2026 National Cleanup Workshop

ARLINGTON, VA – The head of the Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup branch said here Tuesday the Office of Environmental Management (EM) is indeed being renamed. In his “State of EM” speech, Walsh again said the Environmental Management office is being rebranded as the “Office of Nuclear Restoration and Revitalization. His remarks came at […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) told the National Cleanup Workshop here on Wednesday he expects the Energy & Water Development bill for fiscal 2027 to pass during the so-called “lame duck” session after Congress returns following the November election. Fleischmann, a member of the House Appropriation Committee, chairs the Energy & Water subcommittee […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Tim Walsh, the Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for the Office of Environmental Management (EM) said here Tuesday that his department is close to reaching an agreement with New Mexico officials over the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. Walsh said EM has been in productive negotiations with the New […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., will spend about half of 2027 down for maintenance, DOE and contractor officials told the National Cleanup Workshop here Tuesday. WIPP will be essentially offline and not receiving waste for two three-month cycles during 2027, said Ken Harrawood, president and […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – Someone who mistakenly stumbled into the Department of Energy’s National Cleanup Workshop without an agenda might be excused for confusing it with a conference on artificial intelligence (AI). Many conversations from the podium and in the hallways here this week have focused to some extent on the potential and perils of AI. […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The anticipated expansion of missions and private-sector projects around Savannah River Site could require the surrounding region to build as many as 17,000 homes over the next five years, according to a local official here Tuesday. Chuck Smith, a former city councilman in Aiken, S.C. where Savannah River Site (SRS) is located, […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – Legislation modifying the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA), could remove a roadblock to the full implementation of the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus, a DOE official said. During Wednesday’s session at the National Cleanup Workshop, several panels discussed the early progress of the nuclear  campuses. Marla Morales, DOE’s acting deputy […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working to address management of greater than class C (GTCC) waste through a recent rulemaking, Commissioner Matthew Marzano said Wednesday here. The NRC Commissioner opened up the final day of the Nuclear Cleanup Workshop with a keynote address focused on the NRC’s role in the cleanup sector. […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The biggest challenge for the National Nuclear Security Administration is receiving “stable, predictable, sufficient, timely funding” from Congress, Thomas Ashlock, the agency’s associate administrator for congressional and intergovernmental affairs, said Tuesday. “Everyone would agree that a CR [continuing resolution] is not good,” Ashlock said, referring to a short-term stopgap spending bill that […]