Bechtel

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received at least 23 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during August, according to the public website. That’s far more than the seven received at the underground salt mine during August 2021. The increased number of shipments during the past month means the Waste Isolation […]

Discovery of radioactive contamination on a transuranic waste transportation container in August prompted the Department of Energy to pause certain work at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., a spokesperson said Friday. During maintenance on Aug. 24, a staffer spotted an “unexpected substance” near the bottom of the shipping container, a Waste Isolation […]

The Department of Energy Office of Enterprise Assessments is satisfied overall with safety programs Bechtel National is developing for a waste solidification plant aiming to start up late next year at the Hanford Site in Washington state, but says improvements are needed. One area the agency should address prior to startup of Direct-Feed-Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) […]

The Department of Energy Office of Enterprise Assessments is satisfied overall with safety programs Bechtel National is developing for a waste solidification plant aiming to start up late next year at the Hanford Site in Washington state, but says improvements are needed. One area the agency should address prior to startup of Direct-Feed-Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) […]

The Department of Energy says the Tank-Side Cesium Removal project at the Hanford Site in Washington state has now pretreated 380,000 gallons of low-level radioactive tank waste before entering its latest outage on July 20. More than 182,000 gallons of tank waste was treated in Batch 2, which began on June 18 and concluded July […]

The Department of Energy says the Tank-Side Cesium Removal project at the Hanford Site in Washington state has now pretreated 380,000 gallons of low-level radioactive tank waste before entering its latest outage on July 20. More than 182,000 gallons of tank waste was treated in Batch 2, which began on June 18 and concluded July […]

The highly-contaminated Hanford Site in Washington state accounted for over half the environmental liability for the entire Department of Energy, but opportunities exist for curbing increasing costs at the property, according to a congressional watchdog. In a new report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said DOE could save “tens of billions of dollars” by abandoning […]

A venture called Carlsbad Operations Alliance LLC has filed a bid protest with the Government Accountability Office challenging the Department of Energy’s selection of a Bechtel-led entity to serve as the next prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant A notice of the contract challenge dated Monday was filed online with the Government Accountability […]

A venture called Carlsbad Operations Alliance LLC has filed a bid protest with the Government Accountability Office challenging the Department of Energy’s selection of a Bechtel-led entity to serve as the next prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant A notice of the contract challenge dated Monday was filed online with the Government Accountability […]

The highly-contaminated Hanford Site in Washington state accounted for over half the environmental liability for the entire Department of Energy, but opportunities exist for curbing increasing costs at the property, according to a congressional watchdog. In a new report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said DOE could save “tens of billions of dollars” by abandoning […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board favors having a national lab study the risk of a potential hydrogen explosion at a high-level radioactive waste vitrification plant being built at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. In a document dated July 19, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), charged by Congress with […]

The inventory of defense-related transuranic waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico amounts to more than 3,300 containers, but most are not “ready to ship” to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office manager said last week. While the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) has 2,273 […]

National TRU Solutions, a joint venture led by Huntington Ingalls Industries, filed a bid protest Tuesday challenging the Department of Energy’s selection of a Bechtel entity for a contract worth up to $3 billion to operate the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. A notice of the TRU Solutions bid protest is posted on […]

National TRU Solutions, a joint venture evidently led by Huntington Ingalls Industries, filed a bid protest Tuesday challenging the Department of Energy’s selection of a Bechtel entity for a contract worth up to $3 billion to operate the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. A notice of the TRU Solutions bid protest is posted […]

A federal district judge in Eastern Washington this week approved an unopposed request allowing the Department of Energy another year-and-a-half to start solidifying certain radioactive tank waste into glass and other work for the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant. The ruling Tuesday by Senior U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson means DOE and contractor Bechtel […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 30 shipments of transuranic waste during June, making it one of the busiest disposal months since the COVID-19 pandemic reduced in-person operations at DOE nuclear sites in March 2020. Of the 30 shipments last month recorded on a Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) […]

A federal district judge in Eastern Washington this week approved an unopposed request allowing the Department of Energy another year-and-a-half to start solidifying certain radioactive tank waste into glass and other work for the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant. The ruling Tuesday by Senior U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson means DOE and contractor Bechtel […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 30 shipments of transuranic waste during June, making it one of the busiest disposal months since the COVID-19 pandemic reduced in-person operations at DOE nuclear sites in March 2020. Of the 30 shipments last month recorded on a Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management chose a Bechtel National-led joint venture to manage the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., starting as soon as October. As of Friday morning, none of the losing bidders had protested the award to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). One source said DOE’s debriefings to losing […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has selected a Bechtel National-led joint venture to manage the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., starting as soon as October. In a Monday afternoon press release, the federal agency announced the award of the potential 10-year, $3-billion contract to Reston, Va.,-based Tularosa Basin Range Services, […]

The House Appropriations Committee, which last week advanced a spending bill with about $7.9-billion in fiscal 2023 funds for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office, is still concerned about long-term remediation costs of the Hanford Site in Washington state. House appropriators remain antsy about the money and time needed to fully clean up the […]

While changes in a legally-binding consent decree allow the Department of Energy more time to start turning low-level radioactive tank waste into glass at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the agency’s goal is still to start the work by the end of 2023, the top fed at the property said Wednesday. While DOE has […]

While changes in a legally-binding consent decree allow the Department of Energy more time to start turning low-level radioactive tank waste into glass at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the agency’s goal is still to start the work by the end of 2023, the top fed at the property said Wednesday. While DOE has […]

While construction is essentially complete, serious challenges remain to starting up the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant by the end of 2023, according to the Government Accountability Office. The Department of Energy still estimates the direct-feed low-activity waste (DFLAW) portion of the plant will begin turning some liquid, radioactive tank waste into glass […]

While construction is essentially complete, hurdles remain to starting up the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant by the end of 2023, according to the Government Accountability Office. The Department of Energy still estimates the direct-feed low-activity waste (DFLAW) portion of the plant will begin turning some liquid, radioactive tank waste into glass logs […]

A House Armed Services Committee panel wants the Government Accountability Office to scrutinize quality assurance steps taken by the Depart of Energy’s $7.6-billion nuclear cleanup office, according to a House subcommittee draft  of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2023. The House Armed Services’ strategic forces , subcommittee chaired by Rep. Jim Cooper, (D-Tenn.) […]

A House Armed Services Committee panel wants the Government Accountability Office to scrutinize quality assurance steps taken by the Depart of Energy’s $7.6-billion nuclear cleanup office, according to a House subcommittee draft  of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2023. The House Armed Services’ strategic forces , subcommittee chaired by Rep. Jim Cooper, (D-Tenn.) […]

In a blow to Fluor and Amentum, the National Nuclear Security Administration this week canceled a potentially 10-year, $28-billion contract for a joint venture of the two companies to manage the agency’s main nuclear-weapon production sites. At the same time, the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency announced it would extend the Bechtel-led incumbent […]

Brian Vance, the top manager for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, told a National Academies panel Tuesday “time is our common enemy” in cleaning up the most contaminated property in the weapons complex. “Maximizing risk reduction per dollar,” is key to addressing the 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste […]

Experts will brief the public in May about the Department of Energy’s efforts to protect both Hanford workers and people nearby the site from a compound called acetonitrile: a toxic byproduct liquid radioactive waste treatment scheduled to begin by late 2023 at the former plutonium production site in Washington state. “Subject matter experts” will be […]