Cleanup Caucus Leaders Reflect on Progress, Partnerships in EM’s 30 Years

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As EM marks its 30-year anniversary this year, past and present congressional and DOE leaders recently gathered on Capitol Hill to discuss efforts to build on the cleanup program’s longstanding record of results.

EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Todd Shrader noted the critical role congressional support has played throughout the history of the cleanup program as he welcomed Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois, Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar, Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Melissa Burnison, and others to the event of the House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus.

During a panel discussion, former congressman Doc Hastings of Washington state shared his experience in 1995 as a newly-elected member of Congress representing the Hanford Site — the largest and most complex EM site — and described his work to create the caucus.

“It was immediately clear that the universe of those who cared deeply about EM was quite small,” Hastings said. “It was essential for the small group who did have a direct stake in EM to speak loudly and with one voice to ensure that EM overall received the stable resources and attention it needed.”

Hastings credited progress like the work along Hanford’s Columbia River Corridor with improving the perception of the cleanup and enabling wider recognition of the federal government’s ability to meet legal obligations to clean up legacy waste resulting from defense programs that helped end World War II and the Cold War.

Reps. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, and Dan Newhouse of Washington state are moving the caucus forward, providing bipartisan leadership and advocacy for safe, effective, and efficient cleanup of sites across the EM complex.

Fleischmann commended contractor teams at EM’s Oak Ridge site in Tennessee and across the complex for doing “exemplary” jobs, and noted that the Administration’s focus on cleanup makes it easier to garner support for the cleanup mission.

While noting that EM has successfully cleaned up all but 16 sites, Luján highlighted the need for developing smart technologies to deal with the tough challenges that remain.

Maria Korsnick, panel moderator and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, which organized the cleanup caucus event, concluded the panel by saying that performing cleanup work well has positive impacts on the broader nuclear field and efforts to increase nuclear power in the U.S.