Read ECA's January 2017 Bulletin ECA Staff February 6, 2017 ECA has released the January 2017 Bulletin, a detailed, monthly report of the major events from across the DOE
complex.
Articles in the issue
include: - WIPP Repoens; Shipments to Resume This Spring
- Piketon Community Concerned by Waste Disposal
Cell - DOE Releases Draft Consent-Based Siting Process for Storage and Disposal of SNF and HLW - DOE Likely to Miss 2018 Cleanup Deadline in Idaho - NuScale Submits SMR Design Application
The ECA Bulletin also provides an legislative update, overview of recently-issued DOE/NNSA contracts and Federal reports, and a calendar of all upcoming ECA events.
Questions, comments, or suggestions may be sent to ECA Program Manager Megan Casper at meganc@energyca.org.
WIPP looking to increase emplacements by spring Current Argus January 30, 2017 SANTA FE, N.M. — Waste Isolation Pilot Plant officials are expecting it will take months for the underground nuclear repository to be at full capacity, following resumption of waste emplacement operations after a
three-year stop due to a low-level radiological release.
Todd Shrader, manager of the Department of Energy’s
Carlsbad Field Office, said WIPP has about two or three months worth of waste stored at the facility waiting for emplacement in the underground salt mine before shipments can resume.
Shrader and WIPP President Phillip Breidenbach updated local and state leaders on WIPP operations Monday during the annual WIPP Legislative Breakfast at the Hotel Santa Fe. >>Continue readingNevada gears up to fight Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site Reno Gazette-Journal
February 1,
2017 LAS VEGAS (AP) — Facing a new presidential administration and a newly Republican Congress, top Nevada elected officials are gearing up to resume a 30-year fight to stop proposals to bury the nation's radioactive waste about 100 miles northwest of Las
Vegas.
A commission heading an
anti-Yucca Mountain fight that has cost the state $50 million since 2001 agreed Tuesday to urge "steadfast opposition" to the project from the upcoming state Legislature and Gov. Brian Sandoval.
Radioactive waste retrieval in Idaho nearly complete Post Register January 31 2017 Workers at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project are nearly finished retrieving radioactive waste from the facility’s airplane
hangar-like building, a process that began in 2003.
From the windows of a control room, employees can finally see the rear wall of a building that used to be filled nearly to the ceiling with 65,000 cubic meters of waste boxes, drums and
dirt.
There are only 28 boxes left to retrieve, and officials with the U.S. Department of Energy and contractor Fluor Idaho expect to finish the job later this month. Three of the boxes are “heavily degraded” and workers have been testing out new protective equipment to safely access them,
said Fluor Idaho President Fred Hughes. >>Continue readingRadioactive spread at Hanford briefly halts demolition Tri-City Herald January 30,
2017 Demolition of Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant halted Monday after a spread of radioactive contamination outside the plant Friday afternoon.
The cause is being investigated but demolition is expected to restart this week.
About 4:45 p.m. Friday a radiation monitor alarm sounded near the
part of the plant where demolition had been underway earlier but had stopped for the day. A work crew was outside applying fixative to contain any radioactive contamination on a waste pile. >>Continue readingUnder Trump, INL pivots its nuclear message Post Register January 24, 2017 Idaho National Laboratory officials are
considering how to shift their message under a Trump administration that has sent mixed signals on energy research and the existence of climate change.
When discussing the lab’s nuclear research capabilities, officials plan to focus more on themes such as energy security, nonproliferation and job creation — and less on climate change.
“We’re actively talking right now, and working to pivot our strategy to reflect the new administration’s priorities,” INL Director Mark Peters said in an interview earlier this month.
Lab officials and other experts say they expect funding levels for INL’s nuclear and national security missions to remain largely the same under Trump, while renewable energy research — a relatively small part of the INL budget — could take a big hit. But concrete details won’t be known until more U.S. Department of Energy leadership positions
are announced, and a Trump budget proposal is released. >>Continue readingDirector, deputy director of Sandia National Labs announced Albuquerque Business First January 25, 2017 Stephen Younger, a veteran of national lab security, was named the new director for Sandia National Laboratories on
Wednesday.
The former senior associate
director for national security at Los Alamos National Laboratory was listed on National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC's website, along with other key personnel. National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International. NTESS is set to take over the $2.6 billion management contract for Sandia Labs on May 1. >>Continue reading |
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| February 2017 | | 8-9 | The Advanced Reactors Technical Summit IV & Technology Trailblazers
Showcase
Argonne, IL |
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| February 2017 | | 23-24 | ECA Event:
Meeting the New Administration:
Addressing Priorities and Securing Progress
Washington, DC |
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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:
Manhattan Project National Historical Park Implementation Richland, WA
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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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