Bechtel

David Campbell is leaving Bechtel National for a senior management position at competitor Veolia Nuclear Solutions, Bechtel confirmed Wednesday. Campbell, who had been with Bechtel since 2012, was most recently the company’s vice president for marketing and business development. His last day at Bechtel, where he focused on environmental cleanup and nuclear security, is Feb. […]

The first three technical issues that have prevented construction on key parts of the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant since 2012 have been resolved, according to the Department of Energy. Work continues on five additional technical issues identified after then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu directed an in-depth look that year at possible problems at the plant. […]

David Campbell is leaving Bechtel National for a senior management position at competitor Veolia Nuclear Solutions, Bechtel confirmed Wednesday. Campbell, who had been with Bechtel since 2012, was most recently the company’s vice president for marketing and business development. His last day at Bechtel is Feb. 24, a company spokesperson said. Campbell will lead business development for Veolia’s nuclear segment, […]

The Savannah River Site’s main waste processing facility will be offline for much of the year to allow for replacement of a key component. The Energy Department said on Feb. 3 that site liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR) is preparing to replace a melter in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), which converts […]

The bench trial for the Hanford Site worker vapor protection lawsuit brought by Washington state and other plaintiffs will be postponed until March 5, 2018, Judge Thomas Rice ruled Monday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington. The plaintiffs and defendants jointly requested the trial be delayed more than four months from Oct. 30, 2017, […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is seeking approval from agency headquarters to redirect money not needed for salt waste work toward other liquid waste missions. The DOE facility in South Carolina, like the rest of the federal government, is currently being funded at fiscal 2016-enacted levels under a budgetary continuing resolution that expires […]

A key Savannah River Site (SRS) waste treatment facility returned to operations last month after a three-month scheduled outage to address equipment concerns. The Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) receives low-radioactive salt solution that has been separated from radioactive sludge. That pre-separation material is stored together in more than 40 liquid waste tanks, which in total hold about […]

  The Hanford Site’s Office of River Protection has obtained samples of glass up to 2,000 years old to help it learn more about how the substance ages as the Department of Energy facility prepares to vitrify, or glassify, tank waste. The ancient glass is being studied to predict how glassified waste might age over […]

A key Savannah River Site (SRS) waste treatment facility returned to operations last month after a three-month scheduled outage to address equipment concerns. The Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) receives low-radioactive salt solution that has been separated from radioactive sludge. That pre-separation material is stored together in more than 40 liquid waste tanks, which in total hold about 35 […]

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up to date on news affecting Department of Energy […]

The Savannah River Site liquid waste tank farms hold less than 35 million gallons of waste for the first time since 1999, according to a Jan. 9 Facebook post from Savannah River Remediation (SRR), the Department of Energy facility’s liquid waste contractor. Since taking over the contract in 2009, SRR’s goal has been to rid the […]

LANS Earns 90% of FY16 Fee for Lab Cleanup Contract By Chris Schneidmiller Los Alamos National Security earned 90 percent of available fees in fiscal 2016 for its bridge contract for legacy cleanup operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to the latest performance scorecard from the Department of Energy’s Office […]

Bechtel National and its primary subcontractor, AECOM, have created a new company for on-site work at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant (WTP). Bechtel National remains the prime contractor for the WTP project and has total responsibility for delivering the vitrification plant to the Department of Energy, said Peggy McCullough, the company’s project director, in […]

The Savannah River Site’s liquid waste contractor earned 94 percent, $23.2 million out of a possible $24.6 million, of its performance award and incentive fees for fiscal 2016. On the recently released performance scorecard, the Department of Energy highlighted Savannah River Remediation’s (SRR) response in February to a leak in an evaporator pot, which slowed […]

  The Department of Energy said it has made significant progress in resolving technical issues that have slowed progress on construction of the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant since 2012. DOE’s Office of River Protection has sent letters describing resolution of three of the eight technical issues to the agency headquarters, where they are being […]

A waste disposal project at the Savannah River Site took another step forward recently when the facility’s liquid waste contractor conducted a successful leak tightness test for Saltstone Disposal Unit 6 (SDU 6). SDU 6 is the first 30-million gallon, megavolume salt waste disposal concrete unit constructed at the Department of Energy site in South […]

The management and operations contractor for two key U.S. nuclear arms sites improved its performance significantly in fiscal 2016, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration. However, Consolidated Nuclear Security will need to take another step forward to ensure it stays on the job past the initial term of its contract. CNS has since July […]

The Energy Department may assess civil penalties against contractors that retaliate against whistleblowers within their ranks, under a new agency rule that goes into effect Jan. 26. The agency released a summary of the final rule last week in the Federal Register. Senate Democrats from Washington state and Oregon, major stakeholders in the cleanup of the Hanford […]

The Savannah River Site’s security contractor earned $5.66 million out of a possible $5.92 million, or 95.5 percent, of its performance award fee for fiscal 2016. The Department of Energy highlighted Centerra-Savannah River Site’s efforts in keeping employees safe and cutting costs in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30. Contractors earn award fees each year by […]

A new $3 billion modification for the Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant project makes clear the Energy Department and contractor Bechtel National intend to meet their 2022 schedule for beginning liquid-waste treatment, without closing the door on a legally authorized delay into 2023. For years, Bechtel and DOE have said the facility the company is building […]

The Savannah River Site’s security contractor earned $5.66 million out of a possible $5.92 million, or 95.5 percent, of its performance award fee for fiscal 2016. The Department of Energy highlighted Centerra-Savannah River Site’s efforts in keeping employees safe and cutting costs in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30. Contractors earn award fees each year by […]

Bechtel National can at last start work that could allow the Waste Treatment Plant it is building to by 2022 start processing 56 million gallons of Cold War-era liquid waste stored at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Energy Department announced late Friday. The update came in the form of a contract modification DOE and its […]

Bechtel National defended its progress on construction of the crucial Waste Treatment Plant at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state following a Tuesday Twitter strike from a local nuclear watchdog. The sharply critical Hanford Challenge on Tuesday chided Bechtel for earning a “failing grade” on its work on the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) in […]

An Energy Department contractor was expected to begin a review Thursday that would pave the way for removing the last 14 vertical pipe units from the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash., an agency official said Wednesday. Most of the 90 pipes, which were filled with radioactive wastes in the 1950s and 60s, have been yanked out […]

The Washington state Ecology Department on Monday opened a 60-day public comment period for locals to weigh in on a permit modification Bechtel National and the Energy Department need to start treating radioactive waste at the Hanford Site as soon as 2022. If granted, the modification will smooth the way for Bechtel, prime contractor on the […]

Energy Department contractors Bechtel and AECOM will pay a combined $125 million to settle allegations that they spent federal dollars on non-nuclear-certified parts and services for the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the U.S. Justice Department announced late Nov. 23. Bechtel’s payment also covers claims that it improperly used federal funds for lobbying purposes. […]

The Washington state Ecology Department on Monday opened a 60-day public comment period for locals to weigh in on a permit modification Bechtel National and the Energy Department need to start treating radioactive waste at the Hanford Site as soon as 2022. If granted, the modification will smooth the way for Bechtel, prime contractor on the […]

Energy Department contractors Bechtel and AECOM will pay a combined $125 million to settle allegations that they spent federal dollars on non-nuclear-certified parts and services for the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the U.S. Justice Department announced late Wednesday. Bechtel’s fine also covers claims that it improperly used federal funds for lobbying purposes.  […]

The Energy Department expects this year to finalize contract modifications necessary to begin treatment of the Hanford Site’s liquid waste by 2022, according to a monthly report filed with regulators in Washington state and Oregon. Negotiations with contractor Bechtel National “have been ongoing and are expected to be completed by the end of the calendar […]

The last major piece of equipment for the Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant’s Low-Activity Waste Facility arrived this week and was placed in the plant. The facility over the summer received two of the three major components of melter off-gas system. The final component of the system to arrive was the caustic scrubber manufactured by […]