior authorization from Congress.  The legislation, filed Friday, would also institute safeguards to prevent the […]

Cement-like grout might be a viable cleanup alternative for up to 60% of the liquid radioactive waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the acting head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office told Senators this week.  The long-delayed Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant being built by Bechtel to solidify radioactive waste into […]

WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has a morale problem and needs to do something about it, a senator representing the state where agency headquarters is located said in a hearing Wednesday. “It needs to be first acknowledged that you have a problem,” Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) told Christopher Hanson, the NRC chair. “You then […]

WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has a morale problem and needs to do something about it, a senator representing the state where agency headquarters is located said in a hearing Wednesday. “It needs to be first acknowledged that you have a problem,” Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) told Christopher Hanson, the NRC chair. “You then […]

Cement-like grout might be a viable cleanup alternative for up to 60% of the liquid radioactive waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the acting head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office told Senators Tuesday.  The long-delayed Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant being built by Bechtel to solidify radioactive waste into a […]

It will be another year before the National Nuclear Security Administration knows roughly how much it will cost to build the infrastructure to make 80 nuclear-weapon cores annually, the head of the agency told Senators Tuesday. NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby on Tuesday told the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces that initial cost estimates […]