Diverse Group of Leaders Develop Plans to Grow Los Alamos Workforce

DOE- EM | 8/22/23 

EM co-hosted a workforce development summit on Friday with the Energy Communities Alliance and Energy Facility Contractors Group that drew a diverse group of leaders from across the region.

The well-attended event brought together city and county leaders from Los Alamos, Española, and Santa Fe, tribal leaders from the Jemez Pueblo and the Cochiti Pueblo, education leaders from area colleges, including the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos and the Northern New Mexico College, and participants from the Hanford Site area in Washington state. Also attending were leaders from the EM Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and its cleanup contractor, Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B), and representatives from Triad National Security, which manages and operates the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). 

The summit provided a forum for communities surrounding EM’s LANL cleanup site to come together to focus on unique challenges they face in hiring. As EM-LA works to strengthen its workforce, the surrounding communities are doing the same and running into many of the same challenges as leaders at EM-LA and N3B. The forum gave community representatives a platform to brainstorm and collaborate with each other as well as officials from EM, N3B and Triad.

The groups acknowledged they are trying to pull new hires from the same group of applicants, which inadvertently creates competitive tension. The attendees discussed ways they could work together to fill various positions, including creating a resume-sharing system that will help each other find qualified candidates for hard-to-fill roles.

Creating a strong pipeline for the workforce of the future was a main focus. Attendees talked about the need to help students identify job opportunities and guide them toward a future science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related career path. 

Participants noted that many graduating high school students are not aware of workforce development training opportunities, grants and career opportunities available through local employers such as N3B. Local leaders acknowledged they must work together with DOE and its contractors to ensure their communities are aware of those programs, which will enable students to remain local while excelling in rewarding careers.

The leaders discussed the importance of emphasizing the power of tech and trade schools to students, who are sometimes pressured into attending college. Attendees argued they must find ways to help both teachers and students consider alternative education and career opportunities.

EM plans to host similar workforce development summits with other community leaders surrounding EM sites across the DOE complex.

 ECA Updates FY 2024 Budget & Appropriations Charts

ECA Staff | 8/25/23  

The House Appropriations Committee (HR 4394) in June and Senate Appropriations Committee (S 2443) in July, completed their work on the Energy and Water Appropriation bills and the full Senate and House would need to take up the bills in September to pass them prior to the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2023, or pass a continuing resolution (CR). 

Generally, the Energy and Water Appropriation bills are consistent with last year’s appropriations across NNSA, EM, Office of Science, NE, LM and other projects that our communities follow.   

To see how the House and Senate bills compare, visit ECA's federal budget tracker here, which also features a chart with the highlights of DOE Office of Environmental Management Budget. 

The House’s bill text is available here, and the bill report is available here. Senate's bill text is available here, and the bill report is available here.

 SAVE THE DATE

May 7- 10, 2024 | Richland, WA

Building on the momentum from successful meetings in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Paducah, Kentucky, the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is excited to announce it will host its third ECA Forum on Hosting New Nuclear Development in Richland, Washington, May 7-10, 2024.

The meeting is part of ECA’s New Nuclear Initiative to define the role of local governments in supporting the development of the new nuclear technologies, and answer three core questions: 

• What do communities need to know to attract and support new nuclear development/missions? 
• How can communities support industry, national laboratories, state, and federal governments and how should they communicate about local resources and development opportunities?
• What hurdles and challenges will communities face – along with industry and developers – and who can we work with to overcome them?

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION COMING SOON

For questions, please contact Kara Colton, ECA’S Director of Nuclear policy,  at kara.colton@energyca.org or Faith Sanchez, ECA Program Manager at faiths@energyca.org.

Registration Climbs for New Early Career Session at National Cleanup Workshop

DOE-EM | 8/22/23  

More than 98 early career professionals have signed up so far for an inaugural National Cleanup Workshop session next month that will focus on learning more about EM and how to grow and succeed in the DOE cleanup program.

“We have room for many more,” EM External Affairs Director Steve Clutter said. “The workshop offers a special reduced registration for early career professionals to attend this year’s workshop.”

The rate is offered to those who have not previously attended the workshop and have been involved in the EM program for less than five years.

With an increased focus on early career professionals, the ninth-annual National Cleanup Workshop is from Sept. 11-13 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

The Early Career Professional Session is from noon to 4:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 11. Its agenda features remarks by EM Senior Advisor William “Ike” White on the future of EM’s workforce as well as:

• Leadership development principles;
• Case studies from federal and contractor representatives on building a career in the EM program;
• An in-depth “EM 101” on the background and history of the DOE cleanup program; and
• Lessons learned and opportunities to grow a career in the cleanup program.

The National Cleanup Workshop agenda features a lineup of senior EM leadership, along with members of Congress, state and local government officials and industry leaders from sites across the DOE complex. Key speakers include White, EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery and Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper.

Check out this EM webpage to find coverage of past workshops, including a video of White’s 2022 workshop keynote address. The site features EM Update newsletter reporting and a gallery of photos showcasing everything from the reception kicking off the event to a variety of speakers and panels.

Last year, about 630 in-person and 91 virtual participants attended the workshop, billed as the premier annual gathering to discuss progress in environmental cleanup of former government weapons sites and nuclear research facilities. Energy Communities Alliance, with the cooperation of EM and the Energy Facility Contractors Group, host the workshop. Registration is open for this year's workshop.

Click here for more information and to register to attend.

 The Manhattan Project to Wean the World Off Russian Uranium

Bloomberg | 8/22/23 

In a remote, dusty corner of New Mexico, so near to the Texas border that if you wander too close your smartphone changes time zones, sits a pristine factory that is the best chance for the US to wean itself off an addiction that few knew it had: uranium enriched in Russia.

Outside the $5 billion Urenco plant in Eunice, cacti and lizards bask in the fierce sunlight, watched by heavily armed guards. Inside, the facility is spotless, with bright, polished machinery that looks brand new even though some of the equipment has been in service for years. Hundreds of centrifuges, each at least 20 feet tall, spin at supersonic speeds and generate an ear-piercing whine that reverberates across a cavernous hall, where they separate the uranium isotopes needed to make fuel for nuclear power plants. For security reasons, parts of the piping that connect the Eunice machines are shielded from curious visitors. 

The plant supplies about one-third of US demand for enriched uranium and is in the process of boosting output by 15%. It’s the centerpiece of a transatlantic project to rejuvenate production of the fuel to feed the West’s fleet of nuclear reactors, a linchpin of energy security and efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Urenco Ltd. is the only commercial supplier of enriched uranium in North America. Currently, about half of the global supply comes from Russia, an uncomfortable reality for leaders in the US and Europe in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The high levels of security are easily understood. The recipe to make nuclear fuel is one of mankind’s most-guarded secrets: its dual-use technology means the same methods for feeding reactors also apply to building bombs. For years, the US has refused to share or transfer fuel-manufacturing technologies — first developed for the Manhattan Project in the 1940s that made the bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But now, Washington is urging more countries to develop that capacity.

Continue Reading >>

UPCOMING MEETINGS

U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board August Public Meeting to Focus on U.S. DOE Consent-Based Siting Efforts and Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Research and Development, Tuesday August 29

The U.S.NWTRB  will hold a workshop on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, to update its understanding of the lessons learned from the siting of radioactive waste management facilities, domestically and in other countries.

The hybrid (in-person/virtual) workshop is from 8:00am-5:00pm MDT. The workshop will be held at Snake River Event Center, 780 Lindsay Blvd, Idaho Falls, ID 83402. Details for joining and viewing the workshop will be available on the Board’s website approximately one week before the workshop.

For information on the workshop, contact Bret Leslie at leslie@nwtrb.gov or by phone 703-235-9132; or Yoonjo Lee at lee@nwtrb.gov or by phone 703-235-4482. For information on meeting logistics, contact Davonya Barnes at barnes@nwtrb.gov or by phone 703-235-9141.

NEW MEDIA

NucleCast: The History of the Nevada National Security Site - Darwin Morgan

This is the first episode in ANWA Deterrence Center's Legacy Series where we look back at the Manhattan Project and the evolution over 80 years of the U.S. strategic nuclear deterrent. Darwin Morgan retired as Director, Office of Public Affairs, Nevada Field Office, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) In March 2021. In retirement he serves as the President of the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation. This Non-Profit organization oversees the Atomic Testing Museum, a Smithsonian affiliated museum dedicated to the history of atmospheric and underground nuclear weapons testing. In addition, he is a Historian with the NNSA’s Nevada National Security Site’s (NNSS’s).

Check out ECA's latest report! 

DISPOSAL DRIVES CLEANUP: RE-ENERGIZING MOMENTUM FOR DISPOSAL SOLUTIONS FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE

This report calls on the Department of Energy to launch the initiative to develop the actual waste disposition approaches. The Department could potentially save hundreds of billions of dollars in cleanup costs by using its available tools and implementing the report’s recommendations.