ECA Update: September 19, 2011
Published: Mon, 09/19/11
(John T. Bennett, The Hill)
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DOE announced the next steps for the Asset Revitalization Initiative at the ECA Peer Exchange in Washington, DC on Friday September 16. DOE also issued a press release later in the day.
DOE Press Release
September 16, 2011
September 16, 2011
WASHINGTON , DC - The Department of Energy today announced next steps under the Asset Revitalization Initiative, a Department-wide initiative to examine ways to work with local communities to support the reuse of DOE resources at former Cold War weapons sites around the country. These steps build on the recommendations from the Task Force on Asset Revitalization, which was convened by Secretary Chu in February 2011, and will facilitate local efforts to support beneficial reuse options at DOE sites, including reindustrialization, manufacturing, clean energy development, nature preserves, and educational centers.
As part of the path forward for the Department, Under Secretary for Nuclear Security Thomas D'Agostino will convene a Phase II of the Asset Revitalization Taskforce. Under Phase II, representatives from across DOE will continue to work together to support the review, coordination and acceleration of asset revitalization and beneficial reuse efforts for former DOE assets.
New monument unveiled outside Oak Ridge Municipal Building
Beverly Majors, The oak Ridger
September 19, 2011
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. A new monument now stands in front of the Oak Ridge Municipal Building -- a monument that tells the story of the history of Oak Ridge.
Members of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, Mayor Tom Beehan, city historian Bill Wilcox, along with other officials and two special guests, Patrick McIntyre Jr., executive director of the Tennessee Historical Commission, and Jenifer Eggleston, a program manager with the National Park Service, unveiled the monument, named the Birth of A City: The History of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during a recent ceremony at the site. The monument consists of four historical markers that tell the story of a 13-year period in the history of Oak Ridge.
The National Nuclear Security Administration is more than six months late on its annual status report to Congress on the mixed oxide fuel project at Savannah River Site.
The document, mandated under the 2003 National Defense Authorization Act, was due Feb. 15 and was to include updated details on the $4.8 billion project's construction progress and completion schedule, among other things.
NRC: Quake shake exceeded Va. nuclear plant design
Matthew Daly, Associated Press
September 8, 2011
A 5.8-magnitude earthquake in the eastern U.S. caused the ground to shake much more than a Virginia nuclear plant was designed to withstand, federal officials said Thursday.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said preliminary data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows the Aug. 23 earthquake caused peak ground movement about twice the level for which the North Anna nuclear plant northwest of Richmond was designed. The plant is located about 11 miles from the quake's epicenter in Mineral, Va., and has been shut since the earthquake.
Lawmakers ask Obama to shield nuke programs from funding cuts
John T. Bennett, The Hill
September 10, 2011
John T. Bennett, The Hill
September 10, 2011
A House Armed Services subcommittee chairman wants President Obama to ask lawmakers to ensure several key nuclear weapon programs are not hit with a funding cut until a 2012 Pentagon spending bill is passed.
Armed Forces Strategic Forces subcommittee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and panel member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), in a letter that will be sent to the White House on Monday, will ask President Obama to repeat an action he took last year: requesting a funding "anomaly" for a list of nuclear weapon programs.
Interior secretary tours Hanford B Reactor
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
September 19, 2011
Hastings questions Hanford vit plant budget request
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
September 16, 2011
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
September 19, 2011
The secretary of the interior took a look Sunday at Hanford's historic B Reactor, one of the property's he soon is expected to oversee within the national park system.
Sec. Ken Salazar toured the reactor at the invitation of Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., at the conclusion of a weekend visit to Washington. He also was accompanied by Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
"We have not yet done a good enough job of telling the story of World War II and the nuclear era born out of the war," he said as he stood beneath the towering front face of the reactor, where fuel once was loaded into its core.
KENNEWICK-- The Department of Energy undersecretary newly responsible for Hanford environmental cleanup has a bias for getting the job done, he said Wednesday after his first tour of the nuclear reservation.
That's the case whether it's starting operations at the Hanford vitrification plant or reusing un-needed Hanford land, said Thomas D'Agostino, the undersecretary of nuclear security.
He was in the Tri-Cities to speak at the 2011 Integrated Safety Management Champions Workshop in Kennewick, which drew 1,200 people from DOE projects across the nation. During his three-day visit he also toured Hanford and met with DOE Hanford leadership and staff and with community members.
Hastings questions Hanford vit plant budget request
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
September 16, 2011
Congress needs straight answers from the Department of Energy on what requests for more money for the Hanford $12.2 billion vitrification plant mean, said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash.
He spoke Thursday to the Energy Community Alliance in Washington, D.C., and provided a copy of his speech to the Herald.
Hastings questioned whether the increased funding requests meant that DOE needed more money during peak work years at the plant under construction or whether it needed more money overall to finish the plant.
Department of Energy health officials plan a return visit at the end of the month to begin a follow-up assessment of the nuclear safety culture at the Hanford vitrification plant.
They will be doing some things differently this visit after questions were raised about workers' comfort in raising issues in earlier interviews.
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