New EM site 101 videos featured on ECA webpage capture history, cleanup mission status
DOE-EM + ECA Staff | 1/19/2022
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The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) recently released new five-minute "site 101" videos. The videos provide a brief history and the current cleanup mission status at EM's active cleanup sites, and may be found on ECA's Site Profiles webpage.
The following seven EM site 101 videos are currently available:
The videos premiered Dec. 7-9, 2021 at the National Cleanup Workshop. Five additional site 101 videos are currently in production.
The clips begin with introductory remarks from Nicole Nelson-Jean, Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations at EM, before launching into an overview of the former weapons complex. Each video then narrows in focus on one of the 16 remaining active cleanup sites.
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OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGAGEMENT
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MARCH 1 & 2, 2022
The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) will hold a virtual public meeting on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, and Wednesday, March 2, 2022, to review information on the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) activities related to spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). Specifically, the meeting will cover research and development (R&D) on SNF and
HLW storage, transportation, non-site-specific disposal, DOE’s integrated waste management system, and its consent-based siting process to identify federal interim storage facilities.
Details for joining and viewing the meeting will be available on the Board’s website (www.nwtrb.gov) approximately one week before the meeting. The meeting will begin on both days at 12:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST) and is scheduled to adjourn at approximately 5:00 p.m. EST.
The meeting will be open to the public and there will be opportunities for public comments.
MARCH 4, 2022
The Department of Energy (DOE) has released a Request for Information (RFI) on how to site Federal facilities for the temporary, consolidated storage of spent nuclear fuel using a consent-based approach.
Responses to the RFI will inform development of a consent-based siting process, overall strategy for an integrated waste management system, and possibly a funding opportunity. DOE especially welcomes insight from people, communities, and groups that have historically not been well-represented in these discussions.
Responses must be received by March 4, 2022 by 5:00pm ET and may be submitted electronically to consentbasedsiting@hq.doe.gov, including “RFI: Consent-Based Siting and Federal Interim Storage” in the subject line of the email
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U.S. acknowledges shipping Idaho radioactive waste to Nevada and New Mexico
Associated Press | 1/16/2022
The federal government acknowledged it has been shipping mixed radioactive waste from a nuclear cleanup site in Idaho to Nevada and New Mexico for
disposal.
In a statement last week that followed a protest letter from U.S. Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy said 13,625 cubic meters of material has been sent from a former dump at the Idaho National Laboratory to the Nevada National Security Site.
The material was characterized as “low level waste/mixed low level waste,” the department said. The amount would fill more than five Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Shipments began in 2009 and are ongoing, the department said, while noting most of the Idaho waste was being sent to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
Nevada and the federal government have clashed several times in the past over shipments of radioactive materials to the vast former government nuclear test site in the state.
In a letter last week to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Titus said “the fact that dangerous materials could be sharing the roads with my constituents and visitors raise a number of questions for me about this shipment of nuclear materials.”
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Read about DOE's High Level Waste Interpretation
Have questions about DOE’s recent high-level waste (HLW) interpretation? Download ECA’s Key Points and FAQs on the issue to better understand what ECA believes are the potential benefits of implementation.
Interested in learning more? Read the ECA report “Making Informed Decisions on DOE's Proposed High Level Waste Definition” at www.energyca.org/publications
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Stay Current on Activities in the DOE World
Read the latest edition of the ECA Bulletin, a regular newsletter providing a detailed brief of ECA activities, legislative news, and major events from across the DOE complex. Have suggestions for future editions? Email bulletin@energyca.org.
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Learn More about Cleanup Sites with ECA's DOE Site Profiles
ECA's new site profiles detail DOE's 13 active Environmental Management cleanup sites and national laboratories, highlighting their history, missions, and priorities. The profiles are a key source for media, stakeholders, and the public to learn more about DOE site activities, contractors, advisory boards, and their surrounding local governments.
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