ECA publishes comments to DOE on Draft Consent-Based Siting Process ECA Staff April 14, 2017 ECA has submitted comments to the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy on the Draft Consent-Based Siting Process for Consolidated Storage and Disposal Facilities for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level
Radioactive Waste. ECA offered the following recommendations:
1. Finish the Yucca
Mountain licensing review and modify the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) to authorize consideration of alternative sites for interim storage or permanent disposal – including Yucca Mountain – in parallel.
2. Continue working with local governments to define and identify components of
“consent”.
3. Identify the necessary process – including the order that each step should be accomplished – to move a consent-based siting process
forward.
4. As part of a consent-based siting process, Congress/Administration must provide resources and funding for education, outreach, feasibility studies
and research and development aspects for waste management and disposal. In addition, DOE must use this funding to assist local governments and communities interested in hosting sites or involvement in waste management and disposal missions to educate the local community and hire independent third party scientists and
engineers.
5. DOE should develop a list of suitable disposal mediums (salt, granite, etc.) and indicate where they exist to inform potential public interest and
feasibility studies.
6. A new entity focused solely on high-level nuclear waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF) management and disposal should be established and
empowered to consent on behalf of the federal government.
7. DOE must first develop an initial list of the types of incentives/compensation the federal government is willing to offer for host communities for
taking on this mission and to preclude wasting time and resources.
8. DOE, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should begin to develop scientifically-based health and
environmental standards, model state laws and regulations to guide the siting process.
9. If tangible progress cannot be made in a timely manner, the federal government should provide funding for communities that have become de facto
interim storage sites for defense HLW and commercial SNF at decommissioned nuclear reactor sites. The funds will be used to help those communities offset the impacts of storing waste beyond the timeframe originally expected.
Nevada Governor Expands Fight Over Trump’s Yucca Mountain Plan PJ Meida April 14, 2017 Nevada's Republican governor, Brian Sandoval, is expanding efforts to prevent the Trump administration from reviving the controversial Yucca Mountain
nuclear waste repository project in his state.
Sandoval and Nevada
Attorney General Adam Laxalt on Thursday intervened in a nuclear waste lawsuit filed in federal court by the state of Texas last month. Filed by the Texas Attorney General’s Office in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 14, the lawsuit demands that the Energy Department complete licensing activities for the mothballed repository with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
>>Continue
readingFirst waste shipment in three years leaves SRS The Augusta Chronicle April 14, 2017 A shipment of transuranic waste left Savannah River Site on Wednesday for first time in three
years.
The shipment of TRU waste left the gates for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico, which reopened at the beginning of the year. WIPP was shut down in 2014 after a truck caught fire in the underground
mines.
WIPP is a deep geological repository, dug into the salt basin deep beneath the desert floor. The salt will naturally collapse in over time, encapsulated and isolating the waste from human exposure. >>Continue
readingOpinion: Pete Lyons and John Kotek--Investment in our nuclear energy future needed now more than
ever The Post Register April 14, 2017 The U.S. government stands to benefit in the long term with continued nuclear energy innovation projects, write Pete Lyons and John Kotek.
The budget blueprint for the federal government is understandably short on details, but the broad outlines revealed have energy innovators concerned about the potential loss of investment from the Department of Energy.
As the Administration and Congress fill in the details and establish funding for the various DOE energy research programs, they need to be mindful of a truth that guided U.S. energy R&D investments for years: The importance of U.S. leadership in nuclear energy clearly rises above the
rest.
Why is U.S. leadership in commercial nuclear energy so important? It all comes down to global influence and national
security. >>Continue
readingInert Nuclear Gravity Bomb Passes First F-16 Flight Test Los Alamos
Daily Post April 15,
2017 The non-nuclear bomb assembly used for the flight test was designed and manufactured by LANL and SNL.
An Air Force F-16 aircraft released an inert B61 nuclear bomb in a test recently,
demonstrating the aircraft’s capability to deliver the weapon and testing the functioning of the weapon's non-nuclear components, including the arming and fire control system, radar altimeter, spin rocket motors and weapons control computer.
The F-16 from the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nevada, released the weapon over the Nellis Test and Training Range Complex in the first test use of the upgraded B61, known as the B61-12, with the F-16 aircraft.
The test was conducted under a life-extension program for the B61, which is refurbishing both its nuclear and non-nuclear components to extend the bomb’s service life, while improving its safety, security and reliability. When completed, the new B61-12 version will replace four versions of the B61 bomb currently in the U.S. nuclear stockpile, streamlining production and logistics.
>>Continue
readingEnergy Department, National Nuclear Security Administration need to address nuclear security reporting issues, according to
report Homeland Preparedness News April 14, 2017 The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released analysis of nuclear security reporting by the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which stated the department could improve its reporting practices regarding its highly-enriched uranium housing facilities.
Highly-enriched uranium is radioactive in nature and is a common precursor for the production of nuclear
weapons.
GAO was tasked with assessing the extent to which reports issued by the DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) met the definition of quality information under federal internal control standards, if any significant physical security challenges for uranium housing
facilities exist, and if the departments addressed previously-reported security vulnerabilities. >>Continue
readingCONTRACTING &
ACQUISITION Workers, bidders will have to wait longer to hear Hanford’s new contracting plan Tri-City Herald April 13, 2017 The Department of Energy may not release a master plan for new Hanford contracts for a few months longer, according to information provided at a virtual question-and-answer session about Hanford environmental cleanup.
The new contracting strategy is expected to shape the way work that will cost taxpayers billions of dollars is divided up at the nuclear reservation and which companies will employ more than 6,000 Hanford workers over the next decade.
The contracting strategy was expected to be released in January, with a draft request for bids later this year, DOE said in fall 2016. >>Continue readingDOE Awards Contract for the West Valley Demonstration Project
for the Development of a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Procurement DOE-EM April 6, 2017 Cincinnati -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the award of a contract to SC&A, Inc. of Vienna, VA for the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) for the development of a Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (SEIS) Procurement. The contract is a Time-and-Materials type contract. The total value of the contract is $16,943,727 with a five-year period of performance. Four proposals were received in response to the solicitation.
>>Continue reading |
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| April
2017 | | 18 | NRC Open House on MOX Facility Performance |
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| April 2017 | | 19 | Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board,
Nevada |
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| April 2017 | | 19 | Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Northern New
Mexico |
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| April 2017 | | 20 | Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board,
Paducah |
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| May 2017 | | 10-11 | Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board Chair
Meeting |
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| June 2017 | | 7 | House Nuclear Cleanup
Caucus Event |
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| August 2017 | | 8-9 | Intermountain Energy Summitt |
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| August
2017 | | 16-17 | INVITATION ONLY ECA Peer Exchange: Implementation of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Richland, WA |
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| September 2017 | | 12-14 | 2017 National Cleanup Workshop Alexandria, VA |
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| September 2017 | | 13 | House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus
Event Washington,
DC
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Find the most recent ECA Bulletin here |
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