Congress releases spending package for FY 2023 with $1.4 billion increase to DOE budget ECA Staff | 12/20/2022
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This morning, Congress released an omnibus
spending package to fund the government through September 2023. The agreement, negotiated by a bipartisan group of House and Senate leaders, must be passed by Friday, December 23, when current fiscal year funding expires. The omnibus would provide $46.2 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE), a $1.4 billion increase above last year’s funding level. However, the agreement falls short of President Biden’s request of $49 billion for DOE. Within the total DOE budget: - National Nuclear
Security Administration: $22.2 billion (1.5 billion increase) - Office of Environmental Management: $8.2 billion (+333.7 million increase) - Office of Science: $8.1 billion (+625 million increase) - Office of Nuclear Energy: $1.5 billion (181 million decrease) - Office of Legacy Management: $191 million (12 million increase) Office of Environmental Management Within the Office of Environmental Management’s (EM) budget, the agreement would fund Defense Environmental Cleanup at $7.03 billion, a $315 million increase above FY 2022. Each cleanup site would receive increases funding except Nevada and Sandia National
Laboratories. In the bill report, legislators
specifically addressed funding at Hanford, explaining, “As a signatory to the Tri-Party Agreement, the Department is required to meet specific compliance milestones toward the cleanup of the Hanford site. Among other things, the Department committed to provide the funding necessary to enable full compliance with its cleanup milestones. The agreement recognizes that significant progress has been made at the Hanford site, but greater funding will be necessary to meet compliance
milestones.”
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Office of Nuclear Energy While the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) has received steady increases in recent years, the omnibus would cut NE’s funding for FY 2023 by $181 million, for a total funding level of $1.5 billion. This cut is mostly due to a significant decrease in funds for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. The bill report explained, “The Department is directed to continue to ensure the ARDP moves forward expeditiously and to clearly articulate future funding needs for
the programs within the ARDP in future budget requests. The Department is directed to continue to focus resources on partners capable of project delivery in the next four to six years.” Additionally, the omnibus addresses the potential supply issues for HALEU, the fuel used in most advanced reactors. The report notes, “The Department is direct to conduct [Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability] activities in a manner that will encourage, rather than discourage, the private sector commercialization of HALEU production.” The bill would also provide $51 million to “pack and ship material from Y-12 to a domestic commercial processor to
begin production of limited quantities of HALEU” (within the NNSA budget). National Nuclear Security Administration NNSA’s budget would reach another record level at $22.2 billion, a $1.5 billion increase above the FY 2022 level. Congress addresses the ongoing cost and milestone issues with the plutonium pit production plan by directing the agency to “establish a two-site Integrated Master Schedule covering the entirety of the work required to produce 80 pits per year and a timeline that NNSA has high confidence will achieve this critical requirement.” The omnibus also addresses another key NNSA issue—the
workforce—by providing $10 million for workforce and training partnerships with “Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges in South Carolina and New Mexico to support plutonium pit production.” The bill provides an additional $45 million for NNSA’s Academic Programs budget. Please visit ECA's Federal Budget Tracker here for more. |
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Remembering the leadership of Dick Church DOE Office of Legacy Management | 12/19/22 Dick Church Jr., who served as mayor of Miamisburg, Ohio, for 28 years, died Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, after a brief illness. Church was administrator for the Mound Development Corporation (MDC), an agency working to redevelop the former Mound Laboratory in Miamisburg. The facility produced nuclear weapons components and supported energy and space missions during the Cold
War. Tiffany Drake, who became the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) Mound site manager in 2021, said the first person she learned about was Dick Church. “Dick was a steadfast advocate for his community and helped provide a much-needed perspective on the impact of site closures and the need for a local government voice within DOE’s process,” Drake said. “He changed how DOE approaches stakeholder engagement. I will miss his presence at meetings and always appreciated hearing his perspective and stories.” Church was elected mayor of Miamisburg just after the announcement that the Mound Laboratory — the largest
employer in the city for decades — would be closing. Church was determined to soften the economic blow to the community. After years of engaging with DOE over future use of the Mound site, Church led the effort to redevelop the property, which is now a business park. The federal government spent more than $1 billion on Mound site cleanup. As the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) chairman, he led the nonprofit organization’s involvement in addressing environmental cleanup and economic impacts of DOE activities in local communities. “Mayor Church was more than a leader at ECA. He was a founding
member that led the organization through transition and helped it grow from an idea into an organization that works for and assists municipalities around DOE sites,” ECA Director Seth Kirshenberg said as tribute to Church. Church, along with Miamisburg community leaders, created the Miamisburg Mound Community Improvement Corporation (MMCIC), a community reuse organization that negotiated the cleanup and acquisition of the DOE Mound facility. MMCIC later became the MDC as Mound site cleanup was completed and redevelopment began. “He always said that he never wanted to get involved in DOE
matters, but after the closure of the Mound site, he (as the newly elected Mayor of Miamisburg) became a leading voice for municipalities on environmental cleanup, the workers at the sites, and reuse of former federal facilities,” Kirshenberg said. For more than half of his 28-year term, Church visited Washington, D.C., every six weeks to lobby for cleanup of the DOE site in his community, as well as others across the nation, Kirshenberg said. DOE Environmental Justice Program Manager Melinda Downing said Church will be remembered and missed. “Although [I’m] sad to hear of his passing. I
can personally validate Mayor Church’s dedication and honesty for all things related to the good of his community,” Downing said. “I had the pleasure of being in his presence many times during the closure of the Mound site, and in his role with ECA. Very few community advocates of his kind exist today. He was truly one of the good ones.” Miamisburg City Manager Keith Johnson said Church’s influence on the community extended far beyond the city. During his career in public service, Church served as chairman of four Montgomery County, Ohio,
committees: the Solid Waste District Policy Committee, Solid Waste Advisory Committee, Emergency Management Executive Committee, and Regional Dispatch Policy Committee. “He was the region’s mayor,” Johnson told the Dayton Daily News.“I don’t know how many trips he made to Washington, not just on behalf of the city, but on behalf of the region.”
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Bill to return U.S. to a nuclear energy leadership position advances ANS Nuclear News | 12/16/22 The International Nuclear Energy Act (S. 4064), a bill aimed at developing a strategy to counter the growing influence of Russia and China on the global nuclear export market, was reported favorably out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on December 7. The measure was introduced in April by Sens. Jim Risch (R., Idaho), the committee’s ranking member, and Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Bill basics: According to the lawmakers, S. 4064 would accomplish the
following: - Support the establishment of an office to coordinate civil nuclear exports strategy, establish financing relationships, promote regulatory harmonization, enhance safeguards and security, promote standardization of licensing framework, and create a nuclear exports working group.
- Create programs to facilitate international nuclear energy cooperation to develop financing relationships, training, education, market analysis, safety, security, safeguards, and nuclear governance required for a civil nuclear program.
- Require cabinet-level biennial summits—one focused on nuclear safety, security, and safeguards, and another for civil nuclear
vendors to enhance cooperative relationships between private industry and government.
- Establish a Strategic Infrastructure Fund Working Group to determine how to best structure a fund to finance projects critical to national security.
A word from the sponsors: “We are at a critical point in the fight for energy security,” said Risch in a press release. “Whether the goal is to reduce energy dependence on Russia or support clean energy innovation, more and more countries are looking toward nuclear energy for their future energy security. Exporting new and advanced nuclear
technologies like small modular and microreactors helps our partners meet their energy needs and is a strategic imperative in great power competition with Russia and China. This bill promotes U.S. interagency coordination and prioritization of civil nuclear exports and provides new tools for U.S. agencies to fund civil nuclear projects in partner countries.” Manchin added, “American energy security and independence is crucial to our national security, and our bipartisan International Nuclear Energy Act will help the United States remain a global
superpower while strengthening our global partnerships. I’m pleased the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed this important legislation out of committee today, and I am dedicated to supporting the development of our civil nuclear exports while ensuring American energy is affordable, reliable, clean, and secure.”
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Interactive guide for communities and governments to help navigate nuclear waste cleanup The Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) recently released the Guide to Successful Environmental Cleanup, an interactive online resource that provides frequently asked questions, case studies, and recommendations regarding nuclear waste cleanup. To assist local government officials, their communities, and federal agencies in deciphering the
complexities of the environmental cleanup process, ECA developed this guide to facilitate future successful cleanups. |
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Learn More about Cleanup Sites with ECA's DOE Site Profiles ECA's new site profiles detail DOE's 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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