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An internal U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) study details how managers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) shifted costs to understate total spending on the controversial National Ignition Facility (NIF) mega-laser. The previously secret document, released today by the nuclear watchdog group Tri-Valley CAREs, pegs the current hidden costs of NIF at $80 million annually. "Livermore Lab is systematically disguising the true costs of the NIF," charged Tri-Valley CAREs' executive director, Marylia Kelley. "When calculated over the life of the project, these hidden costs total more than $2 billion." Kelley continued, "This illegal scheme circumvents the United States Congress, which sets NIF's budget each year, and violates our nation's most basic federal contracting laws." According to the report by the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Field Financial Management (OFFM), Livermore Lab's practice of assigning NIF overhead expenses to other Lab programs violates Public Law 100-679 Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). This law is an integral part of the structure set up to regulate government contracts. Some of the NIF fee reductions date back to 2001. The OFFM investigators noted that the misleading cost accounting, "materially misstates the actual costs by LLNL for the NIF/National Ignition Campaign... and may result in an undercapitalization of the NIF/NIC's total project costs."

An internal U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) study details how managers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) shifted costs to understate total spending on the controversial National Ignition Facility (NIF) mega-laser. The previously secret document, released today by the nuclear watchdog group Tri-Valley CAREs, pegs the current hidden costs of NIF at $80 million annually. "Livermore Lab is systematically disguising the true costs of the NIF," charged Tri-Valley CAREs' executive director, Marylia Kelley. "When calculated over the life of the project, these hidden costs total more than $2 billion." Kelley continued, "This illegal scheme circumvents the United States Congress, which sets NIF's budget each year, and violates our nation's most basic federal contracting laws." According to the report by the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Field Financial Management (OFFM), Livermore Lab's practice of assigning NIF overhead expenses to other Lab programs violates Public Law 100-679 Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). This law is an integral part of the structure set up to regulate government contracts. Some of the NIF fee reductions date back to 2001. The OFFM investigators noted that the misleading cost accounting, "materially misstates the actual costs by LLNL for the NIF/National Ignition Campaign... and may result in an undercapitalization of the NIF/NIC's total project costs."

Work is under way at Hanford to prepare the first huge processing canyon in the Department of Energy's nationwide nuclear weapons complex for demolition. DOE approved a plan for demolishing U Plant in central Hanford in 2005, but then decided to focus its budget on environmental cleanup closest to the Columbia River first. But with $1.96 billion in federal economic stimulus money allocated to Hanford, DOE has been able to begin preparing U Plant to be torn down.

Work is under way at Hanford to prepare the first huge processing canyon in the Department of Energy's nationwide nuclear weapons complex for demolition. DOE approved a plan for demolishing U Plant in central Hanford in 2005, but then decided to focus its budget on environmental cleanup closest to the Columbia River first. But with $1.96 billion in federal economic stimulus money allocated to Hanford, DOE has been able to begin preparing U Plant to be torn down.

Despite Gov. Gary Herbert's 11th-hour plea to stop it, the first shipment of depleted uranium is expected to arrive in Utah before the end of December. The Department of Energy acknowledged it has received a letter from the governor in which he wrote it is "prudent that there be further study" before the radioactive material comes to Utah. Herbert wrote the letter Tuesday. In a statement Wednesday, the DOE said that after careful consultation with the Utah regulators, it has decided to prepare 14,500 drums of depleted uranium at its Savannah River site in South Carolina for shipment and disposal at EnergySolutions facility in Clive, Tooele County. The first of three planned rail shipments has left the site and will reach Utah in the next two weeks. The second and thirds shipments are slated for 2010, according DOE spokesman James R. Giusti.

Despite Gov. Gary Herbert's 11th-hour plea to stop it, the first shipment of depleted uranium is expected to arrive in Utah before the end of December. The Department of Energy acknowledged it has received a letter from the governor in which he wrote it is "prudent that there be further study" before the radioactive material comes to Utah. Herbert wrote the letter Tuesday. In a statement Wednesday, the DOE said that after careful consultation with the Utah regulators, it has decided to prepare 14,500 drums of depleted uranium at its Savannah River site in South Carolina for shipment and disposal at EnergySolutions facility in Clive, Tooele County. The first of three planned rail shipments has left the site and will reach Utah in the next two weeks. The second and thirds shipments are slated for 2010, according DOE spokesman James R. Giusti.

Department of Energy lawyers are forging ahead with their defense of a license application to build the nation's nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. They met a deadline last week for filing briefs on questions that Nevada's attorneys raised with a nuclear regulatory panel, which is tracking safety concerns about plans for turning the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, into a burial site for 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste. Most Popular Stories # Sahara closes two hotel towers due to low demand # Real estate analysts predict continued gloom for Las Vegas # CITYCENTER'S ARIA: THE CRESCENDO # Fatal pedestrian accident shuts down I-15 # Teen arrested in slaying of mother # NORM: Palms owner sees Gaga as Palms hit # NORM: Trump fires back about CityCenter # NORM: The Donald slams new megaresort # Armored truck heist nets $36,000 # Teacher arrested on sexual misconduct charges The briefs were filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board despite the Obama administration's stance that Yucca Mountain is no longer an option for a repository. An internal DOE memo that surfaced last month also stated, "All license defense activities will be terminated in December 2009." Nevada's top legal consultant, Marty Malsch, had hoped lawyers for the DOE would default by missing the deadline but was not surprised that didn't happen. "As things now stand, they are pursuing the license application by defending their position in the briefs they filed," he said Tuesday.

Department of Energy lawyers are forging ahead with their defense of a license application to build the nation's nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. They met a deadline last week for filing briefs on questions that Nevada's attorneys raised with a nuclear regulatory panel, which is tracking safety concerns about plans for turning the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, into a burial site for 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste. Most Popular Stories # Sahara closes two hotel towers due to low demand # Real estate analysts predict continued gloom for Las Vegas # CITYCENTER'S ARIA: THE CRESCENDO # Fatal pedestrian accident shuts down I-15 # Teen arrested in slaying of mother # NORM: Palms owner sees Gaga as Palms hit # NORM: Trump fires back about CityCenter # NORM: The Donald slams new megaresort # Armored truck heist nets $36,000 # Teacher arrested on sexual misconduct charges The briefs were filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board despite the Obama administration's stance that Yucca Mountain is no longer an option for a repository. An internal DOE memo that surfaced last month also stated, "All license defense activities will be terminated in December 2009." Nevada's top legal consultant, Marty Malsch, had hoped lawyers for the DOE would default by missing the deadline but was not surprised that didn't happen. "As things now stand, they are pursuing the license application by defending their position in the briefs they filed," he said Tuesday.

EnergySolutions, Inc. (NYSE: ES) announced today that $22.9 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding has been allocated to the Moab UMTRA project. The total amount of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for the Moab project is $108 million. The funding is being used to accelerate removal of uranium mill tailings away from the banks of the Colorado River. Thus far 160 jobs have been created this year as a result of Recovery Act funding. "We are thrilled that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has allocated sufficient funding to the Moab project to accelerate the cleanup of the site. This is great news for the community and for all who use the Colorado River and Lake Powell," said Steve Creamer, CEO and Chairman of EnergySolutions. The Recovery Act funding is being used to excavate, transport and dispose of additional mill tailings from the Moab site to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved disposal cell at Crescent Junction. This additional work began in June and will continue through September 2011. Additionally, this additional funding supports increasing the size of the disposal cell as well as crushing, transporting, and placing final rock cover on the disposal cell. This portion of the work began in August and continues through September 2011. Sixteen million tons of uranium mill tailings will eventually be relocated 30 miles north of Moab to a location designated by the DOE.

EnergySolutions, Inc. (NYSE: ES) announced today that $22.9 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding has been allocated to the Moab UMTRA project. The total amount of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for the Moab project is $108 million. The funding is being used to accelerate removal of uranium mill tailings away from the banks of the Colorado River. Thus far 160 jobs have been created this year as a result of Recovery Act funding. "We are thrilled that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has allocated sufficient funding to the Moab project to accelerate the cleanup of the site. This is great news for the community and for all who use the Colorado River and Lake Powell," said Steve Creamer, CEO and Chairman of EnergySolutions. The Recovery Act funding is being used to excavate, transport and dispose of additional mill tailings from the Moab site to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved disposal cell at Crescent Junction. This additional work began in June and will continue through September 2011. Additionally, this additional funding supports increasing the size of the disposal cell as well as crushing, transporting, and placing final rock cover on the disposal cell. This portion of the work began in August and continues through September 2011. Sixteen million tons of uranium mill tailings will eventually be relocated 30 miles north of Moab to a location designated by the DOE.

Hanford has completed shipping its leftover weapons-grade plutonium and unirradiated nuclear fuel to South Carolina, a major step toward reducing security requirements at the nuclear reservation. About 2,300 containers of material were shipped, most of them coffee-can-sized canisters of plutonium that had been stored at the Plutonium Finishing Plant. Shipments of the canisters ended in April. Since then, the Department of Energy has been shipping about a dozen packages of unirradiated fuel, with those shipments completed in September. DOE had set a goal to have the shipping done before the start of fiscal 2010, which began today. "It is a major accomplishment with a lot of effort by many people here at Hanford, a lot of effort by transportation crews and by the people at the Savannah River Site," said Geoff Tyree, a DOE Hanford spokesman.

Hanford has completed shipping its leftover weapons-grade plutonium and unirradiated nuclear fuel to South Carolina, a major step toward reducing security requirements at the nuclear reservation. About 2,300 containers of material were shipped, most of them coffee-can-sized canisters of plutonium that had been stored at the Plutonium Finishing Plant. Shipments of the canisters ended in April. Since then, the Department of Energy has been shipping about a dozen packages of unirradiated fuel, with those shipments completed in September. DOE had set a goal to have the shipping done before the start of fiscal 2010, which began today. "It is a major accomplishment with a lot of effort by many people here at Hanford, a lot of effort by transportation crews and by the people at the Savannah River Site," said Geoff Tyree, a DOE Hanford spokesman.

Though it is not in his congressional district, complaints have surfaced that House Majority Whip and 6th District Congressman James Clyburn is putting pressure on the Department of Energy that stimulus funds he acquired should benefit his interests. An anonymous complaint filed with the Department of Energy's Office of the Inspector General made many allegations of wrongdoing at the Savannah River Site. The whistleblower specifically outlined high-level DOE executives who the person said were using their positions to gain power and bolster their position within the department. Those same people, specifically Cynthia Anderson, DOE Environmental Management's (EM) head of the American Recovery Act Program, have allegedly demanded that Clyburn's district benefit from the funds and that his district should be the focus for events.

Though it is not in his congressional district, complaints have surfaced that House Majority Whip and 6th District Congressman James Clyburn is putting pressure on the Department of Energy that stimulus funds he acquired should benefit his interests. An anonymous complaint filed with the Department of Energy's Office of the Inspector General made many allegations of wrongdoing at the Savannah River Site. The whistleblower specifically outlined high-level DOE executives who the person said were using their positions to gain power and bolster their position within the department. Those same people, specifically Cynthia Anderson, DOE Environmental Management's (EM) head of the American Recovery Act Program, have allegedly demanded that Clyburn's district benefit from the funds and that his district should be the focus for events.

The government has removed 2/3 of the plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Livermore Lab, according to a recent Dept. of Energy press release. Tom D'Agostino, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, called it "real progress." We give it a more mixed review. For starters, the DOE does not plan to complete the removal of these bomb-making materials from Livermore Lab until the end of 2012, three years from now. We have called for their removal by 2010. Livermore Lab is vulnerable every day to a catastrophic release of these materials in the event of an earthquake or terrorist attack. The nearest fault zone lies less than 200 feet from the Lab.

The government has removed 2/3 of the plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Livermore Lab, according to a recent Dept. of Energy press release. Tom D'Agostino, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, called it "real progress." We give it a more mixed review. For starters, the DOE does not plan to complete the removal of these bomb-making materials from Livermore Lab until the end of 2012, three years from now. We have called for their removal by 2010. Livermore Lab is vulnerable every day to a catastrophic release of these materials in the event of an earthquake or terrorist attack. The nearest fault zone lies less than 200 feet from the Lab.

"How does a federal ruling finding that the Obama administration does not have the legal authority to abandon Nevada's Yucca Mountain waste site affect U.S. nuclear energy policy? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's board ruled last week that the administration does not have the legal right to withdraw its license for the proposed nuclear waste repository site. President Obama has already yanked funding for the site, and many aspects of the project are being ramped down. The Energy Department plans to appeal the commission's ruling. "

"US Department of Energy officials on Tuesday voiced their support for a wide range of energy-related bills in the Senate, but were at a loss to explain why a bill that would give the agency authority to sell uranium is needed. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee considered six bills that would encourage solar panel use (S. 3460), increase natural-gas-turbine research and development (S. 2900), improve energy efficiency at federal buildings (S. 3251), expand best practices for supply-chain efficiency (S. 3396), increase research and development of heavy-duty plug-in-hybrid trucks (S. 679) and a measure introduced by Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso (S. 3233) that would give authority to DOE to barter, sell or transfer surplus uranium. But Shane Johnson, the chief operating officer of DOE's office of nuclear energy said that the agency already has such authority and he does not believe the legislation is necessary. "

"EnergySolutions Inc., as the managing partner for Uranium Disposition Services (UDS), marked the commencement of the initial operation of the DUF6 Conversion Facility at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. EnergySolutions, working closely with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), took control of the project in 2007 to manage the operational reviews and construction, completing the project within budget and ahead of schedule. Working closely with AREVA NP Inc. and Burns and Roe Enterprises, the work involved managing the operational reviews and construction. The facilities will be used to convert DOE inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) into a stable form for beneficial use, re-use and/or disposal."

According to an Inspector General report released today, DOE sites have 2,635 unneeded weapons. The surplus was created by changing security requirements for the plants' protective forces in the years that followed 9/11, the report said. The IG audit said that DOE and NNSA are not always properly managing the inventories of surplus weapons and that the weapons -- valued at more than $2.8 million -- could be used by other agencies or law enforcement.

Record of Decision for the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement--Tritium Research and Development, Flight Test Operations, and Major Environmental Test Facilities AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy. [[Page 77657]] ACTION: Record of Decision. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a separately organized agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is issuing this Record of Decision (ROD) for the continued transformation of the nuclear weapons complex (Complex). This ROD is based on information and analyses contained in the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SPEIS) (DOE/EIS-0236-S4) issued on October 24, 2008 (73 FR 63460); comments received on the SPEIS; and other factors, including costs, technical and security considerations, and the missions of NNSA. The SPEIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts of alternatives for transforming the nuclear weapons complex into a smaller, more efficient enterprise that can respond to changing national security challenges and ensure the long-term safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile.

Record of Decision for the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement--Operations Involving Plutonium, Uranium, and the Assembly and Disassembly of Nuclear Weapons AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy. ACTION: Record of decision. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a separately organized agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is issuing this Record of Decision (ROD) for the continued transformation of the nuclear weapons complex (Complex). This ROD is based on information and analyses contained in the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SPEIS) (DOE/EIS-0236-S4) issued on October 24, 2008 (73 FR 63460); comments received on the SPEIS; other NEPA analyses as noted; and other factors, including cost, technical and security considerations, and the missions of NNSA. The SPEIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts of alternatives for transforming the nuclear weapons complex into a smaller, more efficient enterprise that can respond to changing national security challenges and ensure the long-term safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released its Report to Congress on the Demonstration of the Interim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel from Decommissioned Nuclear Power Reactor Sites (DOE/RW-0596, December 2008). The report was prepared pursuant to direction in the House Appropriations Committee Report that accompanied the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 that the Department develop a plan to take custody of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) currently stored at decommissioned reactor sites.

The U.S. Department of Energy didn't get a lot of community support Tuesday at a public hearing to discuss its Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Program. The program, referred to as GNEP, would, at its most basic level, allow for research and development of the recycling of spent nuclear fuel rods. At its most active level, the program could include advanced nuclear recycling using advanced recycling reactors. The meeting was conducted in Piketon, where a GNEP program could be implemented in the future. The DOE already owns land and has facilities that would be good for recycling, and is one of many DOE sites being considered.

The Department of Energy plans to fine Bechtel National $385,000 over repeated quality problems at Hanford's vitrification plant. The contractor designing and constructing the plant has had numerous opportunities to correct problems in the ordering and manufacturing of piping to be used in black cells, Martha Thompson, acting director of the DOE Office of Health, Safety and Security's Office of Enforcement, wrote in a letter to Bechtel on Wednesday. The largest portion of the fine, $220,000, will be for failing to improve quality. The remainder of the fine will cover problems related to the piping, such as what DOE found to be inadequate work procedures and design problems.

This Notice announces the Department of Energy (DOE) acceptance of claims in FY 2009 from eligible active uranium and thorium processing sites for reimbursement under Title X of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. For FY 2009, Congress has not completed the appropriation process for DOE, including funds for the reimbursement of certain costs of remedial action at these sites. If no funds are appropriated, the approved amount of claims submitted during FY 2008 and unpaid approved balances for claims submitted in prior years will be carried forward for payment in FY 2010, subject to the availability of funds. If FY 2009 funds are appropriated, and if the available funds are less than the total approved claims, these payments will be prorated based on the amount of available FY 2009 appropriations, unpaid approved claim balances (approximately $8.6 million), and claims received in May 2008 (approximately $34 million).

MarylandDoesn't Need a $10 Billion Radioactive Boondoggle, Groups Say WASHINGTON, D.C. - Four environmental organizations filed a legal challenge late Wednesday against the proposed Calvert Cliffs-3 atomic reactor before the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The filing, which is a formal petition to intervene in the NRC's licensing process, marks the latest action in an ongoing fight to stop the proposed reactor before construction starts. The challenge asserts that the Calvert Cliffs project runs afoul of laws and regulations that prohibit foreign ownership or domination of a U.S. reactor; that the company - UniStar Nuclear, a subsidiary of Constellation Energy and Electricite de France - does not have adequate assurance that it will have the funds necessary to decontaminate and decommission the facility; that the license application does not consider the cumulative effects of adding yet another nuclear reactor's radioactive and chemical discharges to a Chesapeake Bay already groaning under the effects of discharges from 11 atomic reactors; and that the proposed reactor does not have any place to put either its high-level or "low-level" radioactive waste.

Radioactive materials from nuclear weapons production sites are being dumped into regular landfills, and are available for recycling and resale. The Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) has tracked the Department of Energy's (DOE) release of radioactive scrap, concrete, equipment, asphalt, chemicals, soil, and more, to unaware and unprepared recipients such as landfills, commercial businesses, and recreation areas. Under the current system, the DOE releases contaminated materials directly, sells them at auctions or through exchanges, or sends the materials to processors who can release them from radioactive controls. The recycling of these materials-for reuse in the production of everyday household and personal items such as zippers, toys, furniture, and automobiles, or to build roads, schools, and playgrounds-is increasingly common. The NIRS report, "Out of Control on Purpose: DOE's Dispersal of Radioactive Waste into Landfills and Consumer Products," tracks the laws, methods, and justifications used by the DOE to expedite the mandatory cleanup of the environmental legacy being created by the nation's nuclear weapons program and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. One of the largest and most technically complex environmental cleanup programs in the world, the effort includes cleanup of 114 sites across the country to be completed by the end of 2008.