ENERGY COMMUNITIES ALLIANCE Registration Now Open for the 2017 National Cleanup Workshop ECA Staff May 2, 2017 The Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is pleased to announce that registration for the 2017 National Cleanup Workshop is officially open. Parties interested in attending may visit the registration site HERE to secure their
seat.
The third-annual National Cleanup Workshop will take place September 13-14, 2017 at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center
Hotel in Alexandria, VA. A welcome reception and event check-in begins September 12. The Workshop is hosted by ECA with the cooperation of the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) and the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental
Management.
The National Cleanup Workshop will bring together senior DOE executives and site officials, industry executives, national and local elected officials,
and other stakeholders to discuss DOE’s progress on the cleanup of the environmental legacy of the nation’s Manhattan Project and Cold War nuclear weapons program.
The Workshop offers a two-day program
focused on the biggest policy and technical issues across the EM complex. In 2016, over 600 people attended, making it the largest EM-focused gathering in the greater DC-area. This year, join other cleanup industry experts and decision makers to discuss:
- Progress on Major EM Projects Across the Complex
- Upcoming Procurements and Acquisition Developments
- Status and Outlook for Fiscal Year 2018 Appropriations
- Stakeholder Involvement and Community Commitments
-
Moving Forward with Excess Facilities & Infrastructure
- The National Transuranic Waste Program and WIPP
- Technology Development and Deployment Priorities
For additional information and updates on the Workshop, please visit the website HERE.
For more information on past Workshops, please visit HERE.
Interested in becoming a sponsor? Please contact Robin Frei at +1 (301) 233-3892 or
rfrei@longenecker-associates.com. Omnibus leaves out funding for Yucca ECA Staff May 2,
2017 The omnibus spending bill unveiled this week does not include any funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The funding deal is expected to pass the House and Senate this week. Despite House Appropriations Committee member Mike Simpson’s (R-ID)
prediction that the bill would include $208 million for Yucca Mountain licensing, the final text of the bill indicates that there will not be any new funds for the Nevada repository.
The Nevada congressional delegation and Gov. Brian Sandoval (R-NV) have continued to oppose the project, arguing that it endangers Nevadans. President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry could pursue other means of
restarting the repository. President Trump called for $120 million in funding for Yucca Mountain in the preliminary budget for Fiscal Year 2018, and Secretary Perry has publicly shown support for the licensing process. In addition, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) plans to introduce legislation that would create a path toward building the
repository.
Opinion: The time is right to open Yucca Mountain for nuclear waste The Hill May 1, 2017 For decades, the United States has wrestled with the need to develop a long-term solution to the nuclear waste products created in our country. With the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the subject of creating a safe, secure, and permanent repository for
handling the nation’s high-level radioactive waste has been a divisive issue. Today, it is imperative that national security and scientific facts take precedence over political stalling tactics and a NIMBY- “Not-In-My-Back Yard” attitude. Taxpayers have spent billions of dollars investing in the build out of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste
Repository.
A key provision of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act mandated that the U.S. government would take possession of spent nuclear fuel. As part of the government’s obligation, a process was established for power companies to pay into a fund to cover the taxpayer liability for handling this fuel. This liability continues to grow and the courts have affirmed that government still has a responsibility to provide for a secure facility. Legal fees alone to fight
the opening of Yucca Mountain have already exceeded $375 million and those costs will only increase in the future. >>Continue readingNUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION Trump expected to announce NRC
nominees ECA Staff May 2, 2017 President Trump is rumored to soon announce his nominees for the two vacant seats on the Nucelar Regulatory Commission (NRC), reports POLITICO Pro's Darius
Dixon.
Nuclear policy expert Annie Caputo and former South
Carolina utility regulator David Wright are to be nominated. NRC Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki is expected to stay on for another five-year term after here current term expires this June.
Caputo previously worked for Senator Jim Inhofe and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Earlier this year, she joined Senator John Barrasso's staff, working with the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee.
Wright is a former chairman of the South Carolina
Public Service Commission and former president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. He has been a long-time advocate of addressing the nation's nuclear waste stockpiles.
CONTRACTING & ACQUISITION DOE Awards Technical Assistance Contract for Los Alamos Field
Office DOE-EM May 1, 2017 Los Alamos – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Management – Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) awarded a Requirements Contract, utilizing Fixed Price and Time and Materials Task Orders, to S&K Logistics LLC, a certified small business of St. Ignatius, Montana, to provide technical and business support services. The contract will have a
maximum value of $17.4 million over five years. >>Continue reading Moscow Ready to Consider Renewal of Russia-US Deal on Weapon-Grade Plutonium Sputnik International April 29, 2017 MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia is ready to consider the prospects of renewal of the bilateral Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) if the United States sticks to an agreed method of disposition, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on
Saturday.
"The Russian side is ready to consider the possibility of reactivation of the PMDA if the US side eliminates the causes
that led to a radical change of conditions that were in effect at the moment, when the agreement came into force. [Such consideration could take place], including if the United States will adhere to the agreed method of disposal [of weapons-grade plutonium]," the statement said. >>Continue reading |
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| May 2017 | | 10 | NRC Meeting on Draft Regulatory Basis for SMR Emergency Preparedness Rulemaking |
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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 | | 5-7 | Radwaste Summitt 2017 Summerlin, NV |
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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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