HOUSE AND SENATE PASS A CONTINUING RESOLUTION; PRESIDENT EXPECTED TO SIGN
Yesterday, House and Senate lawmakers passed a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown on October 1 through both chambers, sending the bill to the President. President Biden is expected to sign the measure. The bill, (H.R. 9747) will maintain fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding levels through December 20. The fate of the December omnibus appropriations bill (or another CR) will also be locked up in the results of the election and who controls the Senate, House, and the Administration. The balance of power in the government will determine whether
lawmakers finish budget work in a lame-duck session, or hand an incoming administration its first funding fight.
The Congressional Appropriations schedule. However, the last time Congress passed all 12 bills on time was in 1996. Speaker Mike Johnson vowed not to package all 12 FY2025 funding bills together in a major omnibus package before the December 20 deadline. This could potentially result in smaller “minibus” spending bills rather than an omnibus bill. But with such a short turn-around between when
lawmakers return to Washington and the December 20 deadline, this option seems untenable. For reference, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bills have not been passed in either chamber. To see details on the Senate and House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bills, vist ECA's Budget Tracker on our website. ECA looks forward to providing further updates on the budget process as it develops. For more information on the appropriations and budget process, see ECA’s website.
NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT ROUNDUP
Numerous exciting bills and projects pertaining to nuclear development have been unveiled in the past week. To start, two bipartisan bills were recently introduced in Congress that address nuclear waste disposition and nuclear waste recycling. NUCLEAR WASTE ADMINSITRATION ACT OF 2024 Introduced in the House, this bill’s major proposal is the establishment of a new and independent Nuclear Waste Administration which would have the singular purpose of managing
the nation’s nuclear waste. This means that all responsibilities for siting, constructing, and operating nuclear waste storage facilities and repositories would be transferred from the Department of Energy (DOE) to the new Nuclear Waste Administration. The bill would require the Nuclear Waste Administration to utilize a consent-based process to site, construct, and operate facilities that store nuclear waste. This
includes a directive for the proposed Administration to site, construct, and operate a permanent repository for the disposition of nuclear waste. The bill would also include provisions to protect nuclear waste cleanup funding and by insulating the proposed Administration from political influence. The bill is a direct reaction to the lack of any interim storage facility or deep geologic repository, despite the growing
taxpayer burden ($10.6 billion thus far, with another estimated $34.1 billion in liabilities) of an ever-increasing amount of nuclear waste. It follows up on recommendations from numerous organizations, such as the National Academy of Science, the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Waste Technical Review Board, the Blue Ribbon Commission, and several other organizations. To view the full text of the bill, click here. To view a one-pager fact sheet, click here.
ADVANCING RESEARCH IN NUCLEAR FUEL RECYLCING ACT
Introduced in the Senate, this bill’s main proposal would require DOE and the National Academies of Sciences to create an independent committee of experts to study the possibility of recycling the nation’s spent nuclear fuel. The DOE-commissioned study would evaluate the cost, benefits, and risks of recycling the nation’s spent nuclear fuel compared to the status quo of interim storage. The committee will
evaluate different recycling processes and lays out various uses to be studied are in the bill, including as fuel for commercial light water reactors and advanced nuclear reactors, and commercial purposes, such as medical, industrial, space-based, advanced battery, and other non-reactor applications. The study would also evaluate the feasibility of colocation of nuclear recycling facilities, as well as analyze what public-private partnerships and infrastructure would be required to lay the
groundwork for such facilities. Other factors the study will consider include cost and capital estimates, timeline estimates, communities willing to host recycling facilities, and potential regulatory gaps that would determine the development of siting, constructing, and operating recycling facilities. To see the full text of the bill, click here. This week also saw a flurry of nuclear development announcements, such as the announcement that Project Pele, a transportable microreactor, is lifting off paper and Oklo’s announcement that it has begun site work for a microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). These breakthroughs follow an announcement last week that Microsoft and Constellation negotiated an agreement to restart Three Mile Island in order to power Microsoft’s energy-intensive AI data centers.
May 13 - 15, 2025 | Idaho Falls, ID There are a
lot of developments now ongoing in the nuclear world, and ECA looks forward to tracking and informing you on how they progress. 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. ECA looks forward to discussing these topics and other nuclear development initiatives in May, at the fourth annual ECA Forum, with support from DOE. The Forum is the premiere annual event that brings
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. 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 developers and opportunities.
GAO: DOE MUST STRENGTHEN ITS PLAN TO DISPOSE OF CONTAMINATED EXCESS FACILITIES
Following a series of reports in past months addressing the Department of Energy’s (DOE) program management challenges, a recently released report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) called on the DOE to strengthen its plan and practices when deactivating and decommissioning contaminated
excess facilities. As of fiscal year (FY) 2023, DOE estimated that it would cost $1.4 billion to deactivate and decommission 85 excess facilities contaminated with radiological and chemical waste. These facilities, owned by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), are no longer needed to support DOE's missions. Effective management of DOE's
contaminated excess facilities is important because it could reduce the federal government’s environmental liability. It is also important because disposition is crucial to maintaining and modernizing infrastructure for the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The condition of these facilities worsens over time, highlighting the importance of timely and effective management to reduce risk and costs. 
DOE's most recent plan for deactivating and decommissioning contaminated excess facilities. was issued in 2022. In its report evaluating the plan, GAO examined: - DOE's approach to deactivating and decommissioning contaminated excess facilities.
- The extent to which
DOE's planning efforts addressed statutory requirements and key practices.
- DOE's fiscal year 2023 data on contaminated excess facilities.
- DOE's 2022 deactivation and decommissioning plan.
- Interviews with NNSA and EM officials, including officials at seven sites with NNSA contaminated excess facilities.
GAO found that DOE’s plan did not include four of the six statutorily required elements
or fully incorporated the three key practices for planning for results of federal efforts. The report acknowledged that DOE faces limitations, such as the availability of funding and contracting mechanisms, that affect its ability to deactivate and decommission facilities. However, GAO still recommended incorporating all statutorily required elements and key practices, such as by including a list of facilities
prioritized by the potential to reduce risk and maximize cost savings and defining strategies to mitigate barriers to deactivating and decommissioning work. These initiatives would help DOE to better communicate to Congress the “how” and “why: behind DOE’s plan to reduce the environmental liability that contaminated excess facilities pose and what support DOE needs to overcome its limitations that prevent it from achieving that outcome. These efforts would also help DOE to better understand its
own activities and develop strategies to overcome budgetary and mechanical limitations. GAO made the following four (4) recommendations: - DOE's 2025 plan for deactivation and decommissioning of contaminated excess facilities should address all statutorily required elements, such as by including a list of facilities prioritized based on the potential to reduce risks to human health, property,
or the environment and maximize cost savings and by including a schedule for when EM will accept facilities for deactivation and decommissioning.
- DOE's 2025 disposition planning efforts for contaminated excess facilities define goals for each activity, such as by including measurable outcomes for the near and long term.
- DOE's 2025 disposition planning efforts for contaminated excess facilities identify the strategies and resources needed to achieve defined goals, such as by
including the resources needed to meet each of the stated goals.
- DOE's 2025 disposition planning efforts for contaminated excess facility assess the environment by defining strategies to address or mitigate barriers affecting DOE's ability to achieve its goals, such as by including strategies to address the potential effects of budgetary constraints.
DOE concurred with all of GAO’s recommendations. Read the full report here. Read the highlights page here.
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!
WHAT YOU'VE MISSED: ECA: Harris or Trump, DOE-EM needs “comprehensive review” Regardless of who is sitting in the Oval Office next year, the Department of Energy’s
Office of Environmental Management needs to take a close look at itself and “launch a comprehensive review of all aspects of the EM program,” according to a new report from the Energy Communities Alliance, which represents communities adjacent to or near DOE nuclear cleanup sites. The 18-page ECA transition paper, Ensuring Long-Term Success: Recommendations for the Next Administration on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Mission, calls on the next administration to “take a fundamental look” at DOE-EM’s entire cleanup effort, including both sites that are active and those where work has been completed.
How DOE-EM integrates with other DOE programs, including the National Nuclear Security Administration and the offices of Nuclear Energy, Science, and Legacy Management, should also be examined, according to the paper. Read the full story Latest GAIN vouchers
support data center and advanced reactor development The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy announced on September 24 four new GAIN vouchers. GAIN—the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear—selected four companies to receive vouchers to advance microreactor technologies, identify potential sites capable of hosting a nuclear-powered data center, and prevent corrosion in molten salt reactors. Like all GAIN vouchers,
these—the fourth and final round for fiscal year 2024—don’t give companies direct financial awards. Rather, they provide access to the nuclear research capabilities and expertise of the DOE’s national laboratories. All awardees are responsible for a minimum 20 percent cost share, which could be an in-kind contribution. More information on the GAIN nuclear energy voucher program can be found here. Read the full story The bipartisan ADVANCE Act is boosting US nuclear. What does the industry want next? On July 9, President Biden signed sweeping pro-nuclear legislation that even longtime skeptics acknowledged should lift the industry’s fortunes. Even as they assess what the new law means for the industry, nuclear advocates are looking to build on the momentum with further updates to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing process, a more robust federal backstop for reactor developers and additional state support for new nuclear. Read the full story Google Could Use Small Nuclear Reactors to Power Data Centers Google’s top executive
confirmed the company is working on large-scale data centers that would use more than 1 GW of power. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, in a speech last week at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh said small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) could possibly be used to generate the needed electricity. Read the full story
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: October 31 2024, 7:00 pm EST |
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Gone Fission Podcast - Candice Robertson Interview September 23, 2024 | S4
E16 This week, the Gone Fission Nuclear Report features an interview with Candice Robertson, the Department of Energy’s recently appointed Senior Advisor to the Office of Environmental Management (EM-1). Host Michael Butler caught up with her at the 10th Annual National Cleanup Workshop in Washington, D.C. The occasion also marked the 35th anniversary of creation of the Office of Environmental Management. Ms.
Robertson gives her assessment of the current state of DOE’s environmental cleanup program and looks to the challenges ahead.
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