ECA Update January 11, 2021

Image View this email in your browser ECA UPDATE Jan 11, 2021 FEATURED ENERGY COMMUNITIES ALLIANCE Building Nuclear Workforce Development Initiatives in Communities ECA Staff | 8/20/2019 SAVE THE DATE! ECA is hosting a webinar on Monday, January 25th from 12:00 PM to 3:15 PM EST. This webinar is the third in a series focused on outlining workforce development challenges across the DOE complex, what the current needs are, how best to prepare a workforce for the future, and how to apply lessons learned from successful workforce initiatives around the sites. This discussion will focus on how to work with DOE on existing and new workforce development goals, identifying the needs of small businesses engaged in environmental management missions, and feature a case study of how communities and contractors are successfully addressing workforce development in Oak Ridge, TN. Registration is free. Meeting details here>> REGISTER HERE Upcoming ECA Events Jan. 25, 2021 ECA Advancing Alliances: Building Nuclear Workforce Development Initiatives in Communities; Virtual Sept. 8-10, 2021 National Cleanup Workshop; Alexandria, VA Follow the latest DOE budget updates with ECA's budget tracker Image Monitor DOE spending bills, detailed site budgets, and more. Find everything you need to know about the DOE budget here! CLEANUP This way to treat Hanford radioactive waste could save $210 billion. But is it safe enough? Tri-City Herald | 1/7/2021 Grouting rather than glassifying a large amount of radioactive waste at the Hanford nuclear reservation could save taxpayers $73 billion to $210 billion, according to a new Department of Energy report. Turning millions of gallons of waste into a concrete-like grout form also could cut 10 years off the time needed to treat radioactive waste now stored in underground tanks and permanently dispose of it, the DOE report estimated. DOE recently submitted a report to Congress on potential opportunities for different ways to treat waste now held at Hanford and other DOE nuclear sites. Continue reading >> REACTOR DOE Announces Next Step in Micro-Reactor Development DOE | 1/8/2021 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the start of a 14-day public review and comment period on a draft environmental assessment for a proposal to construct the Microreactor Applications Research Validation & EvaLuation (MARVEL) project microreactor inside Idaho National Laboratory's (INL's) Transient Reactor Test Facility. The MARVEL design is a sodium-potassium-cooled, thermal microreactor with a power level of less than 100 kilowatts of electricity using High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU). "Nuclear energy has always been a reliable power source that doesn't emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere," said Idaho National Laboratory Director John Wagner. "MARVEL takes the next step. It will provide for prompt, small-scale demonstrations of several environmentally friendly technologies associated with advanced microreactors as well as larger reactors, which will benefit the nuclear energy industry and end-users." A Draft Environmental Assessment can be found here. Continue Reading >> Image IN OTHER NEWS OFFICE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY Office of Nuclear Energy Strategic Vision (DOE-NE, 1/8) SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL Feasibility of Borehole Co-Location with Advanced Reactors for Onsite Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel (EPRI, 12/18/2020) UPCOMING EVENTS Jan. 25, 2021 ECA Advancing Alliances: Building Nuclear Workforce Development Initiatives in Communities; Virtual Sept. 8-10, 2021 National Cleanup Workshop; Alexandria, VA ECA PUBLICATIONS Read about DOE's High Level Waste Interpretation Have questions about DOE’s recent high-level waste (HLW) interpretation? Download ECA’s Key Points and FAQs on the issue to better understand what ECA believes are the potential benefits of implementation. ECA's Key Points on DOE HLW Interpretation ECA's FAQs on DOE HLW Interpretation Interested in learning more? Read the ECA report “Making Informed Decisions on DOE's Proposed High Level Waste Definition” at www.energyca.org/publications ECA BULLETIN Stay Current on Activities in the DOE World Read the latest edition of the ECA Bulletin, a regular newsletter providing a detailed brief of ECA activities, legislative news, and major events from across the DOE complex. Have suggestions for future editions? Email bulletin@energyca.org. View current and previous editions of the ECA Bulletin at www.energyca.org/bulletin DOE SITE PROFILES Learn More about Cleanup Sites with ECA's DOE Site Profiles ECA's new site profiles detail DOE's 13 active Environmental Management cleanup sites and national laboratories, highlighting their history, missions, and priorities. The profiles are a key source for media, stakeholders, and the public to learn more about DOE site activities, contractors, advisory boards, and their surrounding local governments. Access your community's profile by visiting: www.energyca.org/site-profiles DOE Site Proflies Energy Communities Alliance 1625 Eye St., NW Suite 800 Washington DC 20006 USA