JOIN ECA AND DOE TO DISCUSS COAL-TO-NUCLEAR TRANSITION
As part of ECA’s New Nuclear Initiative, participants will join a discussion with DOE-NE on the feasibility of converting the nation’s retiring coal plants to nuclear power plants. By leveraging the existing workforce and some of the infrastructure in coal communities the transition from coal-to-nuclear could preserve hundreds of jobs, while creating new jobs and economic
opportunities. Register for the webinar here! Please submit any questions you ay have beforehand to Faith Sanchez, Energy Communities Alliance, faiths@energyca.org.
GAO REPORT RECOMMENDS OVERSIGHT OVERHAULS FOR DOE PROJECTS
In a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO): Nuclear Waste Cleanup: More Effective Oversight Is Needed to Help Ensure Better Project
Outcomes, the Office reviewed DOE oversight of 5 contracted projects. GAO found that in the only project running ahead of schedule and under budget, contractors maintained consistent, reliable project data in systems that oversight officials could use to find problems promptly. In its report, GAO determined several other issues as well. GAO found that officials did not use certain quality assurance oversight
processes as intended. For example, two projects did not have consistently compliant Earned Value Management Systems. These systems help measure cost and schedule performance and can alert officials to problems. GAO detailed that EM does not consistently assess the effectiveness of its contractor oversight or identify root causes of project deficiencies related to EM’s management. For example, in a 2021 root cause analysis,
EM did not acknowledge its role in hiring an inexperienced contractor and not providing sufficient oversight. GAO also found that EM does not have guidance for assessing federal management performance or oversight effectiveness. Further, many of EM’s project reviews rely on contractors’ Earned Value Management Systems data. However, DOE has allowed some contractors to operate their systems with deficiencies for years,
which may result in undependable data. To remedy these shortcomings, GAO is making four recommendations, including that: (1) EM develop project review guidance for analyzing federal management performance and oversight effectiveness (2) DOE evaluate options to hold contractors
accountable for maintaining compliant Earned Value Management Systems. DOE concurred with GAO’s recommendations. To read the full report, click here. To see eport highlights, click here.
ECA SURVEY HOW WILL YOUR SITE/COMMUNITY BE AFFECTED BY THE REPRIORITIZATION OF WASTE SHIPMENTS AT WIPP?
The survey that ECA is conducting to get your input into the prioritization of the source of the TRU waste that is being disposed at WIPP from DOE generator sites will close tomorrow on August 15. ECA members around WIPP have asked ECA member communities and others around the
country that are interested in TRU waste and WIPP issues, for their input through this survey on the Plan. We would appreciate if you could complete the survey at your earliest convenience and share the survey with members of your community. WIPP (DOE EM), as a requirement under DOE’s state permit, is
developing a new “Waste Isolation Pilot (“WIPP”) Legacy TRU Waste Disposal Plan” (the “Plan”). Your input will help ECA and other organizations identify and advise the prioritization
of the source of the TRU waste that is being disposed at WIPP from DOE generator sites. Please reach out to us
if you have any questions about the survey, or if you have any thoughts on who else we can send the survey to. Your input and support are important to making this survey an informative tool for WIPP, and it is greatly appreciated. ECA is asking for feedback from the citizens, local, state and Tribal governments and others on the issues. ECA will post the results of the survey on our web page after the survey results are
recorded. Please provide your input before the survey closes tomorrow on August 15.
For more on the survey, or if you have any questions, please contact Andres Ridge at ajr@energyca.org
September 16-18, 2024| Crystal Gateway Marriott | Arlington, VA Join us for the 10th Annual National Cleanup Workshop!
Hear from senior DOE leaders, local government officials, and industry leaders about DOE's cleanup priorities, the future of the workforce, and more.
Featured Speakers: - The Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm, Secretary of U.S. Department of Energy
- Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03), Chairman, House Appropriations Energy and Water Development
Subcommittee
- Candice Robertson, Senior Advisor, DOE-EM
- Jeff Avery, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, DOE-EM
- Greg Sosson, Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations, DOE-EM
- Kristen Ellis, Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs, DOE-EM
- Dae Chung, Associate Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Corporate Services, DOE-EM
- James McConnell, Associate Principal Deputy Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration
- Brent Gerry, Mayor, City of West Richland, WA; Chair, ECA and
- Rebecca Casper, Mayor, City of Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Vice-Chair, ECA.
Hosted by ECA with the cooperation of the Energy Facility Contractors Group and DOE-EM, the workshop brings together more than 800 senior DOE executives, officials from DOE sites, industry leaders,
local elected officials, contractors and community stakeholders to discuss EM’s progress to address the environmental legacy of the Manhattan Project and Cold War-era U.S. nuclear weapons program.
Gone Fission Nuclear Report: Consent-Based Siting for Spent Nuclear Fuel: A National Conversation July 29, 2024 | S4 E14 The Gone Fission Nuclear Report travels to the nation’s capital this week to join a national conversation on next steps for identifying a community to host interim spent fuel storage from America’s nuclear power plants. Our podcast sponsor, the Energy Communities Alliance, convened a meeting of elected officials, community leaders, economic
developers and Department of Energy officials to discuss what kind of incentives a community will need--and what kind of economic benefits can accrue--from volunteering to host an interim storage facility. This is an important topic as the U.S. finds itself on the brink of a nuclear renaissance that will increase the role of nuclear energy in meeting our national energy needs. Is your community interested in exploring safe spent fuel storage as an economic driver?
Public Hearing on Benchmarking Best Practices in Management of Aging Safety Infrastructure August 14, 2024 | 9:00am to 3:30pm | DNFSB HQ View Here WEBINAR: Join DOE for a Discussion on Expanding the National Conversation on Spent Nuclear Fuel August 29, 2024 | 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM ET Register now! Coal-To-Nuclear
Transition Webinar September 11, 2024 | 1:00 - 2:30pm ET Register now! 2024 National Cleanup Workshop September 16-18, 2024 | Crystal Gateway Marriott (Arlington, VA) Register now!
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