NATIONAL CLEANUP WORKSHOP DAY 1: ECA BOARD MEETING AND EARLY CAREER SESSION
It's finally that time of year! The National Cleanup Workshop kicked off today with the Early Career Workshop this afternoon, at the same time that ECA held a Meeting of Board Members, where EM-1 Senior Advisor Candice Robertson, EM-2 Jeffery Avery, and EM-4 Kristen Ellis
delivered remarks.
The ECA Board meeting was attended by over 30 ECA Board members representing communities from all across the country. Board members met to discuss ECA's activity over the past few months, upcoming ECA meetings and initiatives, planning and retooling ECA's future, and considering how to fortify ECA's relationship with its Board Members. Candice Robertson and Jeff Avery provided remarks and held an open discussion with ECA members. The Senior Advisor reflected how a phone call to ECA evolved into a 10-year partnership that created the National Cleanup Workshop and numerous other achievements. She listed EM's priorities pertaining to rejuvenating EM's workforce, innovating EM programs and policies, supporting community needs for risk-based cleanup,
increasing and improving transparency with ECA communities, and incorporating more input from the communities. Above all, the Senior Advisor emphasized that DOE-EM is here to support communities, and that it is eager to work with ECA through the upcoming transition of administrations. After her remarks, the Senior Advisor opened up the discussion to the ECA board, addressing topics including how EM can facilitate economic growth at sites, future growth of the Cleanup to Clean Energy Program,
long-term stewardship concerns, and increased EM cooperation with other government agencies and programs. EM-4 Kristen Ellis also spoke at the meeting, highlighting the accomplishment of 10 years of partnership and progress with ECA, and reaffirmed EM's commitment to always consider future reuse and pursue future economic projects. Ellis also addressed the importance of increased DOE cooperation with the
NRC, cooperating with communities to define Legacy TRU Waste, and EM's initiatives to combat staff turnover and rejuvenate its workforce.
An integral part of that initiative for EM, and following up from last year’s first ever session, is the Early Career Workshop at the National Cleanup Workshop. The pre-conference workshop focused on workforce development and is dedicated to setting up early-career professionals professional growth. Session participants heard from EM Senior Advisor
Candice Robertson and participated in numerous roundtable discussions and networking opportunities aimed at helping early career professionals learn more about the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) and how to grow and succeed in the DOE cleanup program. EM-1 Candice Robertson, Senior Advisor for Department of Energy Office of Environmental
Management, met with the group to hold a conversation about early career and career paths in cleanup work. Other speakers included Jason Chavez, an City Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tempore of Carlsbad New Mexico who outlined considerations when running for public office, and ECA's own Faith Sanchez, who spoke at the panel "Roundtable Discussion: Early Career Perspectives". Review the speakers and agenda from today's session below!
ECA is looking forward to what developments the following days of the workshop may bring, and is excited to bring you more updates as the Workshop continues through Tuesday and Wednesday.
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.
NWTRB PUBLISHES TWO NEW PRODUCTS REGARDING SITING RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board | Press Release On September 11, the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) published Proceedings for the Board’s international workshop on the siting of radioactive waste facilities. Held on August 29, 2023, in Idaho Falls,
Idaho, and online, the workshop brought together Board members, internationally recognized experts, three of whom were from outside of the United States, and officials from the Department of Energy (DOE). The participants examined the processes for developing consent during the siting of new radioactive waste management and disposal facilities (consent-based siting). The newly published proceedings summarize the workshop presentations, discussions, key themes, and takeaways. The Board has also
created and published (online at www.nwtrb.gov) an interactive table summarizing the progress in developing repository programs around the world for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. For 13 selected countries, the table shows the major milestones reached and estimated dates for
future milestones. The table will be updated periodically as new information becomes available. The Board is an independent federal agency in the Executive Branch. It was established in the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 (Public Law 100-203) to perform an ongoing evaluation of the technical and scientific validity of U.S. Department of Energy activities related to developing and implementing a program for the management and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive
waste, in accordance with the terms of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. Board members serve part-time and are appointed by the President from a list of nominees submitted by the National Academy of Sciences. The new report and other Board reports, correspondence, congressional testimony, meeting transcripts, and related materials are posted on the Board’s website at www.nwtrb.gov.
ENSURING LONG TERM SUCCESS: ECA TRANSITION PAPER FOR DOE-EM
ECA released a new transition paper that calls for DOE to undertake a comprehensive review of EM titled “Ensuring Long-Term Success: Recommendations for the Next Administration on the
U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Mission”. EM has achieved great success through the program, and a transitioning administration provides EM with the opportunity to review what is working and what is not – not just in EM but all of DOE as it relates to EM. This will help ensure EM is well positioned for future long-term success. In the paper, ECA outlines the issues that the cleanup program
faces, many of which we will be discussing at the Cleanup Workshop, and suggests a series of concrete recommendations for the next Administration to utilize with EM and other DOE offices to re-establish a firm foundation for continued cleanup success. Our recommendations include reconsidering how EM works with local communities on cleanup decision-making, establishing disposal pathways for every type of nuclear waste (such
as GTCC LLW), creating a clear policy for long-term stewardship, considering what capabilities may be required to address current and anticipated wastes, utilizing cleanup as a vehicle for economic development (such as the Cleanup to Clean Energy program), planning for future development, and many more. Read the paper by clicking its cover above or the button below!
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
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.
THREE DAYS LEFT: ECA SURVEY
HOW WILL YOUR SITE/COMMUNITY BE AFFECTED BY THE REPRIORITIZATION OF WASTE SHIPMENTS AT WIPP?
There are only three days left to provide your input before the survey closes on September 18.
ECA wants your input on the prioritization of the source of TRU waste that is being disposed at WIPP from DOE generator sites. Please 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, in three day, on September 18.
For more on the survey, or if you have any questions, please contact Andres Ridge at ajr@energyca.org
PROVIDE YOUR INPUT - OPEN REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION Opportunity: DOE Package Performance Demonstration DOE intends to establish a consolidated interim storage facility for storage of spent nuclear fuel until a permanent repository is available. DOE is performing this market research to gather information from all interested parties that will help formulate the actual solicitation. The first RFI is working to establish the market boundaries that can best fulfill the needs of the CISF program. This RFI works to answer the best contract
strategy and contract type, the ability of commercial businesses to support and fulfill CISF requirements & to what capacity small businesses can support CISF requirements. Response Due: September 30 2024, 7:00 pm EST |
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Gone Fission Nuclear Report: Oak Ridge Vision: A Cleanup Milestone Completed August 26, 2024 | S4 E15 Each year, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management publishes a list of cleanup priorities for its sites around the country. Progress in the cleanup program is measured by how well these milestones are met. This week, the Gone Fission Nuclear Report is celebrating the completion of a major cleanup goal on DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee.
It’s a comprehensive soil remediation project that DOE calls “Vision 2024.” Our guest is Joanna Hardin, DOE Federal Project Director for the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge. She talks with host Michael Butler about what it took to remediate more than a half million cubic yards of contaminated soil as the site becomes home to new nuclear-related businesses.
2024 National Cleanup Workshop September 16-18, 2024 | Crystal Gateway Marriott (Arlington, VA) Register now!
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