OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
DOE-EM announces upcoming leadership changes
ECA Staff | 3/7/2022
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Today, the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) announced upcoming leadership changes in the DOE headquarters organization.
Todd Shrader will be moving to the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) as the Deputy Director for Project Management. DOE established OCED to deliver more than $20 billion provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support large-scale clean energy demonstration projects. Shrader is expected to begin his new assignment in April.
In this role, Shrader will be responsible for providing project management oversight for clean energy demonstration projects to ensure investments accelerate deployment, market adoption, and the equitable transition to a decarbonized energy system. Centralized project management oversight is a cornerstone of OCED, and in his role Shrader will also help create a center of excellence for the management of demonstration projects throughout the DOE.
Shrader has served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS) for EM since 2019. Prior to becoming the PDAS, he served as the Carlsbad Field Office Manager. Under his leadership, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) successfully restarted waste emplacement operations and the shipping of waste from around the DOE complex to WIPP after a three-year recovery effort.
Shrader previously led the headquarters office supporting Hanford’s Office of River Protection and held a leading role in developing the path forward for accelerated tank waste treatment. Prior to that, he was with the Loan Programs Office, where he led technical reviews of over twenty energy projects that eventually received over $13 billion in loan guarantees. Earlier, he was a project manager for the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, leading key components of the NRC licensing
process.
Upon Shrader’s departure, Candice Robertson will become the acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for EM. In this role, she will enable the safe and successful execution of the EM cleanup mission, while providing management oversight of activities, operations, and program integration across EM field sites.
Robertson is currently a Senior Advisor to Secretary Granholm and Deputy Secretary Turk.
Robertson has nearly 20 years of experience managing critical business functions in both the public and private sectors and is knowledgeable about all aspects of EM’s mission and operations. She has served as the DOE Chief Human Capital Officer, a senior advisor to three Deputy Secretaries, the acting EM Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (APDAS) for Field Operations, the EM APDAS for Corporate Services, and the EM Chief of Staff. Robertson’s experience and background will ensure a
seamless transition and enable EM to continue progress across EM programs and sites.
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OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGAGEMENT
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The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to notify interested parties of DOE's intent to solicit applications for certification of nuclear reactors for eligibility to submit of sealed bids for the Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program credits from nuclear reactor owners or operators that are at risk of ceasing operations due to economic factors and intent to request sealed bids from certified reactors for allocation of available
credits.
The Department also seeks input from all stakeholders through a Request for Information regarding the establishment of a CNC Program including the application, certification, and selection processes.
Written comments and information are requested on or before March 17, 2022. The Department intends to develop initial draft guidance for the certification applications during the NOI/RFI comment period. It is strongly preferred that respondents comment on issues affecting certification directly via the email address (rfi-cnc@nuclear.energy.gov) by March 8, 2022.
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Biden push of Trump nuke waste plan irks Tribe, Washington State
Bloomberg Law | 3/2/2022
The Biden administration’s backing of a Trump-era move to expedite cleanup of the country’s biggest nuclear waste site has run into staunch opposition from Washington state and tribal officials.
The Energy Department and its supporters, which include some communities near the sites, say changes in cleanup strategy are needed to make progress amid decades of political gridlock and mounting costs surrounding waste sites.
Opponents fear the agency is looking for a legal avenue to eventually seal some radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash.—the ancestral land of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.
The Energy Department and others are trying to find a resolution—but threats of litigation already are being made.
The department’s recent interpretation of a 40-year-old waste disposal law is a “slap in the face,” Tom Zeilman, counsel for the Yakama, said in an interview. “We expected the Biden administration to take a different tack.”
About 56 million gallons of liquid waste fill 177 underground storage tanks at Hanford, where reactors produced plutonium during the Cold War. At 586 square miles, Hanford is about half the size of Rhode Island.
The U.S. could spend between $300 billion and $640 billion over the next 57 years at Hanford, according to recent estimates. The department is currently spending $2.7 billion annually for the operation, which employs about 8,000 workers.
Local Reaction
The agency’s supporters include local officials from the metro region surrounding the site that argue a good-faith discussion is necessary to spur remediation.
“If we just maintain the status quo, and we insist on the plan as it currently exists, we just don’t think we’ll be on the path to success,” said David Reeploeg, vice president for federal programs for the Tri-City Development Council and executive director of Hanford Communities, a organization of local government officials near the site.
“We are very optimistic about the potential” of the Energy Department’s cleanup approach, Reeploeg said.
Environmentalists disagree.
Without a blanket designation on all the waste, “there are other places you could put it faster, sooner, safer, and you’re reducing risks,” said Kara Colton, director of nuclear policy at the Energy Communities Alliance, a Washington, D.C. group advocating for residents living closest to waste sites.
The Energy Department could potentially save as much as $26 billion and reduce some risks if it grouted waste—immobilizing it in a concrete-like mixture—instead of vitrifying it, the Government Accountability Office estimated in December 2021.
But the agency faces legal trouble should it pursue that avenue without Congress first clarifying the waste disposal law, the accountability office warned.
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National nuclear podcast highlights ETTP closure plan
Gone Fission Nuclear Report | 3/7/2022
The latest episode of the 'Gone Fission Nuclear Report' features discussion from a February 24 webinar on the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) Closure Plan given by the Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and UCOR, the lead environmental cleanup contractor at the site. The episode includes comments from Congressman Chuck Fleischmann and OREM Manager Laura Wilkerson as well as state and federal regulators plus a
panel discussion.
In the latest episode, DOE, UCOR, Regulators and Community Leaders discuss the final steps involved in post clean-up closing of the ETTP (Heritage Center), once home to the historic Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. As federal land is transferred to the community, the Park is proving to be an economic boon to the region. Yet another company, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, announced plans last week to acquire acreage for a new uranium fuel plant
bringing a $13 million investment and 30 new jobs.
The Gone Fission Nuclear Report covers the latest developments in environmental cleanup across the DOE complex. DOE is now engaged in the largest environmental remediation program in history, cleaning up nuclear production sites across the U.S. that were used to support national security missions for 75 years.
“Some of the work on these sites dates back to the super-secret Manhattan Project, a national priority to develop the first atomic bomb that helped end World War II,” Butler said. “Cleanup of these sites is a multi-decade effort, requiring thousands of trained professionals and highly skilled crafts people with budgets in the billions of dollars."
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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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