Nuclear Security & Deterrence Vol. 18 No. 10
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Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Article 14 of 14

June 23, 2014

WRAP UP: IN CONGRESS, IN DOE

By Martin Schneider

NS&D Monitor
3/07/2014

IN CONGRESS

A House Armed Services Committee hearing with Strategic Command and Pacific Command was postponed this week because of snow in Washington, D.C. Strategic Command chief Adm. Cecil Haney is likely to appear before the committee in early April, though a date has not been formally set. The Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee also announced this week that it will hold a hearing April 1 on threat reduction programs in the Department of Energy and Department of Defense. Testifying at the 2:15 p.m. hearing will be National Nuclear Security Administration nonproliferation chief Anne Harrington, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Rebecca Hersman, and Defense Threat Reduction Agency Director Ken Myers.

IN DOE

After a long stint heading up the Department of Energy’s cleanup program, Dave Huizenga is returning to the National Nuclear Security Administration and his position of Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, according to a message Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman sent to DOE employees late this week. Huizenga will “continue to provide senior leadership in the Department’s critical worldwide efforts to secure nuclear materials in support of President Obama’s key nonproliferation objectives,” according to the message. Huizenga will remain in DOE’s Office of Environmental Management as acting Assistant Secretary through the roll out of DOE’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget proposal and help “lay the foundation for a smooth transition for the new EM management team,” Moniz and Poneman said.

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Weapons Complex Vol. 25 No. 21
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Weapons Complex Monitor

Article 1 of 18

June 03, 2014

Wrap Up: In Congress, In DOE

By Mike Nartker

WC Monitor
5/23/2014

In Congress

House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) handily won this week the Republican primary for the Idaho House 2nd District. Pundits had declared the race “ground zero” for the ideological battle between the establishment of the Republican party and the more conservative-leaning Tea Party, but Simpson was able to retain the ability to run for re-election in November. Challenger Bryan Smith, a local attorney in the 2nd District, accused the eight-term incumbent of excessive earmarking and spending in his role on the House Appropriations Committee, but Simpson was able to brush off the hyper-conservative attacks. Simpson will face Democrat candidate Richard Stallings, a former U.S. Rep. for the 2nd District from 1984 to 1992, in the November election.

In DOE

The Department of Energy expects to make a decision by the end of this year on whether or not to exercise additional options in Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ contract to manage the Savannah River Site, DOE Savannah River Operations Office Manager Dave Moody said this week. Fluor-led SRNS’ contract is currently set to expire Sept. 30, 2016, but it could be extended until July 2018 if additional options are exercised. During a House Cleanup Caucus briefing on Savannah River, Moody declined to comment on DOE’s current thinking as to whether or not it is looking to rebid the Savannah River contract rather than keep SRNS in place. “Well I’m not going to answer that question … it has to do with procurement sensitive information,” he said. “We will move forward with what’s in the best interest of the taxpayer and the site. So that’s all I’m going to tell you on whether we’re going to exercise the option or not.”

Acting Department of Energy cleanup chief David Huizenga has been selected as President of the Fifth Review Meeting of the Parties of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. The choice of Huizenga marks the first time a U.S. representative has been selected to lead the Joint Convention Review Meeting of the Parties, according to a DOE release issued this week. “I believe the Joint Convention is an important vehicle for achieving and maintaining a high level of safety worldwide in spent fuel and radioactive waste management and I am pleased to have the opportunity to serve as its President,” Huizenga said in the release.

The Department of Energy has released a draft Workforce Restructuring Plan for Hanford. Changes are proposed to make the plan consistent with 2011 guidance from the energy secretary’s office. The plan does not change separation benefits now offered to contractor employees who are laid off at Hanford, according to DOE. Comments will be accepted from May 29 to June 12 at [email protected].

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Weapons Complex Vol 25 No 16
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Weapons Complex Monitor

Article 9 of 11

April 18, 2014

Wrap Up: In Congress, In DOE

By Mike Nartker

IN CONGRESS

The House Cleanup Caucus this week announced the schedule for this year’s set of briefings on specific Department of Energy cleanup sites. The schedule includes:

— Idaho National Laboratory on April 30 at 4 p.m. in Room 1334 of the Longworth House Office Building;
— Hanford’s Richland Operations Office on May 1 at 8:30 a.m. in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building;
— Oak Ridge on May 7 at 4 p.m. in Room 1300 of the Longworth House Office Building;
— The Savannah River Site on May 8 at 9 a.m. in Room 1310 of the Longworth House Office Building; and
— Hanford’s Office of River Protection on May 20 at 8:30 a.m. in Room 1334 of the Longworth House Office Building.

IN DOE

The Department of Energy has extended from April 16 to April 28 its due date for responses from firms interested in providing architect and engineering services for design of the Sludge Processing Facility Buildouts Project at the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center. The procurement is being competed on an unrestricted basis, and DOE plans to issue a cost-reimbursable-type contract that will run approximately three years for design services, with services to continue to provide assistance for construction oversight, according the notice. The estimated start date for the work is November 2014.

The Department of Energy’s median contractor cost to prepare environmental impact statements between 2003 and 2012 was $1.4 million, according to a Government Accountability Office report released this week. The average payment to a contractor to prepare an EIS between 2003 and 2012 was $6.6 million, with a range of $60,000 to $85 million, the report says. According to the GAO, a 2003 report to the Commission on Environmental Quality estimated than an EIS typically cost $250,000 to $2 million. The GAO also found that from 2003 to 2012, DOE’s payments to contractors to prepare environmental assessments ranged from $3,000 to $1.2 million, with a median cost of $65,000. In comparison, the 2003 report to the CEQ estimated that environmental assessments typically cost $5,000 to $200,000.

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