Budget & Policy

The roughly 1% annual increase the Joe Biden administration proposed for civilian nuclear weapons programs is “minimally sufficient” to keep warhead and bomb modernization on track in 2022, but maybe not beyond, a joint Pentagon-Department of Energy nuclear acquisitions group told Congress recently. The Biden request of roughly $20 billion for the National Nuclear Security […]

On a party-line vote Thursday, the House approved a spending bill that would give the National Nuclear Security Administration the requested $20 billion or so for fiscal year 2022: a budget the Nuclear Weapons Council called “minimally sufficient.” The budget is part of a seven-bill minibus appropriations package that the White House has said it […]

The full House on Thursday approved a Department of Energy budget that provides guns and gates for Yucca Mountain plus some money to begin siting a federally operated interim storage facility for nuclear waste — the same proposals with which the bill emerged from committee. The House’s seven-bill appropriations package, which passed on a 219-208 […]

A federal suit against a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel remains in limbo while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission works through licensing proceedings, according to a court filing from the agency this week. Holtec International’s application for a federal license to build an interim storage facility in Lea County, N.M. is “still under […]

In a major milestone for the otherwise moribund U.S. spent-fuel-storage scene, one of two proposed commercial interim storage sites got the environmental green light from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week. If licensed, the site in west Texas would be allowed to store up to 5,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel and highly-radioactive Greater-than-Class-C […]

Like a spending bill passed Thursday by the full House of Representatives, the National Defense Authorization Act that cleared Senate Armed Services last week, restores $5.7 million in community funds the Joe Biden White House left out of its fiscal 2022 budget request for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. That […]

Uncle Sam has long wanted federal workers and contractors to get vaccinated against COVID-19 but now is growing more insistent, with infections on the rise around Department of Energy nuclear installations. President Joe Biden this week reinstated mandatory mask wearing in government buildings and imposed a series of safety measures and restrictions for federal workers […]

The House of Representatives voted 219 to 208 Thursday on a party line to approve a package of seven fiscal 2022 spending bills including one that sets the budget for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management at $7.76 billion. The bill, which includes DOE along with the other agencies as part of H.R. […]

The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board heard Monday the proposed fiscal 2022 budget proposal for the Department of Energy site in South Carolina includes $9 million toward development of a new emergency operations center. The minibus appropriations package passed by the full House of Representatives Thursday also includes the $9 million for the new […]

A roughly $1-trillion infrastructure bill negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators could provide Superfund sites with more than $3 billion for cleanup over the next five years. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would increase federal investment in projects including roads, bridges and broadband —and quicken cleanup of environmental contamination through $3.5 billion […]

A roughly $1-trillion infrastructure bill negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators could provide Superfund sites with more than $3 billion for cleanup over the next five years. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would increase federal investment in projects including roads, bridges and broadband —and quicken cleanup of environmental contamination through $3.5 billion […]

A House Armed Services panel on Tuesday called for a briefing about delays to a bomb and warhead refurb at the National Nuclear Security Administration and a new report on planned subcritical testing facilities. The strategic forces subcommittee wrote the requirements into a report appended to its portion of the fiscal year 2022 National Defense […]

As of Wednesday, everyone was again required to wear face masks inside of Department of Energy buildings located in areas with substantial or high COVID-19 transmission, the agency announced in an email blast. “[E]ffective immediately, face coverings must be worn by everyone in all DOE buildings and leased spaces that are in areas of substantial […]

The nation’s nuclear fleet would get a cash injection if the Joe Biden administration’s proposed bipartisan infrastructure bill becomes law, according to a summary of the trillion-dollar measure. Under the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Department of Energy would get roughly $6 billion to dole out over four fiscal years to struggling nuclear […]

The roughly 1% annual increase the Joe Biden administration proposed for civilian nuclear weapons programs is “minimally sufficient” to keep warhead and bomb modernization on track in 2022, but maybe not beyond, a joint Pentagon-Department of Energy nuclear acquisitions group told Congress in a letter dated Friday. The Biden request of roughly $20 billion for […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing process for two proposed interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel can’t legally move forward without approval from host state governors, a Texas congressman argued Tuesday on the House floor. “The law is very clear … that the governor can disapprove [of an interim storage facility],” said Rep. Henry Cuellar […]

The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board heard Monday the proposed fiscal 2022 budget proposal for the Department of Energy site in South Carolina includes $9 million toward development of a new emergency operations center. The minibus appropriations package scheduled for debate Tuesday afternoon on the House floor also includes the $9 million for the […]

The House of Representatives was scheduled to begin floor debate Tuesday on a seven-bill appropriations package for the 2022 fiscal year, lawmakers announced Monday after a meeting of the chamber’s Rules Committee. Floor debate was scheduled to start at 1:15 eastern time, with votes to begin at 8 p.m., according to a schedule posted online […]

Like a spending bill passed earlier this month by the House Appropriation Committee, the National Defense Authorization Act that cleared Senate Armed Services last week,restores $5.7 million in community funds the Joe Biden White House left out of its fiscal 2022 budget request for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. That […]

Here are some events related to defense- and civilian-nuclear matters that the Exchange Monitor staff is tracking this week. July: 26: Meeting: House Rules Committee. 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. H-313, Capitol Hill. The Committee will write a rule of debate for a minibus appropriations package that includes the House Appropriations Committee’s proposed DOE budget for 2022. […]

The House Rules Committee was to write a rule for debate Monday that would tee up a vote this week on a massive spending bill that includes the Department of Energy’s proposed 2022 budget of roughly $45 billion. The committee was scheduled to meet on Capitol Hill at 2:00 p.m. to consider a rule and […]

The Senate on Thursday confirmed ex-Sandia National Laboratories director Jill Hruby as the sixth administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration. The vote was 79-16. Hruby’s swearing in at the Department of Energy had not been scheduled at deadline Friday for Nuclear Security and Deterrence Monitor. The semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is the […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted 23-3 to approve the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2022, the panel said in a Thursday press release about the legislation that authorizes more than $20 billion in spending for the National Nuclear Security Administration. The committee’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the policy bill that sets […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee verbally voted Thursday morning to advance Department of Energy nominees for general counsel and two other posts for consideration by the full Senate.  During the business meeting, the committee endorsed the nomination of Samuel Walsh to be DOE’s general counsel, Andrew Light to be assistant secretary for international […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted 23-3 to approve the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2022, the panel said in a Thursday press release about the legislation that authorizes more than $20 billion in spending for the National Nuclear Security Administration. The committee’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the policy bill that sets […]

Wednesday’s deadline for members of the House of Representatives to submit amendments to a six-bill spending package that includes the House Appropriations Committee’s 2022 spending proposal for the Department of Energy, appears to have passed without effortrs to dramatically alter the chamber’s nearly $7.8-billion budget for the Office of Environmental Management. A deadline scan of […]

The Department of Energy has yet to write New Mexico back after the state sent a letter opposing a proposed commercial interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel within its borders, the state’s senior senator said this week. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) told RadWaste Monitor after a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee meeting Thursday […]

The House Appropriations Committee’s spending bill would provide the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio with more funds than the White House sought for community and regulatory support, including setting up a liaison to localities around the former gaseous diffusion plant, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said Monday. The fiscal 2022 appropriations package for Energy […]

With the full House set to vote next week on a multi-bill spending package that would keep the civilian nuclear weapons budget about flat at about $20 billion, some Republican lawmakers have offered amendments to up funding for a proposed pair of ocean-going nuclear warheads. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) wants to transfer $19 million to […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has officially started the job hunt for someone to run its spent fuel and waste disposal program, according to federal want ad posted Wednesday. Anyone interested in becoming the Office of Nuclear Energy’s (ONE) deputy assistant secretary for its spent fuel and waste disposition program can apply […]