Weapons Complex Monitor Vol. 36 No. 03
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Weapons Complex Monitor
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January 23, 2025

Wright DOE nomination advances 15-5; Cantwell votes no

By Staff Reports

The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday endorsed the nomination of Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright to be secretary of energy by 15-to-5, with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) being one of the five Democrats to vote against the executive.

The nominations of both Wright and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to be secretary of interior will now move to the full Senate. No date has been set for a floor vote. Burgum was approved by the panel with only two opposing votes.

During the Thursday markup session, following the roll call vote, Cantwell said she voted against Wright because she questioned if he was fully committed to defending the Tri-Party Agreement for cleanup of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site near Richland, Wash. His answers on the subject during the recent confirmation hearing were “unsatisfactory,” Cantwell said.

The agreement between DOE, Washington state and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is one reason why the former plutonium production site traditionally receives more than $2 billion in nuclear remediation funds, Cantwell said. 

Every energy secretary is pushed by the Office of Management and Budget to do Hanford cleanup “on the short,” Cantwell said. The lawmaker said she hoped, before a full Senate vote,  to receive a stronger commitment from Wright on defending Hanford funding. In a press release, Cantwell said Wright has been waffling on the Tri-Party Agreement. 

In addition to Cantwell, other Democrats voting against Wright were Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). 

In a post-hearing statement, Cortez Masto said she voted against Wright because of the Trump administration’s move to “gut key energy investments in Nevada.” The lawmaker said she did secure a promise from Wright and the administration not to try and revive the Yucca Mountain high-level waste project. 

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NEW: Via public records request, I’ve been able to confirm reporting today that a warrant has been issued for DOE deputy asst. secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition Sam Brinton for another luggage theft, this time at Las Vegas’s Harry Reid airport. (cc: @EMPublications)

DOE spent fuel lead Brinton accused of second luggage theft.



by @BenjaminSWeiss, confirming today's reports with warrant from Las Vegas Metro PD.

Waste has been Emplaced! 🚮

We have finally begun emplacing defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste in Panel 8 of #WIPP.

Read more about the waste emplacement here: https://wipp.energy.gov/wipp_news_20221123-2.asp

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