EM NOMINEE ON CLEANUP PRIORITIES: WIPP IS 1, HANFORD 2, SRS 3

The path forward for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant recovery is the top challenge for the Office of Environmental Management, while cleanup work at Hanford is the No. 2 priority and Savannah River No. 3, the nomiinee to be the next EM Assistant Energy Secretary said at her confirmation hearing yesterday. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Mary Landrieu (D-La.) questioned Department of Energy nominee Monica Regalbuto about cleanup priorities at the panel’s hearing. “The incident at WIPP is the number one priority, how to restart the facility,” Regalbuto said. “That facility is inherently necessary for the Department of Energy and for the nation, as it is the only working repository in the world and is the only place where we can put our waste, so it has an impact across the whole country.”

 

Regalbuto, currently a DOE Office of Nuclear Energy official, went on to rank other priorities across the complex. “Our number two priority is the work at Hanford. Hanford is one of the largest sites and as such a lot of work still needs to be done. We are working with the state to assess a staged approach that will allow us to move forward,” Regalbuto said. “The number three priority is to continue the great work that we have been doing in the state of South Carolina at the Savannah River Site. Savannah River is the only working site that produces glass today in this country, and it is critically important that we continue to work on those issues.” South Carolina officials have in the last year decried funding cuts to Savannah River, citing a perception that Hanford is a higher priority despite the high level waste threat present at both sites.