Trump signals opposition to nuclear waste site in Nevada despite his budget proposals to fund it Washington Post | 10/21/2018
ELKO, Nev. — President Trump signaled opposition Saturday
to reviving Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste storage site, even though his administration has allocated millions of dollars to the project that has long been controversial in this state.
For years, Nevada lawmakers have blocked attempts to restart licensing at the repository, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and presidential candidates traveling to this swing
state have long been pressed for their stances on Yucca.
“I think you should do things where people want them to happen, so I would be very inclined to be against it,” Trump said Saturday of Yucca in an interview with KRNV-News 4, based in Reno. “We will be looking at it very seriously over the next few weeks, and I agree with the people of
Nevada.”
But in both of its budget plans to Congress, the Trump administration designated $120 million for the Yucca project. Justifying the funding proposal this year, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said: “We have a legal responsibility. We have this waste out there. We need to have this licensing issue addressed.”
COMMUNITY SUPPORTLANL tax status now in question Albuquerque Journal | 10/19/2018
SANTA FE – The issue of whether the new managers of Los Alamos National Laboratory will pay state taxes remains
unsettled, even as Triad National Security LLC is set to take over the lab on Nov. 1.
While Triad officials have stated publicly that they will pay New Mexico gross receipts taxes, Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess said he has learned that the federal government is pushing Triad to apply to the Internal Revenue Service for 501(c)3 nonprofit status, which would make the
new lab management group tax-exempt.
Los Alamos County would lose $20 million a year – 40 percent of its general fund budget – without its share of lab GRT, said Burgess. Citing a legislative study, he said state government would lose $25 million.
Smaller
amounts of GRT from lab purchases go to other local governments and entities like the North Central Regional Transit District’s regional bus service.
Triad consists of the University of California, Texas A&M and Ohio-based scientific nonprofit Battelle Memorial Institute and is organized as a limited liability company.
Earlier this year, Triad won the bidding to take over the $2.5 billion annual LANL operating contract from the current contractor, private consortium Los Alamos National Security (LANS), which includes the University of California and the Bechtel corporation. LANS has paid state taxes during its tenure that started in 2006.
DEPARTMENT OF
ENERGYPast and Present DOE Missions on Display in Museum’s New Home in Oak Ridge U.S. Department of Energy | 10/23/2018 OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – On Oct. 18, government officials and
local residents opened the doors to the new home for the American Museum of Science and Energy, which explores Oak Ridge’s legacy in environmental cleanup, scientific and technical innovation, and national security since the Secret City’s start in the Manhattan Project 75 years ago.
U.S. Rep. Chuck
Fleischmann of Tennessee and DOE Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar were among the officials attending the grand opening. Established in 1949, the museum provides educational programs focused on DOE’s past, present, and future missions. It also offers interactive curriculum-based education programs for school groups and the general public, hosts events and rotating exhibits, and provides live demonstrations.
The 18,000-square-foot facility, which replaces an outdated building that had hosted the museum, has five main galleries named the Manhattan Project, National Security, Big Science, Energy Leadership, and Environmental Restoration — all reflecting Oak Ridge’s history, innovation, and work. The building also boasts new interactive exhibits, hands-on activities, a lecture hall,
and classroom facilities.
STORAGE & DISPOSITION
WASTE CLASSIFICATION
2018-2019 UPCOMING EVENTS |
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2018
Nov 14 ECA Board of Directors Meeting; New Orleans, LA
(invitation only)
Nov 15-16 2018 Intergovernmental Meeting with DOE; New Orleans, LA (invitation only)
2019
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