CRESP Newstories and Links related to risk-based cleanup of the nation’s nuclear weapons production facility waste sites and cost-effective, risk-based management of potential future nuclear sites and wastes. CRESP seeks to improve the scientific and technical basis for environmental management decisions by the Department of Energy (DOE) and by fostering public participation in that search.
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Friday, May 11, 2012
Energy Department Announces New Investments to Train Next Generation of Nuclear Energy Leaders, Advance University-Led Nuclear Innovation
May 8, 2012 - 6:05pm http://energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-new-investments-train-next-generation-nuclear-energy-leaders
WASHINGTON – Underscoring President Obama’s commitments to keep college affordable, expand opportunities for American families nationwide, and promote education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced more than $47 million in scholarships, fellowships, research grants and university research reactor upgrades to train and educate the next generation of leaders in America’s nuclear industry. The 143 awards announced today under the Department’s Nuclear Energy University Programs and Integrated University Program will support nuclear energy R&D and student investment at 46 colleges and universities around the country. These efforts at the Department of Energy build on President Obama’s commitment to work with Congress to help keep college education affordable for America’s students by keeping interest rates low on student loans. “We must invest in the next generation of American scientists and engineers in order to fulfill our commitment to restarting America’s nuclear industry and making sure that America stays competitive in the 21st century,” said Secretary Chu. “The awards announced today - from scholarships and fellowships to university-led nuclear research projects – are part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to keep college affordable for students nationwide. These investments will help train and educate our future energy leaders, while developing the innovations we need to create new jobs and export opportunities for American-made nuclear technologies.”
EM’s Tracy Mustin Celebrates Milestone at New Mexico Lab ALBUQUERQUE, N.MMay
May 3, 2012. – EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Tracy Mustin joined other DOE officials and local and state leaders Wednesday to celebrate the completion of the Cold War legacy waste cleanup at Sandia National Laboratories. “The State of New Mexico and the Department of Energy share a common vision of keeping people and our environment safe,” Mustin said at the event. “This final shipment of legacy remote-handled transuranic (TRU) waste from Sandia National Laboratories represents important and continued progress in DOE’s commitment to reducing the nation’s nuclear waste footprint by cleanup of EM sites across the complex.”
EM Program Updates: EM Announces New Oak Ridge Office Assistant Manager
WASHINGTON, D.C. –WASHINGTON, D.C. – EM announced today that Mark Whitney has been selected as the Oak Ridge Office Assistant Manager for Environmental Management, effective August 2012. “Mark is an engaging leader with a broad understanding of DOE-wide programs and policies and has a history of proven success developing and implementing strategies to improve organizational performance,” said David Huizenga, Senior Advisor for EM. “I am pleased Mark has agreed to take on this important role and devote his talents to the nuclear waste cleanup mission in his home state of Tennessee.” The Oak Ridge Reservation is one of DOE’s most unique and complex sites, encompassing three major campuses and spanning almost 34,000 acres. Each campus performs a diverse set of missions, but all share a crucial need for environmental cleanup. The EM program addresses this need by removing the hazards left behind from research and defense operations during the Manhattan Project and Cold War. Whitney has served as the Acting Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration since July 2011, overseeing the day-to-day operations of a $2.3 billion nuclear security and nonproliferation program. He has been a member of the U.S. Government’s Senior Executive Service since 2005, serving in various positions at DOE headquarters and internationally. “I look forward to working with Sue Cange and the EM Oak Ridge Organization as we continue this important cleanup mission for the community and the nation,” said Whitney. Cange has been the Acting Oak Ridge Office Assistant Manager for EM since Oct. 6, 2011. She will continue in her role as Deputy Assistant Manager.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Report: Hanford vessels fail to meet requirements
The Energy Department and a contractor building a waste treatment plant at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site procured and installed tanks that did not always meet requirements of a quality assurance program or the contract, a federal audit concluded Monday.
Critics say new Hanford Nuclear Reservation waste permit has big holes
Washington's new blueprint for dealing with dangerous waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation tops 16,000 pages, covering the maze of polluted land and water at the former nuclear weapons production site. But Hanford activists say it leaves crucial issues unaddressed; namely, imports of new radioactive waste and the ultimate cleanup plan for leaking storage tanks and much of 43 miles of contaminated ditches. Washington's Department of Ecologyissued a draft of the 10-year"dangerous waste permit" Tuesday. It's now up for public comment, including a hearing scheduled for May 16 in Portland. Activists, led by Heart of America Northwest, say Washington regulators are giving a free pass to the U.S. Department of Energy, which operates the nation's largest nuclear cleanup site. The department wants to bury and cap most of the contamination instead of removing it, they say, and to bring more nuclear waste to Hanford. The state permit does nothing to stop that, said Gerry Pollet, executive director of the Hanford watchdog group. "They're saying, 'We're going to give you a permit even though this is a non-compliant facility and there's no closure plan,'" Pollet said. "The public doesn't have anything to look at."
H.R. 5325: Making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, and for other purposes.
May 02, 2012 — Introduced
H.R. 5325: Making
appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the
fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep.
Rodney Frelinghuysen [R-NJ11]
This bill or resolution is in the first stage of the legislative process. It was introduced into Congress on May 2, 2012. It will typically be considered by committee next. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr5325
H.R. 5325: Making
appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the
fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep.
Rodney Frelinghuysen [R-NJ11]This bill or resolution is in the first stage of the legislative process. It was introduced into Congress on May 2, 2012. It will typically be considered by committee next. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr5325
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Mark Whitney to be DOE's environmental chief in Oak Ridge
Knoxville News May 1, 2012 Mark Whitney will be the U.S. Department of Energy's new cleanup chief chief in Oak Ridge, effective in August, DOE announced today. Whitney currently serves as the National Nuclear Security Administration's acting principal assistant deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation. He's held that job since July 2011. He's been a member of the government's Senior Executive Service since 2005. In a statement, David Huizenga, DOE's senior advisor for EM, said: "Mark is an engaging leader with a broad understanding of DOE-wide programs and policies and has a history of proven success developing and implementing strategies to improve organizational performance. I am pleased Mark has agreed to take on this important role and devote his talents to the nuclear waste cleanup mission in his home state of Tennessee." Sue Cange currently serves as acting assistant manager for EM and DOE said she would return to her role as deputy assistant manager.
Hastings worries about key DOE jobs being vacant
May 02, 2012 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
Letting the key Department of Energy headquarters position responsible for overseeing Hanford cleanup remain vacant since July 15 is unacceptable, said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., in a letter to President Obama this week. He also made his wishes clear in a separate letter to DOE on another key position that soon will be vacant, the federal project director for the Hanford vitrification plant. Ines Triay, the last DOE assistant secretary of environmental management, resigned from the position in July. It's the top position for DOE environmental cleanup with responsibility for an approximately $5 billion annual budget. David Huizenga was named to fill in as acting assistant secretary, but that expired after 210 days, the maximum time allowed by law. He's now serving as senior adviser for environmental management. "It's unacceptable that after nearly a year this administration has failed to even nominate a new leader for this program," Hastings said in the letter. "I request that an assistant secretary be nominated without further delay." No explanation has been given for the delay in nominating someone. Naming Huizenga a senior adviser does not provide the DOE environmental cleanup program with any level of certainty or sense of continuity, Hastings said. It also does not provide Huizenga with the authority and accountability needed to meet challenges in the DOE cleanup program, he said. "I believe that having an assistant secretary in place would help strengthen the environmental management program and put the federal government in a better position to meet its legal cleanup obligations," Hastings said.
In a letter to Huizenga, Hastings advised DOE headquarters to work closely with the DOE Hanford Office of River Protection manager to select a new federal project director. Dale Knutson has been on loan from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory since May 2010 to fill the position, but DOE does not plan to renew the contract when it expires at the end of the month. It plans to put a federal employee in the position. "I am hopeful that in determining the types of candidates to consider the department will seek to do everything possible to ensure continuity in this key position," he said. Hastings told Huizenga he is concerned that not having a federal project director in place as Bechtel National prepares a proposed new cost and schedule for the $12.2 billion vitrification plant would harm or delay the process. Hastings also reminded DOE that he inserted language into the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 saying DOE must notify Congress of any changes to the Office of River Protection responsibility or reporting structure. The law is clear that the Office of River Protection manager, now Scott Samuelson, is in charge of the vitrification plant and reports directly to the assistant secretary for environmental management, Hastings said. "Attempts to circumvent this law have resulted in confusion and uncertainty that are ultimately detrimental" to the vitrification plant project, he said. Shortly before Knutson was named project director, DOE changed the reporting structure for the position, giving the project director a direct line to officials at DOE headquarters, apparently catching Congress by surprise. The reporting structure was clarified three months ago to indicate that the manager of the Office of River Protection is responsible for the vit plant.
-- Annette Cary: 582-1533; acary@tricityherald.com; more Hanford news at hanfordnews.com
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Senate follows House with more questions about construction of Savannah River Site's MOX plant
By Rob Pavey, The
Augusta Chronicle, Ga. | 30 April 2012
April 30--U.S. Senate
budget writers followed their House counterparts this week with questions about
the rising costs of the mixed oxide fuel plant under construction at Savannah River Site.
In particular, the
projected annual cost of operating the facility -- after it is completed -- has
risen from $156 million to $499 million in just two budget years, according to
a new draft of the 2013 Senate Energy & Water Development Appropriations
bill.
The National Nuclear
Security Administration, an arm of the Energy Department that manages nuclear
weapons programs, "has failed to provide a sufficient justification for
this increase," the report said.
The $4.8 billion MOX
plant is the centerpiece of a plan to dispose of 34 metric tons of plutonium
from dismantled nuclear warheads by blending the material with uranium to make
commercial reactor fuel. The facility is 60 percent complete and scheduled to
open in 2016, with fuel production under way by 2018.The Senate
Appropriations Committee also wrote that it supports NNSA's proposal to abandon
plans for a standalone facility to disassemble plutonium "pits" from
surplus warheads but questioned the costs that went into planning a facility
that NNSA now says is not needed.
The Department of Energy's $12.2 Billion Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant – Quality Assurance Issues – Black Cell Vessels
The Office of Inspector General received allegations concerning aspects of the quality assurance
program at the Department of Energy's $12.2 billion Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant
(WTP) project in Hanford, Washington. The WTP is a key element in the Department's strategy
for remediating its significant legacy inventory of high-level nuclear waste.
RESULTS OF AUDIT
Our review substantiated the allegation. In short, we found that the Department had procured and installed vessels in WTP that did not always meet quality assurance and/or contract requirements. For the vessels that we reviewed, we identified multiple instances where quality assurance records were either missing or were not traceable to the specific area or part of the vessel. We also found that the Department paid the WTP contractor a $15 million incentive fee for production of a vessel that was later determined to be defective.
Read report here.
RESULTS OF AUDIT
Our review substantiated the allegation. In short, we found that the Department had procured and installed vessels in WTP that did not always meet quality assurance and/or contract requirements. For the vessels that we reviewed, we identified multiple instances where quality assurance records were either missing or were not traceable to the specific area or part of the vessel. We also found that the Department paid the WTP contractor a $15 million incentive fee for production of a vessel that was later determined to be defective.
Read report here.
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