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House Could Withhold DHS Funds While Waiting for Chemical Security Report

May 16, 2013 House appropriators are looking to withhold $20 million in fiscal 2014 funds from the Homeland Security Department until it delivers a spending plan and progress report for its beleaguered chemical security program. A spending bill released on Tuesday by the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee allocates $77.1 million for the DHS ...

EPA Nominee Declines Comment on Controversial Nuclear Incident Guide

April 11, 2013 The Obama administration’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency declined on Thursday to answer questions about a controversial new guide that suggests public health standards could be relaxed dramatically in the event of a nuclear attack or accident. Asked to comment on concerns that the guide references drinking water ...

EPA Relaxes Public Health Guidelines For Radiological Attacks, Accidents

April 9, 2013 After years of internal deliberation and controversy, the Obama administration has issued a document suggesting that when dealing with the aftermath of an accident or attack involving radioactive materials, public health guidelines can be made thousands of times less stringent than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would normally allow. ...

Watchdog Groups Blast White House-Backed Nuclear Cleanup Study

April 5, 2013 Following scathing criticism from watchdog organizations, officials preparing a controversial report on nuclear incident cleanup reportedly backed by the White House have opted to extend public comment on the document by nearly two weeks. Commissioned by the Homeland Security Department, the draft report suggests remediation guidelines in which up to ...

White House Advances Controversial Nuclear Incident Response Guide

April 2, 2013 The White House has cleared the way for a controversial guide on responding to nuclear incidents that is expected to relax long-held cleanup standards, prompting watchdog groups to call for Senate scrutiny of the matter during hearings on Gina McCarthy's nomination to become the next Environmental Protection Agency administrator. The ...

White House Supports Rollback of Cleanup Standards for Nuclear Incidents

March 27, 2013 WASHINGTON – The White House has endorsed a plan to relax long-held standards for cleaning up radioactive material released by a nuclear power plant disaster or act of terrorism, a group of federal officials say in a new draft report. As expected, the recently completed draft report on radiation remediation ...

from govexec

NNSA Defends Contract Extensions but Congressional Scrutiny Expected

March 12, 2013 The National Nuclear Security Administration is defending itself against charges that it renewed lucrative deals for undeserving contractors, but the issue is likely to come up at congressional oversight hearings in the coming months, sources say. The semiautonomous Energy Department agency’s Fiscal 2012 Performance Evaluation Reports, released on March 1, ...

NRC: New Nuclear Plant Safety Measures Not Premature But Final Decision Pending

March 11, 2013 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected the notion that it is not ready to decide whether aging atomic power plants need to make upgrades intended to limit radiation releases during a major crisis, but its ultimate action on the matter is not yet clear. In the wake of the 2011 ...

Energy Officials Are Divided Over Nuclear Agency's Future

March 1, 2013 Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman told lawmakers on Thursday that he and other top DOE officials reject a suggestion from the department’s top security official that it might be prudent to dissolve the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration in the wake of last year’s highly publicized break-in at the Y-12 ...

from govexec

Decision on NNSA Furloughs Likely Within First Month of Sequester

March 1, 2013 Acting National Nuclear Security Administration chief Neile Miller said on Thursday it might take one month before it becomes clear whether agency employees will have to be furloughed as a result of the federal budget sequester expected to take effect on Friday. In a Thursday memo to NNSA employees, Miller ...