IDAHO FALLS, Idaho - The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) recently hosted the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL ) Nuclear Legislative Working Group (NLWG ) meeting, offering a tour of the site and facilities for lawmakers to discuss nuclear related legislation and engage with DOE and EM officials.
“I was pleased to not only present at the meeting, but to listen to the NLWG members’ discussion and answer questions about our 15 remaining cleanup sites," said EM External Affairs Director Stephen Clutter. He shared with the group glossy copies of the new EM Strategic Vision: 2023-2033, which offers a blueprint to the program’s anticipated accomplishments over the next decade that will protect the public and environment.
The group toured the INL Site over a day and a half, seeing firsthand cutting-edge technology and learning from the world’s leading experts in the energy and nuclear decommissioning field. The tour included visits to the Advanced Test Reactor, Transient Reactor Test Facility, Materials and Fuels Complex, Advanced Reactor Demonstration Panel, and Space Systems Building, concluding with a stop at INL’s Energy Systems Laboratory.
Meeting attendees listened to presentations and interacted with speakers and officials from INL, EM, DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Energy Institute, Nuclear Innovation Alliance, TerraPower, Electric Power Research Institute, City of Idaho Falls, Idaho Advanced Energy Consortium, and Idaho Department of Commerce. Also attending were legislators from Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
NLWG’s mission is to provide legislative members the opportunity to learn about the cleanup of federal nuclear weapons production and research facilities, transportation and storage of radioactive waste, and areas of interest related to nuclear energy that affect the United States. The working group is made up of legislators from select states appointed by state legislative leadership. They meet biannually at various DOE and commercial facilities across the country.
The working group is supported by funding from EM and NE. EM supports a number of institutionalized activities and relationships with various national intergovernmental organizations by means of grants and cooperative agreements. Other organizations supported by EM include Energy Communities Alliance, Environmental Council of States, National Association of Attorneys General, National Governors Association and State and Tribal Government Working Group (STGWG). NCSL coordinates and facilitates the interactions for DOE related to NLWG and STGWG.
“Stakeholder engagement is a priority for DOE," Clutter said. “Building relationships with legislators, as well as regulators and local communities, provides EM an opportunity for interaction that ultimately leads to better alignment on a shared vision for the future and common goals for success."
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management