President Donald Trump on Thursday said he plans to nominate Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes to take over as deputy secretary for the Department of Energy.
Menezes would succeed Dan Brouillette, who in December was confirmed and sworn in as secretary of energy. The nomination for the No. 2 spot at DOE had not been filed at deadline Friday.
Menezes was confirmed by the Senate in November 2017 as undersecretary, through which he is lead adviser to DOE on energy policy and emerging energy technologies. He previously worked in the public and private sectors, including as an executive at Berkshire Hathaway Energy and as chief counsel for energy and environment at the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Before Berkshire Hathaway, Menezes was also a partner at the Hunton & Williams law firm, where he headed the regulated markets and energy infrastructure practice group.
Brouillette in January elevated Menezes’ role at the Energy Department, giving him authority as undersecretary to make decisions in agency operations in all areas except for the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). That covered human capital, cybersecurity, property, and other matters.
Brouillette, a Louisiana native, is said to be close to Menezes, who is a graduate of Louisiana State University (LSU). There was no immediate work on who might be tapped to succeed Menezes as undersecretary.
During a September hearing before a Senate subcommittee, Menezes urged Congress to move ahead with some form of nuclear waste disposal program. The Energy Department is legally required to dispose of the material under Yucca Mountain, Nev., but for a decade has not received any funding to license, build, and then open the repository. The Trump administration tried in three successive budgets to persuade lawmakers to provide money to resume licensing, with no success. For the upcoming fiscal 2021 it has abandoned that effort, instead seeking money to advance interim storage of used fuel from nuclear power plants.
The New Mexico House of Representatives is considering a measure that would express its opposition to plans for a facility in the state intended to temporarily store spent reactor fuel from nuclear power plants around the nation.
The House Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 3 approved House Memorial 21, sponsored by panel Chairman Matthew McQueen, a Democrat from Santa Fe. The memorial is now waiting on action on the House floor.
The measure carries only the resolve “that the house of representatives oppose the transportation of high-level radioactive waste to, and storage in, New Mexico.” If passed, copies of the memorial would be distributed to New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), the state’s delegation to Congress, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, and Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal.
Holtec International, an energy technology company based in Camden, N.J., has applied for a 40-year federal license for storage of up to 8,680 metric tons of spent fuel in Lea County, N.M. With additional approvals from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the facility could operate for up to 120 years and hold in excess of 100,000 metric tons of radioactive waste.
The consolidated interim storage site, along with a smaller facility planned by another corporate team in West Texas, could enable the Department of Energy to meet its legal mandate to remove spent fuel from power plants in the absence of a permanent repository.
The Grisham administration has vehemently opposed the project, citing potential dangers to the state environment and economy. Its concerns are cited directly in McQueen’s memorial.
Given the absence of a federal repository, “temporary” storage could turn into permanent disposal in New Mexico, according to the legislator.
The state receives over $5 billion in annual revenue from its industrial, agricultural, ranching, and oil and gas sectors, the memorial says. These “could be negatively affected by the proposed facility, including that high-level radioactive waste could threaten the land values and marketability of those products.”
“It’s amazing how something that temporary pretty much becomes permanent. I believe New Mexico should not be the nation’s nuclear waste dumping ground,” McQueen said during a recent hearing, according to the Carlsbad Current-Argus. “The Holtec company is talking about a big investment in the area, I get that. And there will be temporary jobs and investment and all the ancillary benefits.”
The Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, a coalition of four cities and counties in southeastern New Mexico, provided the land for the Holtec facility. The organization says the facility would bring more than 200 jobs and a $2.4 billion capital investment to the region.
“What concerns us is that many of the comments and assertions in this memorial are not accurate. They’re not scientifically based. They’re for the most part hyperbole,” ELEA Chairman John Heaton said during the hearing, the Current-Argus reported.
The New Mexico Senate is separately considering legislation from Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D) to enhance the state’s Radioactive Waste Consultation Task Force responsibilities to include oversight of commercial spent nuclear fuel storage.
From The Wires
From the Australian Associated Press: Australian Parliament considering bills on land acquisition and funding for radioactive waste repository in South Australia.
From World Nuclear News: Norway picks partners for development of repository for waste from two retired research reactors.
