Hanford Site
A DOE-EM site in Washington state and the nation’s largest nuclear cleanup project, home to millions of gallons of high-level radioactive tank waste and the Waste Treatment Plant built to vitrify it.
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Contracts & Procurement
Fluor reports quarterly earnings uptick; touts weapons complex foothold
Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the second quarter, which the global engineering company with a big footprint in the Department of Energy, attributed to long-term government and commercial contracts, according to a Friday press release. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $169 million, or $0.97 a share, up from […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Two VPs at Leidos-led Hanford contractor call it a career
Two vice presidents at a Leidos-led joint venture in charge of overseeing workaday operations at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site are retiring. In a post last week on LinkedIn, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) said two executives, each with more than 35 years of experience at the former plutonium production site, are retiring. Darci […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Washington Ecology to take comments on vapor control research technology
The Washington state Department of Ecology plans to start taking public comment later this summer on a research and development permit application for a technology to reduce hazardous tank waste vapors at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. On Friday July 26 the state agency emailed out a 30-day notice of public comment on a […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
GAO urges greater scrutiny of major DOE cleanup infrastructure projects
The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup office needs better oversight of contractors doing big, expensive infrastructure projects, according to a federal audit released Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wants DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) to better monitor performance “and hold contractors accountable,” according to the new report. “GAO reviewed five selected EM […]
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Contracts & Procurement
HMIS seeks building space sub at Hanford Site
The Leidos-led landlord contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is shopping for a subcontractor to provide office and warehouse space at the former plutonium production site. Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) on Tuesday put out a request for proposals on an Information Management Field Support Services Replacement Facility at the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Two VPs at Leidos-led Hanford contractor call it a career
Two vice presidents at a Leidos-led joint venture in charge of overseeing workaday operations at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site are retiring. In a post last week on LinkedIn, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) said two executives, each with more than 35 years of experience at the former plutonium production site, are retiring. Darci […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Washington Ecology to take comments on vapor control research technology
The Washington state Department of Ecology plans to start taking public comment later this summer on a research and development permit application for a technology to reduce hazardous tank waste vapors at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. On Friday the state agency emailed out a 30-day notice of public comment on a Phase 3 […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: WRPS starts more tank work; NNSA boss says LANL growth peaked; plaintiff serves Sandia in defamation case; more
An Amentum-led Department of Energy contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state is starting to remove radioactive waste from single-shell Tank A-101 and transfer it to a newer double-shell tank, DOE said in a Tuesday press release. Removal began of the 325,000 gallons of radioactive and chemical waste in Hanford’s A Tank Farm a […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE looks to Hecate to develop large Hanford solar project
Hecate Energy, Chicago, was selected as the developer of up to 1,000 megawatts of solar power at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, DOE said Thursday. Hecate will now enter into realty negotiations with DOE for the right to develop the solar power project within 8,000 acres of buffer area at the […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Losing Hanford bidder says recent court decision bolsters case to disqualify winner
A joint venture that lost twice in a $45B Department of Energy competition at the Hanford Site in Washington state has presented a federal court with a legal ruling it hopes will disqualify the winner. AtkinsRéalis-led Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance (HTDA) on July 18 told Judge Marian Blank Horn a decision in a similar case […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
WRPS starts emptying another Hanford single-shell tank
An Amentum-led Department of Energy contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state is starting to remove radioactive waste from single-shell Tank A-101 and transfer it to a newer double-shell tank, DOE said in a Tuesday press release. Removal began of the 325,000 gallons of radioactive and chemical waste in Hanford’s A Tank Farm a […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Losing Hanford bidder says recent court decision bolsters case to disqualify winner
A joint venture that lost twice in a $45B Department of Energy competition at the Hanford Site in Washington state has presented a federal court with a legal ruling it hopes will disqualify the winner. AtkinsRéalis-led Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance (HTDA) on July 18 told Judge Marian Blank Horn a decision in a similar case […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Federal judge will not expedite Hanford Guards Union case
A federal judge in Washington won’t expedite a collective bargain action brought by the Hanford Guards Union until Department of Energy contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions has a chance to answer the union’s complaint. Chief U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian on July 11 ruled against the Hanford Guards Union Local 21 request to expedite the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
New president takes over at Hanford’s Central Plateau Cleanup
Robert Wilkinson started his new job this week as president and project manager of the Amentum-led solid-waste prime at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Wilkinson, previously president of Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, is succeeding John Eschenberg atop Amentum-led Central Plateau Cleanup Company, which also includes Fluor and Atkins. Wilkinson’s first […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Senate Armed Services seeks GAO reports on infrastructure, other nuke cleanup issues
As is often the case, the Senate Armed Service Committee is using a must-pass defense policy bill to have a congressional watchdog delve into issues facing the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons cleanup complex. Based on the bill report, here is a summary of what Senate Armed Services wants the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to […]
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Budget & Policy
Conservative policy document urges accelerating DOE cleanup at Hanford, elsewhere
Should former President Donald Trump win a second term, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management could speed cleanup through expanded use of both commercial nuclear waste disposal sites and a high-level waste reinterpretation, according to a conservative Republican policy document. The GOP convened its national convention in Milwaukee Monday. Along with Saturday’s unsuccessful […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: Second developer picked for SRS solar, DOE sites honored for sustainability, more
The Department of Energy has chosen Ameresco for a potential second solar power project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina as part of the agency’s Cleanup to Clean Energy Initiative. In a Thursday press release, DOE said it has picked Ameresco to enter into lease negotiations on Savannah River Site buffer land for […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
While Hanford works on problem areas, GAO says more progress needed
The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site could still use the help of a mediator to resolve its differences with the Washington state Department of Ecology over contaminated soil at the Hanford Site, a congressional watchdog agency said this week. The so-called holistic agreement that DOE, the state and the Environmental Protection Agency reached on Hanford […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
New president takes over at Hanford’s Central Plateau Cleanup
Robert (Bob) Wilkinson started his new job this week as president and project manager of the Amentum-led solid-waste prime at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Wilkinson, previously president of Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, is succeeding John Eschenberg atop Amentum-led Central Plateau Cleanup Company, which also includes Fluor and Atkins. Wilkinson’s […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Amentum’s new IR head will work on Jacobs’ merger-related issues
Virginia-based Amentum recently hired Nathan Rutledge for its newly-created position of senior vice president and head of investor relations. Rutledge will lead investor relations activity connected with Amentum’s announced merger with Jacobs’ Critical Mission Solutions and Cyber and Intelligence businesses, according to a July 2 press release. The new blended company will be publicly traded. […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Electronic council honors DOE sites for green purchases
A half-dozen Department of Energy nuclear sites are being honored by the Global Electronics Council for 2023 purchases that resulted in carbon dioxide emission reductions equal to removing 121,000 cars off the road for a year, according to a DOE press release. The Hanford Site in Washington state, the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
100-degree highs, flood watches forecast this week for some DOE sites
The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site near Richland, Wash., is having a second straight week of daytime highs in the triple digits as several weapons complex sites are enduring extreme weather this week. The Hanford high Wednesday was expected to hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit and site highs could stay at 100 degrees or above through […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Conservative policy document urges accelerating DOE cleanup at Hanford, elsewhere
Should former President Donald Trump win a second term, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management could speed cleanup through expanded use of both commercial nuclear waste disposal sites and a high-level waste reinterpretation, according to a conservative Republican policy document. The GOP convened its national convention in Milwaukee Monday. Along with Saturday’s unsuccessful […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Federal judge will not expedite Hanford Guards Union case
A federal judge in Washington won’t expedite a collective bargain action brought by the Hanford Guards Union until Department of Energy contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions has a chance to answer the union’s complaint. Chief U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian on July 11 ruled against the Hanford Guards Union Local 21 request to expedite the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: WIPP DNFSB briefing delayed until September; Top EM/NNSA bosses to appear in Santa Fe; WRPS seeks sub; more
The Department of Energy says it will take 60 more days, until mid-September, for it to prepare a report and briefing addressing Defense Nuclear Facilities Board concerns about continuous monitoring for a new ventilation system at the agency’s deep-underground transuranic waste disposal site in New Mexico. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said in […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE’s nuclear cleanup office needs program management upgrades, GAO says
The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup branch has started implementing some best practices sought by the Government Accountability Office but still has far to go, according to a report out Monday. The DOE Office of Environmental Management “is updating its site-specific life-cycle cost and schedule estimates to use as baselines to track progress and […]
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Budget & Policy
Full House Appropriations panel passes subcommittee bill with $8.3B for DOE cleanup
The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday voted 30-26, largely along party lines, to approve a budget bill that would provide more than $8.3 billion for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch in fiscal 2025. There was little mention of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management during the hour-plus markup. The measure will next be considered […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford faces deadline crush to sort out grouting options
By John Stang OLYMPIA, WASH. — The Hanford Site faces an extremely tight schedule to select both a technology and a destination for low-level radioactive waste intended to be immobilized in grout, the site’s top lawyer said here this week. “It is an aggressive timeline” said DOE’s chief Hanford counsel Mark Silberstein on the tight […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Hanford tank prime seeks small biz help with closure plans
The Amentum-Atkins partnership in charge of radioactive tank waste operations at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is shopping for a small business to assist with regulatory documents and closure plans for single-shell tank farms. Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) issued a request for proposals in an online notice Tuesday for a […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Red-hot Hanford sizzles under triple-digit temperatures
Richland, Wash., where the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site is based, will see daytime highs above 100-degrees Fahrenheit this week, according to the National Weather Service. According to the forecast, the high Monday could hit 106 degrees followed by 110 degrees Tuesday. An “excessive heat warning” is in effect through Wednesday at 10 p.m. Pacific […]





