Bechtel

The Uranium Processing Facility in Tennessee, a centrifuge in Texas, and the national heavy water inventory are among the management challenges the Department of Energy’s Inspector General’s Office foresees for the agency in fiscal 2018, according to a Nov. 27 special report. The Inspector General’s (IG) Office fretted that DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

Controlling the costs of multibillion-dollar Cold War cleanup projects remains a struggle for the Energy Department and its Office of Environmental Management, the DOE Office of inspector General said in a Nov. 27 special report. In the report, the Inspector General’s Office analyzed management challenges facing the department and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration […]

The Washington state Department of Ecology has slated a Dec. 7 public meeting on changes to the dangerous waste permit sought by contractor Bechtel National for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) being built at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. Bechtel is seeking a Class 2 modification to its existing permit from the […]

Terry Wallace will become director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory effective Jan. 1, replacing Charles McMillan, the lab announced Tuesday. Wallace is a stopgap director who will serve only about nine months at the helm Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) before a new management contractor — and a new director — steps in. That […]

AECOM does not plan to be part of the next Los Alamos National Laboratory management team, a source said Thursday. The Los Angeles-based engineering services giant is one of the junior industry partners on Los Alamos National Security (LANS): the incumbent lab prime now managing the the roughly 70-year-old nuclear-weapons facility under a contract worth […]

The Washington Department of Ecology has slated a Dec. 7 public meeting on proposed changes to the Dangerous Waste Permit being sought by contractor Bechtel National for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) being built at the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash. The Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) and Bechtel are […]

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality said Tuesday that it is seeking comment on a revised air quality permit for the Idaho National Laboratory. The proposed air quality permit to construct (PTC) will govern emissions from the sprawling national laboratory overseen by the Department of Energy. Chiefly, this permit consolidates some existing air permits for […]

The company that has run the Los Alamos National Laboratory for a decade will split up, with members of the incumbent manager set to pursue separate bids to run the nuclear weapons lab for the next 10 years, a University of California official said Wednesday. The University of California (UC) managed the Los Alamos National […]

Workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state on Monday completed filling with grout the PUREX Plant tunnel that was discovered partially collapsed on May 9. The tunnel holds eight railcars loaded with highly radioactively contaminated equipment from the shuttered plutonium extraction plant. “Since a portion of the tunnel’s roof collapsed last […]

The U.S. Department of Energy is seeking partial dismissal of two protests filed with the Government Accountability Office by losing bidders for the recently awarded $4.7 billion contract for liquid waste management at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The Energy Department on Oct. 12 awarded the new work to Savannah River EcoManagement, a […]

AECOM management said Monday the company remains a major player in cleaning up the U.S. Department of Energy’s nuclear complex and believes it has a real chance of overturning the recent loss of the $4.7 billion contract for liquid waste management at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. “We still consider the Savannah River […]

CH2M shareholders are scheduled to vote Dec. 13 on the company’s proposed buyout by Jacobs Engineering, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The shareholder meeting will be held at company headquarters in Englewood, Colo., CH2M said in a Nov. 13 10-Q filing. Stockholder approval is one of the final […]

The Hanford Advisory Board is calling for the Department of Energy to ramp up to $4 billion in annual spending for cleanup of the Hanford Site in Washington state, despite DOE officials saying that will not happen. A combination of operating the Waste Treatment Plant starting within a half-decade while construction continues on parts of […]

The Environmental Protection Agency is considering relocating its program manager for the Energy Department’s Hanford Site away from the nearby city of Richland. Acting program manager Laura Buelow told the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB) last week that a decision on potentially basing the manager on the other side of Washington state in Seattle would be […]

No decisions were made about possible ways to speed up certain cleanup operations at the Hanford Site during a meeting Nov. 9 between top officials from the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management and the Washington state Department of Ecology. Acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) James Owendoff met with Ecology Department Director […]

The company that has run the Los Alamos National Laboratory for a decade will split up, with members of the incumbent manager set to pursue separate bids to run the nuclear weapons lab for the next 10 years, a University of California official said Wednesday. The University of California (UC) managed the Los Alamos National […]

No decisions were made about possible ways to speed up certain cleanup operations at the Hanford Site during a meeting Thursday between top officials from the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management and the Washington state Department of Ecology. Acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) James Owendoff met with Ecology Department Director Maia […]

The Department of Energy has picked Delmar Noyes as the assistant manager for Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant startup, commissioning, and integration, effective Nov. 12. He will support integration of the waste storage tank farm and the Waste Treatment Plant to assure close coordination during startup and commissioning of Hanford’s tank waste treatment facilities and […]

Acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) James Owendoff was scheduled to meet with Washington state Department of Ecology Director Maia Bellon on Thursday, at least in part to discuss ideas about speeding up progress on construction of the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site, a state official confirmed. The visit follows […]

The U.S. Energy Department confirmed Tuesday that the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has finished treating 60 potentially combustible containers of radioactive waste, ending ahead of the latest targeted date and setting the stage for the next phase of nitrate salt processing. The drums contained a mix of nitrate salts and organic kitty […]

The Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state has for the first time shipped tank waste off-site for treatment and disposal. Three gallons of low-activity radioactive waste were sent in October to a nearby Perma-Fix Environmental Services facility to be grouted. It is then expected to be sent for disposal at the Waste Control Specialists […]

If it holds up under protest, the $4.7 billion contract for liquid waste management at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina will provide BWX Technologies with one of its bigger wins as a prime contractor in recent years, executives said during a quarterly call on Tuesday. But management said it would […]

More days have passed than remain in astronomical autumn, which means Los Alamos National Security could soon announce the interim Los Alamos National Laboratory director who will replace the retiring Charles McMillan and run the site until the company’s contract expires Sept. 30, 2018. McMillan, who has led Los Alamos National Laboratory for about six […]

If it holds up under protest, the $4.7 billion contract for liquid waste management at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina will provide BWX Technologies with one of its bigger wins as a prime contractor in recent years, executives said during a quarterly call on Tuesday. But management said it would […]

The U.S. Energy Department confirmed Tuesday that the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has finished treating 60 potentially combustible containers of radioactive waste, ending ahead of the latest targeted date and setting the stage for the next phase of nitrate salt processing. The drums contained a mix of remediated nitrate salts and organic […]

Third-quarter earnings for Virginia-based BWX Technologies showed big gains in both revenue and earnings per share compared to the same period a year ago. In an earnings release after market close on Monday, the Department of Energy contractor reported third-quarter 2017 revenue of $419 million, a 10.5 percent increase from $380 million in the third […]

BWX Technologies is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings after market close on Monday, then follow the financial report with management’s earnings call with analysts at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The Lynchburg, Va.-based nuclear parts and fuel specialist, one of the major players in the Department of Energy complex, reported revenue of $410 million and diluted […]

While would-be bidders mull over the Department of Energy’s request for proposals to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the next decade, a community representative is cautiously breathing a sigh of relief that the agency has made some concession to the local businesses for which the lab is lifeblood. The final solicitation was “surprising […]

Three workers and two rooms were radioactively contaminated after a botched maintenance job on a glove box at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility, the Department of Energy and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said. It was the latest in a series of safety snafus at Los Alamos to come to light during […]

Water leaked into a plutonium pit-storage area at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, after an August thunderstorm, the Department of Energy disclosed this month. On Aug. 13 and 14, thunderstorms dumped about 2 inches of rain on the north Texas city, according to data compiled by the National Weather Service. During the storm, “rain […]