ECA Update: September 25, 2012
Published: Tue, 09/25/12
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Senate Approves Six-Month Continuing Resolution
Katy O'Donnell, National Journal
September 22, 2012
Katy O'Donnell, National Journal
September 22, 2012
Forced to vote in the middle of the night because of procedural hurdles and political games, the Senate early on Saturday morning passed a continuing resolution, 62-30, to keep the government funded through late March at an annual rate of $1.047 trillion. President Obama is expected to sign the stopgap bill shortly.
The $1.047 trillion figure is consistent with the fiscal year 2013 discretionary spending cap set by the bipartisan Budget Control Act last August; but is $8 billion more than now and $19 billion more than the cap in the budget--authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that House Republicans passed this spring.
Still, Republicans were willing to swallow a spending increase on the grounds that the CR extend into the next Congress. Conservatives feared that a shorter continuing resolution would allow Democrats to use the threat of a government shutdown as leverage later this year in post-election negotiations over the so-called "fiscal cliff" when much more than $8 billion will be on the line-- including some $100 billion in automatic spending cuts next year and the fate of the Bush-era tax cuts, to name just two priorities.
Passage of the CR--must-pass legislation that the House approved last week--was stalled for about a day-and-a-half over aid to the Middle East. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., held up a vote on the measure until the chamber agreed to vote on his amendment to cut off foreign aid to Egypt, Libya, and Pakistan unless those countries met certain conditions. His amendment failed overwhelmingly.
Aid to the Middle East has been a delicate issue for years, but those programs have drawn new scrutiny in light of the recent protests and attacks in the region. The CR does not specifically set a spending level for Libya, but congressional aides have said it could continue funding prorated at last year's $14 million level as long as Congress is notified by the State Department before the money is obligated. It continues $1.3 billion in "foreign military financing" for Egypt, managed by the State and Defense departments. Foreign aid to Pakistan is unclear, but the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this year approved $800 million under the $1.047 trillion cap.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., intervened late Wednesday to help Paul get the vote on the amendment, which Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had blocked for months. Reid then abruptly canceled further votes Thursday afternoon during an impromptu speech on the floor in which he suggested that Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., was "using the Senate as an excuse" to skip his debate with challenger Elizabeth Warren.
Republicans wary about time squeeze on defense bill
Jeremy Herb, The Hill
September 23, 2012
Republican lawmakers are wary about potential plans to streamline floor debate on the Defense authorization bill in an effort to squeeze it into a jam-packed lame-duck session.
The Defense authorization bill typically has days of robust debate on everything from Guantanamo detainees to social issues in the military, with hordes of votes on sometimes controversial amendments.
With this year's lame-duck session facing an unprecedented number of big-ticket items, the Defense bill's fate is in doubt. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, suggested to reporters this week that the debate might have to be shortened, compared to prior years, in order to get the bill done.
That has some Republicans on the committee concerned about the broader implications for the bill.
"Whatever the historical precedent has been is what I want to follow," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). "If you don't want to take tough votes, don't come to the Senate. I don't feel the need to create a new precedent for the Defense authorization bill."
The Defense authorization bill, which sets policy for the Defense Department, authorizes funding levels and gives troops pay increases, has passed for 50 straight years. While there's often contentious debate on issues that threaten its passage, the overall bill enjoys wide bipartisan support.
Among the controversial issues set to be debated in this year's bill is the U.S. terror detention policy, which took up several days of floor time and needed an 11th-hour compromise on an amendment.
A group of senators planned to challenge the military detention policy in this year's authorization bill, and even put off debate on the issue when the bill was passed out of committee so it could be debated on the full floor.
Also hanging over this year's bill is the threat of sequestration and the potential for $500 billion in across-the-board defense cuts over the next decade.
The full House passed the Defense authorization bill in May, and the Senate Armed Services Committee passed it later that month.
Both Levin and House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) wanted to get the bill done quickly this year because of the looming "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year. But the bill has languished since May.
Part of the reason for the delay in the Senate is sequestration itself. As the issue grew more politically polarized this year, it became less likely the bill would get floor time because the debate would be used by Republicans to criticize President Obama over the defense cuts, even though the authorization bill does not take sequestration into account.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Armed Services Committee's ranking Republican, has taken to the floor several times to criticize Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for delaying the bill in the summer months.
"Can't we as a body for the sake of those men and women whose lives are on the line pass a defense authorization bill," McCain said on the floor in July. "Is the Senate Majority Leader oblivious?"
Asked about the plan to shorten debate, McCain told The Hill Thursday he didn't feel that an artificial limit was needed to get the bill through.
"The way it usually works, you take the bill up, you start working, and by Thursday you take the votes and we get it done," McCain said. "My experience is as the weekend approaches, those amendments disappear."
The Senate is leaving town this week until after the election, when it will have a two-month window to try to deal with the expiring Bush tax rates, the sequestration cuts and a possible increase in the debt ceiling. There's also a number of other legislative issues that have not been completed this year, like the new farm bill and cybersecurity legislation.
An aide to Levin said that no formal proposals had yet been suggested to Reid to get the Defense bill on the floor during the lame-duck session. Levin has said repeatedly that Reid knows how important it is to him and the committee that the bill is completed.
Bipartisan Group of Senators Sound the Sequester Alarm
Elahe Izadi, National Journal
September 24, 2012
Lawmakers may have left town, but some are already readying the groundwork for lame duck sequester negotiations.
A bipartisan group of six senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying that a sequestration alternative has to be decided upon before January, and calling for any bipartisan proposals to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation by November.
The letter, addressed Sept. 21, was signed by Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., John McCain, R-Ariz., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. They stress the need to pass a bipartisan, long-term deficit reduction plan to avoid the sequestration and "provide as much certainty as possible for businesses and consumers."
The letter highlights looming cuts such as those to the Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to federal education funding.
See the full letter after the jump
Dear Majority Leader Reid and Republican Leader McConnell:We face a critical challenge in the next few months: balancing the need to reduce the deficit with the need to safeguard important priorities, particularly protecting our national security, vital domestic programs, and our economic recovery. We believe it is imperative to enact a bipartisan deficit reduction package to avoid the severe economic damage that would result from the implementation of sequestration. Any deficit reduction package should be long term and should provide as much certainty as possible for businesses and consumers.The Congressional Budget Office has already warned sequestration in combination with the expiration of current tax policy could send our fragile economy back into a recession and raise unemployment above 9 percent, and the administration agrees that sequestration "would be deeply destructive to national security, domestic investments, and core government functions." Failure to act to address the debt would result in sequestration taking effect in January 2013 with significant detrimental impact on our fragile economic recovery. According to a report done for the Aerospace Industries Association, if sequestration is allowed to occur in January, the nation will lose approximately 1 million jobs because of defense budget cuts and 1 million jobs because of domestic cuts in 2013.Make no mistake about the devastating impact of sequestration. According to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, sequestration would leave our nation with its smallest ground force since 1940, smallest number of ships since 1915, and smallest Air Force in its history, and "would inflict severe damage to our national defense for generations." The indiscriminate across-the-board defense cuts scheduled to start this January would result in a 9.4 percent reduction to defense discretionary funding and a 10 percent reduction to defense mandatory spending programs. The administration reports that "sequestration would result in a reduction in readiness of many non-deployed units, delays in investments in new equipment and facilities, cutbacks in equipment repairs, declines in military research and development efforts, and reductions in base services for military families." Specifically, the Army would see a $7 billion reduction in operations and maintenance (O&M) funding, and the Navy and Air Force would lose another $4.3 billion each in their O&M accounts.In addition, sequestration's impact will be felt beyond the Department of Defense. On the non-defense spending side, the administration reports that sequestration would "undermine investments vital to economic growth, threaten the safety and security of the American people, and cause severe harm to programs that benefit the middle-class, seniors and children." The National Institutes of Health would face a $2.5 billion cut and "would have to halt or curtail scientific research, including needed research into cancer and childhood diseases." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would see a $464 million cut, and states and local communities would lose billions in federal education funding for Title I, special education State grants, and other programs.Based on this, we are committed to working together to help forge a balanced bipartisan deficit reduction package to avoid damage to our national security, important domestic priorities, and our economy.Sequestration will endanger the lives of America's service members, threaten our national security, and impact vital domestic programs and services. Meeting this challenge will require real compromise, and we do not believe that Congress and the president can afford to wait until January to begin to develop a short term or long term sequestration alternative. All ideas should be put on the table and considered. Accordingly, we urge you to press between now and November the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation to score any bipartisan proposals forwarded to them so that Congress may evaluate these plans.We believe it is important to send a strong signal of our bipartisan determination to avoid or delay sequestration and the resulting major damage to our national security, vital domestic priorities, and our economy.Carl Levin
John McCain
Jeanne Shaheen
Lindsey Graham
Sheldon Whitehouse
Kelly Ayotte
Obama: Lawmakers 'skipped town' before completing work
Amie Parnes, The Hill
September 22, 2012
President Obama, expressing frustration, railed against the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Saturday, saying lawmakers "skipped town" before completing their work.
In his weekly address, Obama accused the lawmakers--who will not return to Washington until after the election in November-- of leaving behind "a whole bunch of proposals" that would help the economy and help boost the middle class, an overarching theme the president has tried to hammer home on the campaign trail this year.
"Last week, without much fanfare, members of the House of Representatives banged a gavel, turned out the lights, and rushed home, declaring their work finished for now," Obama said in the weekly address. "If that frustrated you, it should -- because their work isn't finished.
"These ideas have been around for months," Obama continued. "The American people want to see them passed. But apparently, some Members of Congress are more worried about their jobs and their paychecks this campaign season than they are about yours."
In recent months, in addition to campaigning against Mitt Romney, Obama has also lambasted a do-nothing Congress for repeatedly stalling legislation in a series of speeches.
In his address on Saturday, Obama returned to that theme. He blamed Congress for having "dragged their feet" and not signing a farm bill that would help rural communities. The president also held lawmakers accountable for not acting to save homeowners an extra $3,000 a year on mortgages by refinancing their homes at low rates. He reiterated that Congress could have signed legislation that would create a veterans jobs corps, helping troops find jobs as police officers and firefighters when they return home from their tours of duty.
At the same time, he wagged his finger at the Republican Congress for failing to pass legislation which would "have given 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners a guarantee that your taxes won't go up next year by a single dime.
"This is something we all agree on," Obama said. "It should have gotten done a long time ago. But Republicans in Congress have refused to budge. They're holding tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans hostage until we pass tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans."
Obama urged lawmakers to do their work when they return in November, after their elections.
In the meantime, he asked viewers of the address to tell their lawmakers to take action. "Because there's been enough talk," he said. "It's time for action."
Mini-Nukes Advancing in South Carolina
Jessica Mulholland, Government Technology
September 24, 2012
South Carolina and its Savannah River Site (SRS), located in Aiken, along with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced three public-private partnerships to develop small, modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) technologies at the SRS facility in an effort to advance the next generation of nuclear energy technology. The agreement will "help leverage Savannah River's land assets, energy facilities and nuclear expertise to support potential private sector development, testing and licensing of prototype SMR technologies," the DOE said in a released statement.
Helen Belencan, the DOE's deputy assistant manager for Infrastructure and Environmental Stewardship at the Savannah River Site, said the goal is "to apply the nuclear knowledge and expertise that we have from over 60 years of supporting the nation in its defense-type operation in nuclear material production and help these companies develop the technology and manufacturing capability in the United States so that the United States can take on a leadership role in the manufacturing of these small modular reactors."
Ultimately, it is up to the private sector to develop both the technology and build the manufacturing capability, she says, and then to grow that market domestically and internationally.
At this time, the Savannah River Site is offering an opportunity to use its land assets to site a facility. It is not funding any development, Belencan said. The project occurring at the SRS also will provide a framework for land use and site services agreements that might advance these efforts. Those kinds of memorandums of agreements do not in any way constitute federal funding commitments; the DOE envisioned private-sector funding would be used to develop any potential projects on SRS land.
In the future, the DOE will focus on advancing SMRs in the United States. About $450 million "will be made available to support first-of-its-kind engineering, design certification and licensing for up to two SMR designs over five years, subject to congressional appropriations," according to the DOE.
The proposals for this funding were received in May, and are now going through the merit review process to see which ones will most likely meet the objectives of being licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and achieving commercial operation by 2022. The DOE plans to announce the recipients later this year.
This funding is one of the first steps in building a domestic manufacturing capability in the U.S., and getting the design, engineering, certification and licensing with NRC done to move forward with the variety of possibilities this technology has.
"For utilities, SMRs present the possibility of a new financial model for nuclear power plant deployment," said Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner William Magwood before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development last July. "For vendors, SMRs are technologies that could be manufactured in U.S. facilities at lower and more predictable cost than is typical of conventional nuclear reactors ... For many government officials, SMRs provide a means to support the revitalization of the nation's heavy manufacturing base, providing thousands of well-paid, skilled jobs, and reducing U.S. reliance on overseas suppliers for vital energy technologies."
Together, these two programs have the potential to allow states to replace coal-fired plants with SMRs and significantly reduce their carbon footprints, said Ron Schroder, SMR Program Manager and the Savannah River National Laboratory.
Small modular reactors are approximately one-third the size of current nuclear plants, and they can be built at a fraction of the cost of large reactors at a central location, and then transported to wherever they're needed, according to The News & Observer in Raleigh.
Thomas Sander, associate laboratory director for the Clean Energy Initiative and the Savannah River National Laboratory, said the first SMR built at the Savannah River Site will likely cost about $1 billion for about 100 to 150 megawatts, but that will drop down the line. "If you are talking about the 100th, my expectation is that cost is going to be reduced significantly as a result of advance factory manufacturing and just a learning process and the licensing process."
The unique factor, Belencan said, is that these reactors will be manufactured in a factory, "So as you develop that factory output and you have that factory able to produce these units that need these license certifications and you are producing many of them, your cost will go down," she says. "Once a factory is up and producing for a market of 100 of these or more, then your cost is going to go down into the $500,000, $600,000 range -- at least about half the cost."
A traditional single-unit nuclear reactor with 1100 megawatt capacity costs roughly $8 billion to build, Sander said, and that number jumps to $14 billion for twin reactors that offer 2200 megawatts of energy.
Although at first glance SMRs produce only a fraction of the energy produced by traditional nuclear reactors, they still product plenty of energy -- enough to power factories, small cities or remote areas.
SMRs' overall power output can be modified based on where it will live. "If you are going after the old coal replacement market, you are looking at 150 to 200 megawatts on average," Sander said, "but if you are looking at the Alaskan market for small cities or island market or export market for developing countries, you are talking 45 to 100 megawatts."
The cost savings of nuclear compared to the way we currently power our cities is dependent upon lifecycle cost, Schroder said, -- but it's ultimately hard to predict. "You look at the cost of fuel over a life cycle, and you compare that to other fields and other plants. Natural gas plants will be much cheaper from a capital perspective but predicting the price of gas over 40-, 50-, 60-year time frame is pretty hard," he said.
So what economists usually do, he noted, is look back over the last 60 years or so at the price of oil, coal and uranium, and factor those in. So the cost per unit electricity will be dependent on the stability of fuel prices after the capital costs have been advertised and taken care of. "We do know the cost our uranium will be quite stable over that period of time," he said, adding that the cost of coal, depending on global warming, taxes and the cost of gas, are somewhat unpredictable.
For the DOE, small modular reactors are the next generation of nuclear energy technology. "They are more flexible and scalable, and they have a variety of application potentials," said DOE spokeswoman Niketa Kumar. "Manufacturing domestically can offer the United States the ability to compete globally in the nuclear energy technology market and advance our nations competitive edge in manufacturing future clean energy technology.
DOE study looks at industrial development at Hanford
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
September 25, 2012
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
September 25, 2012
The Department of Energy is starting an environmental study on transferring 1,641 acres of the nuclear reservation for industrial development to create new jobs.
The Tri-City Development Council, which has been designated a community reuse organization for Hanford, has requested 1,341 acres near Richland city limits on the northwest corner of Horn Rapids Road and Stevens Drive. It's been joined in that request by the city of Richland, the Port of Benton and Benton County.
In addition, TRIDEC has requested 300 acres to the north of the larger parcel for a clean energy park in conjunction with Energy Northwest.
However, DOE will look at more acreage than requested by TRIDEC, according to a Federal Register notice.
It is proposing also studying 2,772 additional acres next to the requested parcels, with a goal of studying the environmental impacts of transferring approximately 1,641 acres of the total of 4,413 acres evaluated.
DOE may still have use for some of the land requested by TRIDEC, said DOE spokesman Cameron Hardy. For instance, the requested land includes a gravel borrow pit that DOE might yet need.
Looking at a larger area benefits the TRIDEC proposal, said Gary Petersen, TRIDEC vice president of Hanford projects.
It helps make sure that if the requested land has restrictions, easements or other issues that would cut into the amount of acreage available, nearby land could be used to make up the difference. It also would speed up the study process if more land eventually is transferred.
DOE has a comprehensive land-use plan for the 586 square miles of Hanford that reserves most land for preservation or conservation as environmental cleanup is completed from the past production of weapons plutonium. However, it also sets aside about 10 percent of the land for industrial use, including some land near Richland.
TRIDEC has proposed that the 1,341-acre parcel it has requested be divided into a 900-acre site that could be used for one or two large enterprises providing 2,000 to 3,000 jobs combined. In addition, three smaller 100- to 200-acre sites would support another 400 to 500 jobs combined.
TRIDEC's goal is to replace jobs lost at Hanford as portions of environmental cleanup are completed or less federal money is spent on the project.
"TRIDEC thinks this is a tremendous opportunity to attract manufacturers," Petersen said.
It's particularly interested in manufacturers of high-tech products or those that would require some technical skills in the workforce, such as a plant manufacturing advanced batteries being developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland or manufacturing small modular nuclear reactors.
The property has 250 megawatts of power available, water from the city of Richland, rail service and barge service to the ocean.
If TRIDEC does not have an industry immediately available to use the land, it would transfer the land to Richland or the Port of Benton while industry is recruited.
The 300-acre parcel is planned to be used for clean energy production by Energy Northwest or other companies or agencies.
DOE plans an environmental assessment of the 4,413 acres, rather than a more lengthy environmental impact statement to satisfy requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. It could to be completed in about 18 months.
The public may comment on what should be considered in the proposed study at a meeting Oct. 10 at the Richland Public Library, 955 Northgate Drive. An open house will start at 5:30 p.m., with the formal meeting starting at 6:30 p.m.
Savannah River Remediation asks for workers willing to retire as part of workforce reduction
Rob Pavey, The Augusta Chronicle
September 24, 2012
For the second time in as many months, a major Savannah River Site contractor is seeking workers willing to resign or retire as part of a workforce reduction approved by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The contractor, Savannah River Remediation, is in charge of the site's liquid waste cleanup operations, including the closure of Cold War-era storage tanks filled with radioactive waste.
In a memo to employees, company President Dave Olson said the "self-select voluntary separation program" announced Monday is part of a "workforce management initiative to balance costs and resources."
"SRR has accomplished much since taking over as the SRS Liquid Waste contractor in July 2009," the memo said. "However, as some projects come to a close and budgets continue to be reduced, we have to realign our workforce to ensure we have the right skills on the right jobs."
Olson did not say how many positions would be affected, but employees willing to volunteer to leave will have until Oct. 8 to apply. Approved employees will receive severance of one week's pay for each year of service, up to 26 weeks, and possible eligibility for medical coverage.
The site's primary contractor, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, issued a similar appeal Aug. 31 in efforts to reduce its workforce.
SRNS was authorized in 2010 to reduce its workforce by as many as 1,400 positions. Through August, 1,065 workers had left.
Los Alamos National Laboratory names Jeffrey Mousseau Associate Director of Environmental Programs
LANL Press Release
September 18, 2012
LANL Press Release
September 18, 2012
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., September 18, 2012--Los Alamos National Laboratory today announced that Jeffrey Mousseau has been hired as the new associate director for Environmental Programs.
Mousseau currently works as a senior project manager for the Laboratory's transuranic waste disposal program. In his new position, he will oversee this program as well as other key environmental cleanup and monitoring activities.
"Jeff shares my personal commitment to sustaining the current momentum of waste removal and cleanup that the Lab has steadily built over the past five years," said Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan. "His expertise in this area is outstanding, and will be highly valuable as we continue removing waste and cleaning up contamination left over from past activities in Los Alamos."
Mousseau succeeds Michael Graham, who left the Laboratory in August to oversee commercial and government environmental management work for Bechtel National, Inc.
Mousseau has more than 30 years' experience in the field of nuclear waste management, including 20 years at U.S. Department of Energy sites in Idaho and New Mexico.
Before coming to Los Alamos, he served as president of Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC, the management and operations contractor for the DOE's Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) at the Idaho National Laboratory. The largest transuranic waste project in the Department of Energy complex, AMWTP safely shipped more than 40,000 cubic meters of transuranic waste for permanent disposal during Mousseau's tenure.
Before becoming president, Mousseau served as vice president, plant manager and waste program manager at AMWTP. During his time at AMWTP, the project compiled one of the best safety records of any DOE site, including more than 12 million safe work hours and more than 6 years without a lost-workday accident.
"I am pleased to have Jeff on board to continue his record of leadership and commitment to public and worker safety," said McMillan.
Mousseau also has led cleanup projects involving the disposal of mixed and low-level radioactive waste, ensured that newly generated waste was disposed of in accordance with federal and state environmental laws, and managed groundwater and soil remediation projects.
He negotiated agreements with state regulators for activities related to closing above- and below-ground nuclear waste storage areas. He was responsible for coordinating relationships with Congressional representatives, the State of Idaho governor's office and Department of Environmental Quality, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the Shoshone-Bannock tribal nation, and the laboratory's Site Environmental Management Citizens Advisory Board.
"As the Lab gets ready to set yet another record for transuranic waste shipments in a single fiscal year, I am honored to have the opportunity to work with the state, the community and the federal government to keep up the steady progress on environmental cleanup," said Mousseau.
A licensed mechanical engineer and certified project management professional, Mousseau holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Idaho.
What is transuranic, or TRU, waste?
TRU waste consists of clothing, tools, rags, debris, soil and other items contaminated with radioactive material, mostly plutonium. Transuranic elements such as plutonium have an atomic number greater than uranium, so they are labeled transuranic, for "beyond uranium" on the periodic table of elements.
About 90 percent of the current TRU waste inventory is a result of decades of nuclear research and weapons production at the Laboratory. It is often referred to as "legacy" waste.
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