Bechtel

The Energy Department wants to move a lawsuit filed by environmental and anti-nuclear groups that aim to halt construction of new uranium enrichment facilities to a federal court in Tennessee, according to court papers filed last week. DOE wants the lawsuit over the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee moved […]

The Energy Department as of this week had yet to release a solicitation for the next 10-year contract to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico. DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) released a draft solicitation in July, which said the final solicitation for the next management and operations pact for […]

There is some surprise among Department of Energy contractors that the agency has not yet awarded a new contract for liquid waste management at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, an industry source said Wednesday. The major procurements summary from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, as of Aug. 11, projected the new contract would […]

The Energy Department wants to move a lawsuit filed by environmental and anti-nuclear groups that want to halt construction of new uranium enrichment facilities to a federal court in Tennessee, according to court papers filed last week. DOE wants the lawsuit over the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee […]

As has been expected, the Energy Department on Tuesday issued a six-month extension for the current contract for legacy nuclear cleanup operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The department said Tuesday that Los Alamos National Security, the lab’s management and operations contractor, would also remain its environmental management provider through March […]

The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) on Friday said it had filed an official notice of termination for the Cavendish Fluor Partnership’s contract to decommission the nation’s 12 Magnox reactor sites. The contract will now end on Aug. 31, 2019, nine years earlier than planned when it was awarded in 2014. Cavendish Fluor will […]

As has been expected, the Energy Department on Tuesday issued a six-month extension for the current contract for legacy nuclear cleanup operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The department said Tuesday that Los Alamos National Security, the lab’s management and operations contractor, would also remain its environmental management provider through March […]

A major environmental management contract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico is scheduled to expire Saturday, but don’t be surprised if the incumbent cleanup provider receives an extension to wind up an ongoing project. Los Alamos National Security (LANS), the laboratory’s management and operations prime, is at the tail end of […]

There was another criticality safety scare at the Los Alamos National Laboratory over the summer, the federal government’s independent defense-nuclear watchdog disclosed in a recent report. On Aug. 18, personnel at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Plutonium Facility moved a shell into an area that already contained plutonium, according to a report uploaded to the […]

The Energy Department would not agree to increase the fees it plans to pay the next management and operations contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), despite repeated complaints that they are too low to attract quality bidders. The agency also confirmed this week that Bechtel, senior industry partner on the troubled LANL prime […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to publish a master schedule for overhauling elements of its uranium program no sooner than Dec. 31, 2018, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. A cornerstone of that overhaul is the Uranium Production Facility (UPF) to be built at the Y-12 National Security Complex near […]

The University of California will seek new industry partners to chase a follow-on operations contract the Department of Energy expects to award next year for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, a university regent suggested Thursday. “As we go forward … we’re going to be bidding with a different group of private sector […]

The University of California on Wednesday made all but official what has until now been merely “likely”: that the longtime Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) manager plans to compete for the next contract to manage that critical Energy Department facility. “It is anticipated that Regents’ approval for the formal bid submission will be requested at […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to publish a master schedule for overhauling elements of its uranium program no sooner than Dec. 31, 2018, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. A cornerstone of that overhaul is the Uranium Production Facility (UPF) to be built at the Y-12 National Security Complex near Oak Ridge, […]

Congress this week passed a temporary spending bill that will keep the Department of Energy funded at 2017 levels for at least more than two months into the new fiscal year, setting up another holiday-season budget showdown on Capitol Hill. The House on Friday voted in favor of a Senate-approved plan of disaster relief and debt-ceiling […]

The University of New Mexico is the third institution to express interest in the next management and operations contract for the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a university official confirmed to Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor this week. “The University of New Mexico is very interested in the LANL Management and Operations contract competition,” Joseph Cecchi, senior adviser […]

Although the soon-to-be-retired Charles McMillan, director of the the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory now only through December, has two deputies, the order of succession at the northern New Mexico nuclear-weapon facility will officially remain a mystery at least until later this year. McMillan announced Tuesday he would step down in December after six years […]

SUMMERLIN, Nev. — The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is establishing a new unit that will focus on completing the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant, Roger Jarrell, senior adviser to the secretary of energy for environmental management, said Tuesday. Efforts are being made to streamline management decisions at EM, a roughly $6 billion-per-year […]

The Energy Department is likely to extend the nearly expired contract for environmental management services at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico ahead of awarding a new deal, an observer said Thursday. Lab management and operations prime Los Alamos National Security holds a two-year, $230 million “bridge” legacy nuclear cleanup contract that ends […]

Workers have cut the first of six planned holes in the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo, a nuclear waste storage facility at the United Kingdom’s Sellafield site, the U.K. National Decommissioning Authority announced Tuesday. The holes will be the means by which the waste material will be extracted from the silo on its way to permanent […]

The general manager of Waste Treatment Completion Co., the new subcontractor for the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, is on medical leave. Acting general manager Mike Costas is filling in for general manager Scott Oxenford. Costas previously served as the manager of functions for the Waste Treatment Plant, which included […]

Charles McMillan will retire as director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory on Dec. 31, the long-time lab hand told employees of the northern New Mexico weapons lab Tuesday. McMillan was appointed director of the weapons lab in 2011 by Los Alamos National Security: a consortium led by the University of California and industry partners. […]

It was a packed house at the Los Alamos National Laboratory this week, when the Energy Department hosted would-be bidders on a new, decade-spanning contract to manage and operate the nuclear weapons facility. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which is managing the forthcoming procurement for DOE, did not release an official headcount or attendees […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration said Thursday it is is pleased with the outcome of a federal operational readiness review (FORR) for the Transuranic Waste Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico, in which 12 of the 13 functional areas passed muster. “This was a successful review in the eyes of […]

At the prodding of a senior U.S. senator, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is working on a “thorough review” of its primary plutonium-pit production facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, a spokesman for the semiautonomous Energy Department agency said Tuesday. In early August, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) — after reading […]

Scott Gibbs is returning to the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico more than three years after retiring from a senior management position at the Department of Energy facility. Gibbs will be back at LANL on Sept. 5 as deputy director for mission assurance, lab spokesman Matthew Nerzig said by email Monday. Gibbs’ […]

At the prodding of a senior U.S. senator, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is working on a “thorough review” of its primary plutonium-pit production facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, a spokesman for the semiautonomous Energy Department agency said Tuesday. In early August, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) — after reading […]

Scott Gibbs is returning to the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico more than three years after retiring from a senior management position at the Department of Energy facility. Gibbs will be back at LANL on Sept. 5 as deputy director for mission assurance, lab spokesman Matthew Nerzig said by email Monday. Gibbs’ return is […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) is investigating unauthorized access to confidential information at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the internal DOE enforcement agent wrote in a letter to Y-12 prime contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS). The breach was identified on March 16, 2017, and CNS on July 27 reported […]

The University of Texas is exploring a bid to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory after receiving the green light Thursday from its Board of Regents. The regents approved bid preparations that could cost up to $4.5 million in a Thursday meeting at the University of Texas at Austin. The meeting happened only days after […]