WASHINGTON, D.C. - DOE leaders discussed efforts to bring increased urgency to decision-making across the EM complex in an event for the House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus on Capitol Hill on Sept. 13.
Panelists included Acting EM Assistant Secretary Jim Owendoff; Roger Jarrell, Senior Advisor to the Energy Secretary for EM; Savannah River Operations Office Manager Jack Craig; and Ken Rueter, president of URS|CH2M Oak Ridge, EM’s contractor at the Oak Ridge Site. Rueter served as the panel’s moderator.
Drawing from his experiences touring EM’s Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge, and Portsmouth sites this past summer, Jarrell noted the diversity of EM’s sites, the cleanup progress he witnessed, and the desire of the sites and surrounding communities to execute the cleanup mission.
“These sites and communities want to get cleanup done and transition to a bright future," Jarrell said. “The Trump Administration is all about doing that."
Panelists discussed the recent 45-day review to enable timely and effective EM decision-making. Owendoff outlined EM’s work on the review to date, described his “bias toward action" approach, and laid out next steps, which involve engagement with regulators, Tribal nations, elected officials, stakeholders, and other cleanup partners before final decisions are reached.
“We owe to each one of these communities an obligation to clean those communities up," Owendoff said. “Where can we make the best decisions at each one of the sites? How can we be more effective, more efficient?"
Craig emphasized the importance of aligning as a team to achieve results.
“From my work going back to closed sites like Fernald and Mound, I know the power of alignment, the power of focus, and the power of a sense of urgency," Craig said. “When we can get that between headquarters, the field, our contractors, the regulators, and the communities, the job gets done."
Panelists also highlighted work planned under President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget request demonstrating a significant commitment to cleanup. The $6.5 billion request for EM is the highest in a decade and enables stable, steady cleanup progress, including continued deactivation and decommissioning progress at Portsmouth, an increase in shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, design for a mercury treatment facility at Oak Ridge, and progress on the Direct-Feed Low Activity Waste initiative, key to Hanford ’s tank waste mission.
The event was organized by the Nuclear Energy Institute. Led by Reps. Chuck Fleischmann (Tennessee) and Ben Luján (New Mexico), the bipartisan caucus serves to educate lawmakers about EM and advocate for cleanup in Congress.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
