LAWMAKERS PRESENT CONTINUING RESOLUTION THREE DAYS OUT FROM FUNDING DEADLINE
Lawmakers released the proposed continuing resolution (CR) last night, meaning that the House and Senate have
three (3) days to pass the legislation by Friday, December 20, or otherwise invite a shutdown of the federal government on Saturday. The new CR would kick the deadline to pass an annual appropriations bill until March 14, allowing President-elect Donald Trump to have a say in the budget proceedings. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has said he aims to abide by the House’s 72-hour rule, giving House members three
(3) days to review the legislation before a vote. But doing so would give the Senate only a few hours to clear the measure before the deadline. To provide more time, the House could skip the 72-hour rule and pass the bill under suspension of the rules. However, such a measure would require a two-thirds supermajority, and therefore significant support from Democrats. The CR includes additional amounts of emergency funding
for DOE programs to address the damage caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton: - NNSA, Weapons Activities - $1,884,000
- Defense Environmental Cleanup - $2,415,000
In related news, the Senate is poised to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2025 (FY25) later today. Once the bill is passed, it will be sent along to the President’s desk for final approval. The NDAA is just an “authorization” of funds, and not the appropriations for projects. Appropriations are subject to the CR. See the CR here. See the NDAA here. ECA will provide updates as the NDAA and CR move through Congress. To learn more about the budget and appropriations process, visit our website.
ENSURING LONG TERM SUCCESS: ECA TRANSITION PAPER FOR EM
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) must continuously examine its work and evolve. The Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is calling on the next Administration to launch a comprehensive review of all aspects of the EM program. To meet the challenges and better ensure the continued success of the DOE-EM program, the ECA’s Transition paper
offers the following recommendations: - Establishment of disposal paths for every type of radioactive and hazardous waste, including ensuring that both private and public sites are available and utilized.
- The reevaluation of DOE-EM’s use of the end-state contracting model so that more funds are available for actual work.
- Ensuring that regulatory agreements are reasonably achievable and balance short- and long-term needs.
- Improvement of workforce planning to
address “brain drain” and long-term needs for skilled talent of all kinds.
- Continuing focus on economic and energy development benefits.
- The maintaining of robust local, state, tribal government, and stakeholder engagement at each site.
- Clarification on DOE policy regarding how the discovery of hazardous and radioactive materials at “completed sites” will be addressed to ensure that cleanup is protective of human health and the environment, and that the local community is
not responsible for the DOE’s legacy waste cleanup.
- The reconstituting of a dedicated nuclear waste organization within the DOE to address high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel issues.
Read the paper by clicking its cover above or the button below!
PROVIDE YOUR INPUT - OPEN REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION & PUBLIC COMMENT: Proposed Rule: Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing
to amend the regulations that govern the NRC's environmental reviews of new nuclear reactor applications under the National Environmental Policy Act. The rulemaking would codify the generic findings of the NRC's draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors. The draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors uses a technology-neutral framework and a set of plant and site parameters to determine which potential environmental
impacts would be common to the construction, operation, and decommissioning of many new nuclear reactors, and thus appropriate for a generic analysis, and which potential environmental impacts would be unique, and thus require a project-specific analysis. The NRC expects that both the proposed rule and the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors would streamline the environmental reviews for future nuclear reactor applicants. The NRC is also issuing for
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), “Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Stations,” and “Environmental Considerations Associated with New Nuclear Reactor Applications that Reference the Generic Environmental Impact Statement.” Response Due: December 18, 2024 Planned Change Request for Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Replacement Panels 11 and 12 On July 16, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) announced for public comment the availability of a Planned Change Request (PCR) recently submitted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to
modify the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The proposed change will involve adding two additional waste panels west of the current repository to replace lost disposal capacity resulting from the 2014 radiological incident and resulting ground control issues. A 60-day comment period was provided for the PCR that expired on September 16, 2024. A request for an extension to the comment period was received from several stakeholders, most recently at the Agency's informal public meetings held in
New Mexico in late August. EPA is reopening the comment period to seek public input on both DOE's application and on what EPA should consider in its evaluation. Response Due: December
31, 2024
WHAT YOU'VE MISSED: CLEAN SMART Act introduced to accelerate cleanup of DOE legacy sites Legislation that aims to leverage the best available science and technology of U.S. national laboratories to support the cleanup of legacy nuclear waste has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D., N.M.). The Combining
Laboratory Expertise to Accelerate Novel Solutions for Minimizing Accumulated Radioactive Toxins (CLEAN SMART) Act, introduced on December 12, would codify and fund the Department of Energy to accelerate the development, demonstration, and deployment of breakthrough technologies
and innovations for nuclear waste cleanup. Read the full story NuScale E2 Center opens at Ohio State NuScale Power Corporation this week announced the opening of its Energy Exploration (E2) Center at the Ohio State University in Columbus The E2 Center, which supports the development of the next generation’s nuclear workforce, was cofounded by the university’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a grant from the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program. Read the full story A nuclear fuel company promising $4.5B project and 1,000 jobs is wooing an Eastern WA city The city of Richland is considering selling 425 acres of former Hanford nuclear site land for a $4.5 billion project related to advanced nuclear fuel. The company interested in the project, which is projected to employ 1,000 workers, has not been made public. It is identified in city documents only under the code name of “Project Spin.” Read the full story
Gone Fission Nuclear Report - New ORANO Plant Boosts Nuclear Growth December 09, 2024 | S4 E20 It’s being called the largest investment in the history of the State of Tennessee. Orano USA has announced plans to build a new multi-billion dollar, state-of-the-art centrifuge uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge. The facility will provide fuel for America’s nuclear power plants and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources. In this
week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report, host Michael Butler discusses this exciting project with Orano USA President Jean-Luc Palayer. www.gonefissionpodcast.com NucleCast - Kris Osborn: Navigating Modern Defense December 10, 2024 |
S02 E198 In this episode, Adam interviews Kris Osborn, a prominent defense journalist and president of the Center for Military Modernization. They discuss various topics including the U.S. nuclear posture, the implications of low yield weapons, advancements in digital engineering for defense acquisition, infrastructure challenges with the Sentinel and B-21 programs, cybersecurity in
modern defense systems, China's military strategy, the ongoing Ukraine conflict, and the future of U.S. defense policy amidst political changes. https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/ Atomic Show – Jay Hakes, Author of Presidents and the Planet December 2, 2024 |
E324 Julie Kozeracki was the lead author for a U.S. Department of Energy strategy document titled Pathways to Commercial
Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear published in September 2024. The document was the result of a multi-agency, multi-lab effort to update a previously issued report. During our conversation, Kozeracki described how the report was informed by changes in the market, by a study of experiences from other countries and other industries, and by a growing recognition of the importance of design completion in enabling cost and schedule adherence. www.atomicinsights.com Titans of Nuclear: Brian Woods - Head, School of Nuclear Science & Engineering, Oregon State University October 10, 2024 | E485 https://www.lastenergy.com
ECA New Nuclear Forum 2025 Idaho Falls, ID | April 22 - 24 Learn More Here Reuters Events: SMR & Advanced Reactor 2025 Nashville, TN | May 12 - 13 Learn More Here
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