TWO WEEKS FROM NOW! ECA's New Nuclear Forum: Building Nuclear Partnerships and Projects, May 8-9, 2024 in Kennewick, WA
ECA is excited to be hosting its third New Nuclear Forum, the only meeting designed to bring together DOE, federal, state, local and tribal governments and policymakers with developers, utilities,
regulators, industry, and academia to identify opportunities, challenges and to build the partnerships necessary to support nuclear development. Communities across the country are considering nuclear projects for many reasons - from diversifying regional economies, creating clean energy jobs or meeting carbon reduction goals, to increasing energy security and rebuilding the U.S. supply chain. Some communities have a familiarity with nuclear energy projects, while others are just beginning to evaluate potential interest. The ECA
Forum is designed to enable shared learning so that local, State and Tribal governments evaluating nuclear projects can be meaningfully engaged - and prepared - to match the strengths and needs of their communities with new nuclear opportunities.
INTERESTED IN BEING A SPONSOR? To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Autumn Bogus, ECA Forum Staff, at abogus@la-inc.com.
QUESTIONS? For any questions, comments, or to learn more about the ECA New Nuclear Forums, please contact Kara Colton,
ECA Director of Nuclear Policy, at kara.colton@energyca.org or Faith Sanchez, ECA Program Director, at faiths@energyca.org.
IT WAS HOME TO EARTH'S LARGEST BUILDING. NOW, K-25 WORKERS WILL REUNITE IN OAK RIDGE.
Knox News. | 04/23/2024 Since the massive uranium enrichment buildings at the K-25 site in Oak Ridge were demolished, the memory of the place has been left to the K-25 History Center and the thousands of people who worked there. Those two repositories will come together as hundreds of former K-25 employees travel to the history center for a reunion April 27, the first reunion of its kind
for K-25, once home to the largest building in the world. The site has been known by many names in its 80-year history: the Oak
Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, the East Tennessee Technology Park and the Heritage Center and Horizon Center. For those who worked there, it will always be known as "K-25," its code name from the Manhattan Project. The code names Y-12 and X-10, which became Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are widely considered arbitrary and
ambiguous. K-25 had a more solid origin. The "K" stood for its original developer, the Kellex Corporation, and the "25" was common shorthand for uranium-235, the explosive isotope produced in Oak Ridge for the first atomic bomb. After nearly two decades of deactivation and demolition, all the major buildings at the site were gone by 2019, but the pandemic prevented workers from reuniting to share memories of the place. Continue reading >>
FLEISCHMANN'S NUCLEAR GRASP PROPELS HIM TO PRIME POSITION
Knox News Sentinel| 04/23/2024 If Rep. Chuck Fleischmann's advocacy in Congress had to be summed up in a single word, it would be 'nuclear.' That's not just nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons, but nuclear cleanup as well. Fleischmann's influence over nuclear projects is tied to his role as an appropriator in the House of Representatives overseeing funding to the Department of Energy. Fleischmann, a Republican, represents Tennessee's 3rd District, which includes Chattanooga and Oak Ridge. Since becoming chairman of the House subcommittee on energy and water projects in 2023, he has funneled record amounts of money to nuclear projects in Oak Ridge. Now, he has a new seat on the House subcommittee on defense appropriations, his office announced April 16. The new role will give him a say not only in nuclear weapons
production, but in their final customer, the military. Fleischmann has been an outspoken advocate for expansive military aid to Israel and Ukraine, breaking ranks with several other Tennessee representatives. Some highlights of the latest energy and water budget that Fleischmann led are: - $24.135 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the U.S. arsenal of nuclear warheads. That's $1.972 billion more than last year's funding.
- $810 million for the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 in Oak Ridge.
That's $50 million more than the Biden administration’s request.
- $8.24 billion for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, which includes Oak Ridge National Laboratory. That's $140 million more than last year's funding.
- $255 million for the ORNL Leadership Computing Facility, the home of Frontier, the world’s fastest supercomputer.
The bill also included funding for research into a new kind of nuclear reactor for naval ships and submarines, a program that was headed for defunding and which Fleischmann's colleagues had implored him to fund. Knox News spoke with Fleischmann about his new position and about the state of nuclear power and the nuclear triad, a phrase that describes the three delivery systems for nuclear weapons: air (bombers), land (missiles) and sea (submarine-launched missiles). Continue reading >>
NEW MEDIA: Gone Fission Nuclear Report: National Laboratories Speed Hanford Cleanup April 8, 2024 | S4E7 The Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories conduct research and development on some of the world’s most vexing challenges—from climate change to the origins of the universe.
Most recently, six labs have turned their attention to speeding cleanup of underground tank waste at DOE’s Hanford site in Washington State. The labs are using $27 million in DOE funding to research everything from tank integrity and the impact of corrosion to robotic handling of tank waste. Estimates show this and other work could save $150 billion in cleanup costs and shave up to two decades off a 60-year timeline. This week, Gone Fission host Michael Butler talks with Connie Herman, Assistant
Director, Savannah River National Laboratory, and Delmar Noyes, DOE Tank Farms Manager at Hanford. NOTE: The work NNLMES performs is being overseen by the EM Laboratory Policy Office with the support of the EM Technology Operations Office, Hanford Site Office as well as the Office of Science, and ARPA-E.
UPCOMING EVENTS: ECA Forum: Building Nuclear Partnerships & Projects May 8-9, 2024 | Kennewick, WA Register Here | Agenda | Sponsorship Information National Academies: Leveraging Community Benefit Frameworks: Empowering Communities to Benefit from Federally Funded Energy Projects May 16-17, 2024 |
Washington, D.C. Register Here | Agenda 2024 National Cleanup Workshop September 16-18, 2024 | Crystal Gateway Marriott (Arlington, VA) More Information Here
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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.
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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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. |
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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