Reps. Conaway and Issa Introduce Storage Solution For Nation’s Nuclear Waste Rep. Conaway Press Release January 12, 2017 Washington–Today, Congressman Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA)introduced a bill that would pave a
path forward for storage of the nation’s nuclear waste. The Interim Consolidated Storage Act would allow the Department of Energy to use interest from the National Nuclear Fund to contract temporary storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel and could have the federal government begin collecting waste from nuclear facilities across the country in as little as 5
years.
Congressman Mike Conaway stated, “Nuclear waste should be stored with the utmost care, but currently, licensed
facilities such as Waste Control Specialists in Andrews, Texas, are not able to serve as interim nuclear waste storage sites due to an outdated law and bureaucratic inefficiencies. As a result, nuclear utility plants currently have no choice but to store their waste on site. This legislation allows the Department of Energy to cut through the red tape and enter into contracts with these licensed facilities, such as the one in Andrews, ensuring that nuclear waste will be properly stored until a
permanent site is established.”
Congressman Darrell Issa stated,“The Interim Consolidated Storage Act is a great solution
that allows us to break through past years of political gridlock to get this waste out of our communities and into safe, secure sites that are both well-equipped and want to store it. Maintaining the status quo isn’t an option. Until we can get temporary and – ideally – permanent storage facilities open, nuclear waste will remain on-site more than 120 different sites
nationwide.” >>Continue
readingPiketon pushes for disposal site info Chillicothe Gazette January 17, 2017 PIKETON - Officials in Piketon still feel they don't have enough unbiased information regarding
construction of a low-level nuclear waste disposal site on nearby Department of Energy property and want some acknowledgment that their concerns are being heard.
"As the most impacted village by this decision (to build the disposal site), we have a responsibility to Piketon citizens as elected officials to do our due diligence to ensure this monumental decision is the right thing to do," said Piketon Mayor Billy Spencer. "So far, we have not received enough information and the information we have received has come only from DOE and its contractors. The Department (of Energy) is motivated because it's a
cheaper remedy than disposing it elsewhere, but we cannot in good faith tell people we've done our job without any independent assessment of this decision." >>Continue readingDOE likely to miss 2018 nuke waste deadline The Post Register January 17, 2017 The U.S. Department of Energy most likely will miss another key milestone next year in its nuclear waste cleanup agreement with the state of Idaho.
Under the 1995 Settlement Agreement, DOE committed to remove from the state some 65,000 cubic meters of stored transuranic waste before the end of 2018. The waste goes to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, which recently reopened following a radiation accident three years
ago.
But due to WIPP’s long closure, its ongoing limited operations, and the vast amount of treated waste that has accumulated in
Idaho, it appears impossible that DOE will meet the Dec. 31, 2018 deadline. Officials acknowledged the problem Tuesday during a Leadership in Nuclear Energy Commission meeting in Boise.
“Certainly the milestone is at risk; it’s at great risk right now,” said Jack Zimmerman, DOE’s deputy manager of the Idaho Cleanup Project. >>Continue reading Liquid waste at Savannah River Site hits lowest volume since 1990s Aiken Standard January 16, 2017 For the first time since 1999, the volume of liquid nuclear waste in the tank farms at the
Savannah River Site fell below 35 million gallons.
Savannah River Remediation, the liquid waste contract company at SRS, made the announcement this week on Facebook. According to a company
spokesperson, reaching the mark took a coordinated effort.
Much of the waste remains from legacy nuclear material production during the Cold War, but ongoing operations on site do
continue to produce some waste. Of 51 original million-gallon tanks, eight have been closed and filled with grout. >>Continue readingNew Mexico town steps up for nuclear borehole project SF
Gate January 15, 2017 NARA VISTA, N.M. (AP) — They say the price of gas was the last straw. It was too costly to bring fuel to this tiny speck of a town 50 miles northeast of Tucumcari along the Texas border. And
too few buyers were interested once it got here.
When the last truck stop, the Red-X, closed down,
the cafe and one of two motels followed. People started leaving. Kids grew up and moved away with too few jobs available for miles along these vast, desert plains that turn purple like a bruise in winter. They didn't bring their families back. That was 11 years ago.
Nara Visa was never big to begin with, but fewer than 100 people remain.
This near emptiness, however, has attracted a new business to the community, one that promises, like a honey-toned traveling salesman, to bring jobs — and maybe even a grocery store — by way of the nuclear waste industry.
The U.S. Energy Department, Quay County and two energy development companies say the nation's latest nuclear waste experiment could inject as much as $40 million into the county's economy.
>>Continue readingTen questions for Rick Perry, Trump's pick for energy
secretary Science Magazine January 18, 2017 Former Texas Governor Rick Perry goes before the U.S. Senate tomorrow to explain how he would run the Department of Energy (DOE), which manages the nation’s nuclear arsenal, a network of 17 national laboratories, and a vast array of basic and applied energy research programs. Scientists are eager to hear whether the
two-time failed Republican presidential candidate has a vision for the $30-billion-a-year agency, which he once famously said should be eliminated, and where energy fits into the overall agenda of the man who nominated him, President-elect Donald Trump.
Members of the Senate Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources have their own concerns to raise with Perry. Democrats will no doubt press him on whether he believes reducing carbon emissions is important, whereas Republicans will likely invite him to discuss how continued drilling for fossil fuels will help the country achieve energy independence. Senators may also ask him about the international agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which Trump has labeled one of the worst deals in history. >>Continue reading |
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| January 2017 | | 18 | Environmental Management Site
Specific Advisory Board Meeting, Nevada Las Vegas, NV |
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| January 2017 | | 19 | Nomination Hearing of Rick Perry to be Secretary of Energy Washington, DC |
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| January 2017 | | 23-24 | Environmental Management Site Specific Advisory Board Meeting, Savannah River
Site Hilton Head Island, SC |
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| January 2017 | | 25 | Environmental Management Site Specific Advisory Board Meeting, Northern New Mexico Ohkay Owingeh, NM |
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| February 2017 | | 23-24 | ECA Annual Meeting Washington,
DC "Meeting the New Administration: Addressing 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 "Manhattan Project National Historical Park Implementation" |
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| September 2017 | | 13-14 | 2017 National Cleanup Workshop Alexandria, VA |
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Find the most recent ECA Bulletin here |
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