NEI hosts nuclear cleanup caucus, sets priorities

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) co-sponsored a meeting of the House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus in order to facilitate progress in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) program to cleanup legacy sites, they announced on Oct. 8.

According to the NEI, the DOE Office of Environmental Management has been successful in completing decontamination and cleaning of 91 sites out of a total of 107 facilities. These are facilities that played a role in federal nuclear research in security, energy and production of nuclear materials, many of them in operation since the beginning of the Manhattan Project. The remaining sites consist of large and complex facilities across 11 states.

The NEI reports that approximately 140 attendees were present for this meeting and consisted of representatives from the federal government, local communities impacted by the cleanup operations and from the nuclear supplier community.

During this meeting a panel discussion was held and they went in detail about the best course of action in the procurement of competition from bidders and to actively engage with the local community partners in relation to each site. They also discussed ways to encourage research and development investment.

The panel consisted of: Kennewick, Washington Mayor Steve Young; DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Monica Regalbuto; Senior Vice President for Government Operations of Fluor Corp. Greg Meyer; and Principal at Energy Perspectives LLC Merle Sykes.