Rick Perry, as Energy Secretary, May Be Pressed to Resume Nuclear Tests The New York Times December 27, 2016 President-elect Donald J. Trump’s Twitter post last week that the United States must “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability” provoked confusion and anxiety that intensified the next day when he added, in a television interview, “Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them
all.”
Largely unspoken in the tumult, but running just below the surface, was a deep uncertainty about the future of a cornerstone of America’s nuclear policy: its program to safeguard the nation’s atomic stockpile.
A central mission of the nation’s weapons laboratories is to ensure that the country’s nuclear weapons still work if needed. To do that, the government has long relied on a program that avoids the need for underground testing, instead using data from supercomputers and laboratory experiments and inspecting the warheads.
But some nuclear analysts say that the Trump administration is likely to face decisions that could upend the bomb program, leading to a resumption of testing and perhaps a new global arms race if they are mishandled. Adding to the concern is Mr. Trump’s choice of a politician with no expertise in nuclear or technical matters, former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, to lead the Energy Department, which runs the nation’s nuclear-weapons labs and the safeguards
program. >>Continue readingRick Perry mum on Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, but has backed interim solution Las Vegas Review Journal December 26, 2016 President-elect Donald Trump’s pick as energy secretary, Rick Perry, is not saying whether he intends to push for a revival of plans to entomb the nation’s highly radioactive waste at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.
But Perry’s 14-plus years as Texas governor might hold clues to his views, as he then supported creation of a temporary site in his state to store highly radioactive spent fuel piling up at nuclear power reactors there for decades.
Applying that approach nationally could postpone a day of reckoning on Yucca Mountain or another permanent repository by 40 years or more, giving Nevada officials and other opponents additional time to muster political and scientific arguments against burying it in tunnels at the Nye County site. >>Continue
readingIdaho and Trump’s choices for DOE, DOI Idaho State Journal December 24, 2016 No Idahoan bubbled to the top of the list for President-elect Donald Trump’s selections to head the Department of Energy and the Department of Interior. He
selected former Texas Gov. Rick Perry for Energy and Montana Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke for Interior.
Given Idaho’s vast public lands, the Idaho National Laboratory, and other energy projects, what impact will these two major appointees have on
Idaho?
A 23-year Navy SEAL and avid outdoorsman from our neighboring state of Montana, Zinke seems like a natural fit for Idaho.
In a statement after his announcement, he said: “I will work tirelessly to ensure our public lands are managed and preserved in a way that benefits everyone for generations to come. Most important, our sovereign Indian Nations and territories must have the respect and freedom they deserve.” >>Continue readingFeds clear WIPP to resume operations The Santa Fe New Mexican December 23, 2016 The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Southern New Mexico has been cleared by the U.S. Department of Energy to resume operations and will begin placing nuclear waste
drums below ground in early January for the first time since a shutdown nearly three years ago.
Officials have said for months that they planned to reopen the underground nuclear waste storage site by the end of 2016. Over the past year, work has been underway to resolve a number of
problems, including compromised air flow, rock falls and fire safety issues. But a federal inspection earlier this month revealed 21 significant problems that still needed to be fixed before the plant could reopen.
On Friday, Energy Department officials said all
corrective actions required to resume operations were complete. The department didn’t announce a specific date for accepting new waste. >>Continue readingTREATMENT &
TRANSPORTATION: DOE secures waste route through Nambé Los Alamos
Monitor December 28, 2016 The Department of Energy announced Dec. 21 a $250,000, renewal of a five-year agreement with the Nambé Pueblo that will allow the DOE to transport radioactive waste through its lands to the DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for
treatment in Carlsbad.
The $250,000 agreement will fund training and technical assistance to the pueblo’s emergency responders to ensure the waste, which will include transuranic
waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, gets to WIPP without incident.
The training will include how to plan and train for emergency events, transportation monitoring, equipment, supplies and
increasing public awareness activities. >>Continue readingNuScale Likely To Submit Design Document To NRC This
Year Forbes December 28,
2016 In a small corner of the
energy industry, people know that the end of 2016 marks a potential milestone accomplishment. NuScale, the leading contender in the nascent Small Modular Reactor (SMR) industry, has been publicly saying that it intends to file a Design Certification Document for a power plant composed of 12 individual NuScale Power Modules by the end of 2016.
That
self-imposed goal has been repeated in dozens, if not hundreds, of presentations during the past 18 months. It is always accompanied by an important caveat–company executives always remind their audiences that they have no intention of submitting a flawed or incomplete document just to be able to claim that they were not "late."
Outsiders might not
know that nukes tend to be skeptical people that are often their industry's most challenging critics. I've heard numberous "yeah, right" and "that will be the day" conference hallway comments from people who are not directly involved in the project. In the past several weeks, a number of regular readers have asked for an update. A couple have even written an "I told you so" message, apparently assuming that NuScale had already stopped working for the
year. >>Continue readingMoniz to attend land transfer event Oak Ridger December 22, 2016 OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - Ernest Moniz has served as U.S. Secretary of Energy since May 2013 and has often visited The Secret City.
An advisory states Moniz will join U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in the Pollard Technology
Conference Center on Friday morning, Dec. 30, to participate in a signing ceremony formalizing a land conveyance approved and accepted unanimously by Oak Ridge City Council earlier this month.
"The officials will together celebrate the close partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy and the city of Oak Ridge as they officially transfer the DOE's American Museum of Science and Energy building and its 17.12-acre site to the city of Oak Ridge," a city release stated. "In exchange for the AMSE land transfer, the city is providing prime alternative space to DOE in order for the Department of Energy to continue its various public education and outreach efforts
that recognize the community's long-standing partnership." >>Continue reading SRS
Community Reuse Organization reports prosperous year Aiken Standard December 22,
2016 The Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization credits creative collaboration and community partnerships in its fiscal year report for ending its year with optimism and confidence.
In the report, the
SRSCRO Chair Sanford Loyd said, “The SRSCRO has become a trusted resource for influential leaders seeking to hear the views and opinions of local workforce issues, community impacts or SRS contract language, and regional policy.”
According to its website, SRSCRO is focused on
developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy to diversify the economy of a five-county region around SRS. The organization works to diversify the region’s economy by supporting new business ventures that create new jobs in the region. >>Continue
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| February 2017 | | 23-24 | ECA Annual Meeting Washington, DC
"Meeting the New Administration: Addressing Community Priorities and Securing Progress"
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| March 2017 | | 5-9 | Waste Management Conference Phoenix, AZ
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| May/June 2017 | | 31-1 | INVITATION ONLY ECA Peer Exchange Richland, WA "Formalizing Host Communities'
Role in the Manhattan Project National Historical Park" |
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Find the most recent ECA Bulletin here |
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