Bechtel

The Department of Energy’s latest cost estimate for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., is $18.5 billion – excluding the cost of building and commissioning the High-Level Waste Facilities. The High-Level Waste Facilities at the mammoth plant, to vitrify tank waste into glass, could run another $14 […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office has asked Washington state for a permit change that could enable the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) to process up to 20% more tank waste. The feds said in a Wednesday press release they want to use grout to solidify some of the secondary waste generated at […]

ARLINGTON, VA –The Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) solidified 40,000 gallons of low-level radioactive tank waste into glass form and filled 26 canisters during the facility’s first quarter of operation at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. This is one of the chief takeaways from an Exchange Monitor conversation with Brian Hartman Wednesday Jan. […]

A Bechtel subsidiary received a $812 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for naval nuclear propulsion components by the Navy, according to the Jan. 21 contracts list on the Pentagon website. Bechtel Plant Machinery, based in Monroeville, Penn., is a prime contractor for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and is involved in many parts of the process for […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received fewer shipments of transuranic waste (TRU) in 2025 than it did during 2024, according to data from the facility’s public website. WIPP took in 33 shipments in December, to cap off the 2025 calendar year with 441 shipments, which is down from […]

Brandon Williams, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), will give the keynote speech at an event hosted by the House Nuclear Security Working Group, Bechtel and the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance Deterrence Center on the Capitol Wednesday. The Congressional Nuclear Security Working Group is chaired by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), whose district abuts […]

While old, an underground hoist at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico is not unsafe, according to managers of the transuranic waste disposal site. “While all the WIPP hoists are experiencing reliability issues due to age and obsolescence, these reliability issues do not present safety risks to employees,” DOE’s […]

As of Dec. 31, 2025, the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site had filled 26 containers with glass converted from some of the site’s less-radioactive tank waste. “DOE’s Hanford Site “has processed/poured 113 metric tons of glass,” a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Ecology, the state regulator, […]

As of Dec. 31, 2025, the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site had filled 26 containers with glass converted from some of the site’s less-radioactive tank waste. DOE’s Hanford Site “has processed/poured 113 metric tons of glass,” a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Ecology, the state regulator, […]

A Bechtel National company has landed a Department of Defense contract modification worth nearly $928 million for naval nuclear propulsion components, the Pentagon said last week. Bechtel Plant Machinery., Monroeville, Pa., was awarded the modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, according to a Dec. 19 summary of contract news from the Pentagon. About two-thirds […]

Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO) is receiving three additional years to manage and operate the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., DOE said early Wednesday. With the three-year extension, Salado will continue to run WIPP from Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2029, DOE said in a news release. […]

Over 20 containers of low-level radioactive sludge have now been solidified into a glass form at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, feds said this week. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said in a Tuesday news release that the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) built by Bechtel National recently reached […]

While much of the government was shut down, the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico stayed open and received 45 waste shipments in October based upon figures from DOE’s public website for the disposal site.  That’s a drop from the 61 shipments the plant received a month prior in September […]

While much of the government was shut down, the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico stayed open and received 45 waste shipments in October based upon figures from DOE’s public website for the disposal site.  That’s a drop from the 61 shipments the plant received a month prior in September […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., received 432 shipments of defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste during fiscal 2025, officials from DOE and its prime contractor said Thursday evening. In addition, WIPP’s management said the new ventilation system at the facility is working well and work continues normally, so far at […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), the Bechtel-led contractor team that oversees the Y-12 National Security Complex, is looking at office space near the facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. CNS recently took in expressions of interest (EOI) from potential suppliers of office space located within five to 20 miles of the Y-12 complex at the Department of […]

KNOXVILLE, TENN. – Several executives with Department of Energy prime contractors said Wednesday morning that workforce gaps will need to be filled if they plan to meet the growing demand for nuclear energy and services. Panelists from across the DOE nuclear complex told attendees at the Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association’s (ETEBA) Business Opportunities […]

KNOXVILLE, TENN. – Several executives with Department of Energy prime contractors said Wednesday morning that workforce gaps will need to be filled if they plan to meet the growing demand for nuclear energy and services. Panelists from across the DOE nuclear complex told attendees at the Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association’s (ETEBA) Business Opportunities […]

KNOXVILLE, TENN. – Several executives with Department of Energy prime contractors said Wednesday morning that workforce gaps will need to be filled if they plan to meet the growing demand for nuclear energy and services. Panelists from across the DOE nuclear complex told attendees at the Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association’s (ETEBA) Business Opportunities […]

The Department of Energy Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state has filled seven canisters with vitrified tank waste as of Friday Oct. 17, according to DOE. As of Friday morning, Oct. 17 at Hanford “7 containers were full, an 8th was almost complete, and the 9th was in the process […]

The Department of Energy Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state has filled seven canisters with vitrified tank waste as of Friday, according to DOE. As of Friday morning, Oct. 17 at Hanford “7 containers were full, an 8th was almost complete, and the 9th was in the process of being […]

Lawmakers from Washington state reacted this week to news that the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) has finally turned some of its less-radioactive tank waste in glass form for disposal at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. “It’s difficult to overstate how important this milestone is in the Hanford cleanup effort,” Washington Gov. Bob […]

The Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington is expected to start operations this week with only one melter in operation, an Oregon panel heard last week. The plant, designed to vitrify radioactive liquid tank waste into a glass-like solid, will start up this week operating only […]

Twenty-five years after the Department of Energy contracted Bechtel National to build a plant to vitrify radioactive sludge into a glass form, the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) began operation this week at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said Wednesday Hanford’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Facility (DFLAW) at WTP […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 61 shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste during September, marking its highest monthly total for the 2025 fiscal year and the calendar year thus far. Last month’s total is six more than the 55 shipments of TRU waste sent in August, and the […]

Twenty-five years after the Department of Energy contracted Bechtel National to build a plant to vitrify radioactive sludge into a glass form, the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) began operation this week at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said Wednesday Hanford’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Facility (DFLAW) at WTP […]

A public information meeting on work at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is scheduled for Thursday Nov. 6 at Southeast New Mexico College in Carlsbad. The meeting will start at 4 p.m. Mountain Time. The session will be available online and will be jointly conducted by DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office and […]

The Department of Energy acknowledged Thursday morning that the first liquid radioactive and chemical sludge from underground tanks at the Hanford Site is being transferred into the new Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) in Richland, Wash. “With radioactive tank waste now being transferred to Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant, the Low Activity Waste Facility hot […]

The state of Washington said Wednesday the Department of Energy has its final authorization to start turning radioactive tank waste into glass at the Hanford Site’s Low-Activity Waste Facility.  DOE faces an Oct. 15 deadline to begin operating the facility that state officials had recently feared the feds might walk away from.  The Washington state […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 55 waste shipments in August.  That’s slightly more than the 50 shipments sent to the facility in August 2024, and the 48 WIPP received in July. The figures are according to DOE’s public website for the underground salt mine disposal site.  Of […]