Vol. 36, No. 02 
Energy nominee Wright vows to back Hanford cleanup
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Budget & Policy
Granholm bids DOE adieu; Kolb to be acting secretary
Jennifer Granholm, the 16th U.S. secretary of energy, formally said goodbye to DOE staff Thursday and the Joe Biden White House announced Ingrid Kolb, the head of the agency’s management office, will become acting secretary effective at noon Monday. In addition, Teresa Robbins will step in as acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Feds, Washington state finalize holistic Hanford tank waste agreement
After about four years of talks and 185 public comments, two federal agencies and Washington state have blessed an amended 15-year plan for treating radioactive waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. In a press release, the agencies reiterated they are sticking with the August 2025 deadline for starting to solidify some of the […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP shipments decline for 2024, according to annual data
The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received fewer shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during 2024 than in 2023, a decline that bosses at the underground disposal site hinted at during the fall. With annual results counted, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) finished 2024 with 470 shipments down from 489 […]
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Budget & Policy
Trump selects ex-FERC commissioner Danly for deputy secretary of energy
James Danly, who served on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during Donald Trump’s first administration, is the Republican president-elect’s pick to be deputy secretary of energy the second time around, various news outlets reported last week. A military veteran, Danly currently heads the energy regulatory branch of the Skadden Arps law firm and briefly chaired […]
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Budget & Policy
ECA hires deputy director with nuclear consulting background
The Energy Communities Alliance said Monday it has hired Laura Hermann, founder of her own energy-related consulting firm, to the newly-recreated job of deputy executive director. Hermann, who will be the No. 2 person to executive director Seth Kirshenberg, started with Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) last week, Kirshenberg said in a brief phone conversation with […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP prime expected to receive keys to new ventilation system
After a delay, the subcontractor that built a new ventilation system at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site in New Mexico is expected to soon turn over the keys to the project to the prime contractor, according to a federal update. A Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNESB) staff report on Waste […]
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Transuranic Waste
Carlsbad mayor backs WIPP legacy waste plan; critics unimpressed
Citizen groups were largely unimpressed by a Department of Energy plan to define and give priority to what the agency calls “legacy” transuranic waste sent to a deep underground disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., but the mayor of the city endorsed the approach. That is according to a review of public comments, due Jan. 3, […]
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Transuranic Waste
Annual maintenance outage keeps WIPP offline into March
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., has commenced its annual maintenance outage and won’t be receiving more shipments of transuranic waste until mid-March, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. Two of the bigger work chores scheduled for the outage include installation of final duct work for the new Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System […]
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Budget & Policy
Trump taps Brandon Williams as his NNSA administrator nomination
WASHINGTON — Brandon Williams, a former one-term congressman from New York’s 22nd district, is President Donald Trump’s (R) pick to head the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration. Chris Wright, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Energy, told the Exchange Monitor here Wednesday after his confirmation hearing that he picked Williams personally for the […]
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Budget & Policy
House appropriations leaders make subcommittee assignments
Leaders of the House Appropriations Committee announced subcommittee rosters for the 119th Congress this week, revealing more continuity than change on subcommittees affecting the Department of Energy. There are some additions and departures, but leadership remains the same for the subcommittee that writes the first draft of DOE’s annual spending bill, according to Wednesday press […]
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Budget & Policy
Wrap Up: Trump taps Gil to lead DOE science; House member plugs RECA; Vandy lands DOE research grant
President-elect Donald Trump this week announced Darío Gil, a senior vice president at IBM, is his pick to be Department of Energy undersecretary of science in the incoming administration. The Office of Science, which supports DOE’s national laboratories, was the administrative stovepipe for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management during the first Trump term. Science, like […]