New Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy in place at DOE ECA Staff May 31, 2017 Changes are afoot at DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy (NE). ECA has learned that Mr. Edward McGinnis has been appointed Acting Assistant Secretary and Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. Previously, McGinnis was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Nuclear Energy Policy and Cooperation since
2007.
McGinnis is taking over for Ray Furstenau, who has been acting head of NE since January 2017 when then-Acting Assistant Secretary John Kotek left the
Department to join the Nuclear Energy Institute as VP for policy development and public affairs.
Below is DOE's announcement of the leadership
change:
McGinnis will be the new Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. Mr. McGinnis has served over twenty years in the nuclear
field, including the last eleven years leading DOE's international nuclear cooperation. Additionally, he has spent ten years in nuclear nonproliferation and security. As folks may be aware, Ed has had extensive experience in global energy initiatives including international nuclear energy research, development and demonstration cooperation, and partnership development, international nuclear energy policy. One outcome of his work was a 65 nation International Framework for Nuclear
Energy Cooperation that is dedicated to the safe, secure, and peaceful use of nuclear energy. Within the Office of Nuclear Energy, Mr. McGinnis has also served as a Vice Chairman and Principal U.S. Representative to the Generation IV International Forum and was responsible for US domestic nuclear fuel assurance matters, including technical oversight activities regarding the United States Enrichment Corporation, uranium inventory management matters, as well as US nuclear energy security
matters.
Please welcome Ed as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for NE (until an Assistant
Secretary is nominated and confirmed by the Senate) and provide him your support as he addresses the challenges facing the Nuclear industry. Also, I would like to thank Ray Furstenau for Acting in this position and supporting the Nuclear Energy Office during the transition, completing several critical actions. Ray, you have done a great job in service of the Department of Energy and have shown tremendous dedication. Ray will be returning to his position as
APDAS.
CONTRACTING & ACQUISITION DOE selects BWXT-CH2M-Fluor joint venture for Paducah Site
Deactivation Contract Business Wire May 30, 2017 IRVING, Texas--Fluor Corporation announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership (FRNP), LLC, a joint venture comprised of CH2M, Fluor Corporation and BWX Technologies, to lead the Paducah Deactivation and Remediation (D&R) Contract at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in
Kentucky.
The performance-based contract is valued at approximately $1.5 billion over 10 years. The base term is five years valued at approximately $750 million followed by 3-year and 2-year option periods valued at an
approximate total of $750 million combined. >>Continue readingParsons captures $95M management services contract Washington
Technology May 25,
2017 Parsons Corp. will support the National Nuclear Security Administration with project management services around various construction projects under a five-year,
$95 million contract.
The Energy Department agency needs up with planning, budgeting, procurement, design and construction. Parsons will take on the work through task order awards. NNSA is managing projects worth more than $20 billion over the next 10
years. >>Continue readingDesert Research Institute wins new contract for work at NNSS Las Vegas Review
Journal May 18,
2017 The Desert Research Institute has been awarded a new multiyear contract to assist the U.S.
Department of Energy with study and stewardship at the Nevada National Security Site.
The Technical Research, Engineering, and Development Services contract extends for up to five years and has a value of up to $47.7 million, the institute
announced Thursday. >>Continue
readingBechtel, Fluor Said to Prepare Bids for Southern Nuclear Project Bloomberg May 25, 2017 Bechtel Corp. is preparing a bid to potentially take over the construction of two nuclear reactors at Southern Co.’s Vogtle plant in Georgia, a project that’s been plagued by years of delays and billions of dollars in cost
overruns.
Bechtel, a closely-held engineering and construction company, is expected to have an estimate on how much it would cost to take over construction from Toshiba Corp.’s bankrupt Westinghouse Electric Co. unit by August,
said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Fluor Corp., which is already a subcontractor at the Vogtle site, is preparing its own estimate, one of the people said. Southern, which owns almost half the project, estimated $7.75 billion as its share of total capital and financing costs in
December. >>Continue reading10 new nuclear reactors connected in 2016, world's generating capacity highest ever International Atomic Energy Agency May 25, 2017 For the second year in a row, ten new nuclear reactors started to generate electricity in 2016, the highest number since the 1980s, according to the 2017 edition of the IAEA’s Nuclear Power Reactors in the
World.
As of 31 December 2016, 448 reactors were in operation worldwide, with a net capacity of 391GW of electricity, the highest in history. Within
the same period, three reactors were permanently shut down and 61 nuclear reactors were under construction. Two reactors remain in long-term shut down. >>Continue reading Exelon To Retire Three Mile Island Generating Station in 2019 Excelon May 30, 2017 CHICAGO — Exelon Corporation today said it will prematurely retire its Three Mile Island Generating Station (TMI) on or about September 30, 2019, absent needed policy reforms. Officials met with employees and informed community leaders, and pledged continued open dialogue as they prepare for this transition.
“Today is a difficult day, not just for the 675 talented men and women who
have dedicated themselves to operating Three Mile Island safely and reliably every day, but also for their families, the communities and customers who depend on this plant to produce clean energy and support local jobs,” said Chris Crane, Exelon president and CEO. “Like New York and Illinois before it, the Commonwealth has an opportunity to take a leadership role by implementing a policy solution to preserve its nuclear energy facilities and the clean, reliable energy and good-paying jobs they
provide. We are committed to working with all stakeholders to secure Pennsylvania’s energy future, and will do all we can to support the community, the employees and their families during this difficult period.” >>Continue reading Senators air grievances on Trump energy budget, delays The Hill May 25, 2017 Senators of both parties used a Thursday hearing on a trio of energy-related nominees to the Trump administration to criticize the president’s policies and the
delays in approvals by a federal agency.
Members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee lodged few, if any, complaints against the three nominees before them: Dan Brouillette to be
the deputy secretary at the Department of Energy (DOE), and Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson to be members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairwoman of the Energy Committee, said she supported the nominees, and her colleagues did little to
disagree. Instead, the panel sought assurances that their states’ priorities would be protected if the nominees were
confirmed. >>Continue reading Op-ed by Ernest Moniz: Under Trump, energy security is running on empty The Hill May 26, 2017 The Trump administration has put forward a budget
proposal for fiscal 2018 that would, if enacted, erode U.S. energy security, diminish our competitiveness in the growing global clean energy economy and slow progress in modernizing our domestic energy economy on the path to a low-carbon energy
future.
The administration proposes to cut domestic discretionary spending by $54 billion below the cap agreed to on a bipartisan basis by Congress, affecting nearly every aspect of federal investment in science and
technology, education, the environment and health. As a former secretary of energy who remains deeply engaged in energy issues, I have significant concerns about the impact of these cuts on our energy future. >>Continue
readingINFRASTRUCTURE
DISPOSITION & MODERNIZATION Defense officials offer testimony on nuclear modernization, replacement programs Homeland Preparedness News May 30,
2017 Modernizing and replacing
programs related to the United States nuclear triad is the first priority for both the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy, according to testimony from key defense officials at a recent House Armed Services Strategic Force Subcommittee hearing regarding the President’s proposed FY2018
budget.
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Administrator Frank Klotz said the NNSA’s total budget request was tallied at $13.9 billion, nearly $1 billion more than FY2017 levels. The figure represented approximately half of the Department of Energy’s total
budget.
“We’re very grateful for the level of spending that has
been proposed in the president’s [fiscal 2018] budget,” Klotz said. “It will allow us to tackle some of our very important infrastructure recapitalization projects, such as the uranium processing facility at Y-12 in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee.” >>Continue reading Opinion: Time to end the infrastructure decay at the Energy Department Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists May 25, 2017 On May 9, a tunnel housing nuclear waste collapsed at the PUREX plant on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state. Fortunately, no radioactivity was released to the public—but the incident clearly demonstrates the problems associated with letting both waste tunnels and old plants like the PUREX facility itself sit vacant for decades. Unfortunately, decay similar to that at the PUREX
plant is not unusual at Energy Department facilities. Many facilities are in dire need of repair or replacement.
The department’s
practice of deferring maintenance on its facilities is widespread. Worse, “deferred maintenance” doesn’t mean that the department delays only the repairs required to keep a facility in pristine condition; rather, repairs needed to maintain facilities in acceptable condition are delayed. When facilities drop below acceptable standards, it’s easy to see how bad situations can
arise. >>Continue reading |
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| June 2017 | | 7 | Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Public Hearing on the Plutonium Facility at LANL |
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| June 2017 | | 7 | House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus
Event |
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| June 2017 | | 7-8 | EM SSAB Meeting, Hanford |
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| June 2017 | | 14 | INVITATION
ONLY
ECA High-Level Waste Committee Strategic Session |
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| June 2017 | | 14 | EM SSAB Meeting, Oak Ridge Reservation |
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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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