Biden budget requests increases at Oak Ridge, Savannah River, WIPP as Hanford falls
-
Plutonium Pit Production
NNSA seeks 60% boost for budget line that funds pits; eclipses expected increase for FY23
The National Nuclear Security Administration has requested a roughly 60% increase in fiscal year 2023 for the part of its budget that funds the rebuilding of critical nuclear-weapons production infrastructure including plutonium pits, a Department of Energy document published Tuesday shows. The semiautonomous DOE nuclear-weapons agency seeks some $4.6 billion for Production Modernization in fiscal […]
-
Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
NE fuel cycle budget gets boost for ‘23, now includes interim storage funds
If it became law, the White House’s 2023 budget proposal for the Department of Energy’s nuclear power portfolio would include an increase in nuclear fuel cycle research, according to a budget document published Tuesday. Of the roughly $422 million proposed for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) fuel cycle research and development program, around $20 […]
-
Vitrification & Grout
DOE IG finds no major defects with drug-testing program at Hanford vit plant
After a probe, the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General could not substantiate claims of cheating and other problems with Bechtel’s substance abuse program at the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. “Specifically, we found that management had taken several actions to address drug-related concerns,” the Office of Inspector General […]
-
Decommissioning
Decom companies still trading barbs over Kewaunee plant sale
Two decommissioning companies engaged in legal sparring over the proposed sale of a Wisconsin nuclear power plant are debating whether a state commission should be able to rule on the financial terms of the transaction, recent documents show. In a Monday filing with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (WPSC), EnergySolutions pushed back on competitor NorthStar’s […]
-
Contracts & Procurement
Preview: NNSA counterterrorism office talks aircraft procurement
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation, or NA-80, recently embarked on the second and final phase of a refresh for its Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) air fleet: planes and helicopters the agency uses domestically to gather data about potential or suspected nuclear accidents, incidents and — in a worst […]
-
Budget & Policy
CORRECTION
The story “NRC Decom Budget Request Up Slightly for 2023,” [Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, March 29, 2022], should have said that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s total funding for fiscal 2022 was $887.7 million.