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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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: 2025 trial possible in case against Hanford landlord; Ex- Canada lab exec joins SRS prime; Ex-DOE manager Flohr joins Navarro; and more
The Department of Justice and the landlord contractor for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state both anticipate a fraud trial lasting several weeks could be held in federal district court during fall of 2025. That is one of the key takeaways from a joint filing Thursday by Justice, on behalf of a […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
BWXT touts re-award, hopes for Hanford waste contract transition this year
Despite protests by a rival, a team led by BWX Technologies has now twice won a $45 billion Department of Energy liquid waste contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state, which shows it is a “superior” proposal, CEO Rex Geveden said Monday during an earnings call. “After multiple protests… the DOE decided to re-award […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford advisory panel raises questions on grout, other issues
No decision has been made on whether grouting of some low-level radioactive tank waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site would occur inside the 580-square-mile federal complex, or elsewhere, government attorneys told an advisory board Tuesday. A pathway to grout for some Hanford waste sparked questions from the Hanford Advisory Board, which was briefed […]
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Budget & Policy
Newhouse faces challenge from former Senate candidate
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash)., who represents the area around the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, in the House of Representatives, is getting a new challenger, a former GOP Senate candidate, Tiffany Smiley. Smiley, who ran an unsuccessful race against incumbent Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in November 2022, announced Monday she will challenge fellow Republican Newhouse […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Agencies dub holistic deal realistic and doable; defend DOE on Hanford HLW
The Department of Energy’s decision not to impose its new high-level radioactive waste interpretation at the Hanford Site in Washington state avoided a lengthy squabble and made it easier for agencies to cut a new deal for cleaning up tank waste, an advisory panel heard Tuesday. By not using a DOE 2020 reinterpretation that allows […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford advisory panel raises questions on grout, other issues
No decision has been made on whether grouting of some low-level radioactive tank waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site would occur inside the 580-square-mile federal complex, or elsewhere, government attorneys told an advisory board Tuesday. A pathway to grout for some Hanford waste sparked questions from the Hanford Advisory Board, which was briefed […]
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Budget & Policy
Newhouse faces challenge from former Senate candidate
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash)., who represents the area around the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, in the House of Representatives, is getting a new challenger, a former GOP Senate candidate, Tiffany Smiley. Smiley, who ran an unsuccessful race against incumbent Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in November 2022, announced Monday she will challenge fellow Republican Newhouse […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Earnings rise at Fluor; Pantex award decision expected soon
Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the first quarter, which the weapons complex contractor attributed to new awards in its Urban Solutions segment. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31 were $59 million, or $0.34 a share, up from a loss of $107 million or 0.82 a share, in the year-ago quarter, […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
DOE’s high-level reinterpretation not included in holistic agreement at Hanford
Washington State politicians do not want the Department of Energy treating high-level waste at the Hanford Site as low-level waste, and a long awaited update to cleanup rules at the site reflects that. In December 2021, DOE affirmed a policy proposed in 2019 during the Donald Trump administration that the agency could reinterpret an existing […]
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Vitrification & Grout
No slippage of glass-making timelines in ‘holistic’ agreement for Hanford
A long-awaited settlement agreement rolled out Monday by state and federal agencies says the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state still intends to start turning low-level radioactive tank waste into glass starting next year, with high-level waste vitrification to follow in the 2030s. DOE, the Washington state Department of Ecology (Ecology), and U.S. […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford settlement agreement lays out path for grouting some low-level waste
A settlement agreement for cleaning up underground tank waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, still subject to public comment and submission to a federal court, lays out a path for using grout to stabilize some less-radioactive liquid waste. The so-called “holistic” agreement, in the works since 2019 and announced Monday […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Big charge in first quarter, but Parsons reports business booming
Net earnings fell drastically for Parsons, Chantilly, Va., after a big tax hit in its first quarter, but the federal contractor on Wednesday reported record revenue and healthy core operations. Parsons posted a net loss of about $107 million, or $1.01 a share, for the quarter ended March 31, down from earnings of roughly $25.5 […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Leidos touts strong first quarter
Earnings rose at Leidos, Reston, Va., in the first quarter, which the national security and technology company attributed to strong business demand across all its sectors. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 29 were $283 million, or $2.07 a share, up from $164 million or $1.17 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford bid protester seeks permanent injunction on DOE’s $45B award to BWXT-led group
AtkinsRéalis-led Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance this week asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for a permanent injunction blocking the Department of Energy from awarding a $45-billion liquid waste contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state to a BWX Technologies-led group. The memorandum in support of judgment on the record was filed this week […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
DOE’s high-level reinterpretation not included in holistic agreement at Hanford
Washington State politicians do not want the Department of Energy treating high-level waste at the Hanford Site as low-level waste, and a long awaited update to cleanup rules at the site reflects that. In December 2021, DOE affirmed a policy proposed in 2019 during the Donald Trump administration that the agency could reinterpret an existing […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford settlement agreement lays out path for grouting some low-level waste
A settlement agreement for cleaning up underground tank waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, still subject to public comment and submission to a federal court, lays out a path for using grout to stabilize some less-radioactive liquid waste. The so-called “holistic” agreement, in the works since 2019 and announced Monday […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Leidos touts strong first quarter
Earnings rose at Leidos, Reston, Va., in the first quarter, which the national security and technology company attributed to strong business demand across all its sectors. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 29 were $283 million, or $2.07 a share, up from $164 million or $1.17 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according […]
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Vitrification & Grout
No slippage of glass-making timelines in ‘holistic’ agreement for Hanford
A long-awaited settlement agreement rolled out Monday by state and federal agencies says the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state still intends to start turning low-level radioactive tank waste into glass starting next year, with high-level waste vitrification to follow in the 2030s. DOE, the Washington state Department of Ecology (Ecology), and U.S. […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
BWXT group argues Claims Court wrong in blocking initial $45B Hanford contract; seeks venue change in protest over second award
A federal court was wrong in June 2023 to block the Department of Energy’s award of a $45-billion liquid waste contract, the BWX Technologies-led team that won the work argued this week. Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank Horn’s decision to block the DOE’s April 2023 issuance of the contract to Hanford Tank Operations and Closure […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford undamaged by earthquake, DOE says
There are no reports of damage at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state from a magnitude 2.8 earthquake that hit an area near on Saturday, an agency spokesperson said this week. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake hit about 2.5 miles south of Richland, Wash., which is itself about 15 […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
BWXT group argues Claims Court wrong in blocking initial $45B Hanford contract
A federal court was wrong in June 2023 to block the Department of Energy’s award of a $45-billion liquid waste contract, the BWX Technologies-led team that won the work argued this week. Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank Horn’s decision to block the DOE’s April 2023 issuance of the contract to Hanford Tank Operations and Closure […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Small earthquake near Hanford on Saturday
A magnitude 2.8 earthquake hit an area near the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington State on Saturday, according to federal data. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake hit about 2.5 miles south of Richland, Wash., which is itself about 15 miles south by road from Hanford’s southern gate. It was a […]
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Budget & Policy
Trump backs Newhouse challenger in Congressional race
Republican Jerrod Sessler, who is again mounting a primary challenge to Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), picked up an expected albeit influential endorsement Friday from former president and presumptive GOP 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump. Newhouse, who has used his House Appropriations Committee post to push for greater nuclear cleanup funding for the Department of Energy’s […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
New ‘holistic’ Hanford cleanup details out soon, Cantwell says
Federal and state agencies could soon provide details about a new conceptual agreement for cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), said Tuesday. Cantwell spoke during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on DOE’s fiscal 2025 budget request. The conceptual agreement, announced in May 2023, […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
New ‘holistic’ Hanford cleanup details out soon, Cantwell says
Federal and state agencies could soon provide details about a new conceptual agreement for cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), said Tuesday. Cantwell spoke during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on DOE’s fiscal 2025 budget request. The conceptual agreement, announced in May 2023, […]
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Budget & Policy
Trump backs Newhouse challenger in Congressional race
Republican Jerrod Sessler, who is again mounting a primary challenge to Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), picked up an expected albeit influential endorsement Friday from former president and presumptive GOP 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump. Newhouse, who has used his House Appropriations Committee post to push for greater nuclear cleanup funding for the Department of Energy’s […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford’s second melter comes online
The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has brought online the second melter at the multibillion-dollar facility designed to solidify liquid radioactive waste into a solid glass-like form, the agency said this week. DOE said in a Tuesday press release that the second 300-ton melter at Bechtel’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant has […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Judge sets May conference in Hanford False Claims Act case
A federal district judge in Washington state has set a May 16 scheduling conference to start addressing pre-trial issues in a False Claims Act complaint against the Department of Energy’s Leidos-led landlord contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state. U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian scheduled the video conference to start determining issues where the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
GAO decision on online registration, cited in litigation over $45B Hanford waste contract
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is being asked to weigh a Government Accountability Office decision in considering litigation over a potential $45-billion liquid waste contract at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. In an April 1 decision, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a bid protest by TLS […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford’s second melter comes online
The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has brought online the second melter at the multibillion-dollar facility designed to solidify liquid radioactive waste into a solid glass-like form, the agency said this week. DOE said in a Tuesday press release that the second 300-ton melter at Bechtel’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant has […]









