Vol. 5, No. 18

Budget & Policy

Undersecretary Menezes Gets More Clout at Energy Department

U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette has started off the new year by giving more authority to DOE Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes, effectively making him acting second in command until a deputy is in place. Brouillette said in a Friday email to Energy Department staff that to “ensure continued operational effectiveness,” Menezes now has authority […]
  • Plutonium Pit Production

    South Carolina Says DOE, Court Wrong to Deny Promised Payout for Plutonium Storage

    In what could be the final brief before an appeals panel rules on the case, South Carolina hammered home its argument that federal law does not prohibit the Department of Energy from paying $200 million in fines after blowing a legal deadline to remove plutonium from the state. South Carolina is appealing the case after […]

  • Plutonium Pit Production

    JASONs Endorse Fast Start to New Pit Complex

    The JASON group of scientists has endorsed a plan for the U.S. Department of Energy to immediately begin building new infrastructure to produce fresh nuclear-weapon cores, according to a letter written by the group’s program manager and published Monday by the Federation of American Scientists. “[W]e urge that pit manufacturing be re-established as expeditiously as […]

  • Transuranic Waste

    WIPP Waste Emplacement Stalled in December Due to Bad Rope

    An equipment problem at the U.S. Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico held up emplacement of transuranic waste in December, according to a regular monthly report filed by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Nuclear Waste Partnership, DOE’s contractor in charge of operating the salt mine disposal site, paused waste […]

  • Cleanup & Remediation

    Hanford Guards Union Denied Access to Subcontractor’s Bechtel Deal

    The U.S. National Labor Relations Board ruled Thursday that a labor union representing security guards at the Waste Treatment Plant under construction at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site is not entitled to see the contract under which they are employed. The NLRB ruling finds that Waste Treatment Security Guards Union 161 holds no legal right […]

  • Decommissioning

    New York Opposes Staffing Reductions at Indian Point

    The state of New York is objecting to a request by power company Entergy for federal approval to reduce staffing at the Indian Point Energy Center as its two remaining operational reactors are retired over the next 16 months. Three separate state agencies have reviewed the plan, filed last April with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory […]

  • Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

    NRC Spent $238 From Nuclear Waste Fund in November

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November continued to spend just a few hundred dollars per month of its remaining balance from the federal Nuclear Waste Fund. Spending of $238 for unspecified program planning and support left the agency with an unspent, unobligated balance of $405,977, according to the latest update to Congress regarding the […]

  • Defense & Military

    New Strategic Command Deputy Nominated

    An Air Force three-star general has been nominated to become the deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Commander, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday. Lt. Gen. Thomas Bussiere currently serves as commander of the Alaskan Command at U.S. Northern Command, as well as the commander of the 11th Air Force at Pacific Air Forces, and commander of […]

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