Hanford Site

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management could improve its cost and schedule oversight for big-ticket projects such as the Hanford Site’s multi-billion-dollar Waste Treatment Plant in Washington state, the Government Accountability Office said this week. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Wednesday it did a performance audit from December 2020 to April 2022 […]

During a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) pronounced herself “really disappointed with this year’s request” by the Department of Energy for cleanup of the Hanford Site in her home state. The Joe Biden administration’s fiscal 2023 request of $2.5 billion for Hanford was not only […]

Don Hardy, the manager of the Department of Energy’s 222-S Laboratory at the Hanford Site, plans to retire on May 12 after 37 years at the former plutonium production complex in Washington state, the lab contractor said Monday. Navarro-led Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration (HLMI) said in a press release that Hardy will be succeeded […]

The procurement arm of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office is requesting information from contractors capable of storing and disposing of low-level or mixed low-level hazardous waste, according to a recent online notice. The DOE’s Cincinnati-based Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center issued a sources sought/request for information (RFI) on Thursday April 21, trying to […]

It is time for a federal district court judge in Washington state to toss out the amended complaint brought by more than 300 workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site who oppose mandatory vaccination against COVID-19, government lawyers said in filings last week. “Regardless of what procedural exhaustion requirements must be met to assert […]

The Department of Energy’s tardiness in providing its entire detailed justification for its fiscal 2023, as well as cleanup challenges at the Hanford Site in Washington state, were among the issues House lawmakers raised with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm Thursday in a two-plus-hour budget hearing. DOE had by Thursday published most of its detailed […]

Washington state regulators probably will not allow the Department of Energy to solidify the Hanford Site’s liquid tank waste with grout-like cement until and unless the parties agree to permit disposal methods for liquid waste other than immobilization in glass, officials told a National Academies of Sciences panel Thursday. “Ecology considers on-site grout disposal to […]

The Joe Biden administration’s $7.6-billion budget request for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office should help the agency begin conversion of low-activity radioactive tank waste into glass at the Hanford Site in Washington state, and other key remediation chores, William (Ike) White told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee Wednesday. The DOE Office of Environmental […]

Should the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state decide to grout much of its supplemental low-activity waste at an existing off-site facility, the process could start as early as 2027, a Savannah River National Laboratory official told a National Academies of Sciences panel Tuesday in Richland, Wash. Dan McCabe, senior scientist from the […]

Brian Vance, the top manager for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, told a National Academies panel Tuesday “time is our common enemy” in cleaning up the most contaminated property in the weapons complex. “Maximizing risk reduction per dollar,” is key to addressing the 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste […]

It is time for a federal district court judge in Washington state to toss out the amended complaint brought by more than 300 workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site who oppose mandatory vaccination against COVID-19, government lawyers said in filings last week. “Regardless of what procedural exhaustion requirements must be met to assert […]

The Supreme Court should uphold the constitutionality of a 2018 Washington state law that makes it easier for workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site to qualify for compensation for illnesses, the state attorney general’s office argued Monday before the high court. The U.S. Supreme Court, an independent branch of the federal government, agreed […]

The Supreme Court should uphold the constitutionality of a 2018 Washington state law that makes it easier for workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site to qualify for compensation for illnesses believed to be linked to contamination at the former plutonium production complex, the state attorney general’s office argued Monday. Washington Deputy Solicitor General […]

Experts will brief the public in May about the Department of Energy’s efforts to protect both Hanford workers and people nearby the site from a compound called acetonitrile: a toxic byproduct liquid radioactive waste treatment scheduled to begin by late 2023 at the former plutonium production site in Washington state. “Subject matter experts” will be […]

After the government won a key legal battle last week, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday that the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should allow it to enforce a presidential executive order requiring federal employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. On April 7 the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit overturned a nationwide preliminary injunction […]

The Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in Cincinnati plans to increase the potential value of its technical support services deal with BTP Services LLC to $84.5-million from the current ceiling of $49.5-million. The DOE office announced plans to increase the cap for the Consolidated Technical Support Services Contract with BTP in a […]

Candice Robertson, a familiar face at the Department of Energy, officially started in her new role as acting second-in-command at the agency’s $7.6-billion Office of Environmental Management, according to the latest organizational chart posted Monday.   Robertson is the acting principal deputy assistant secretary, or EM-2, at the DOE nuclear cleanup office, filling the opening created […]

The National Academies invites public comment between now and June 12 on an ongoing federal study of supplemental treatment options, such as grout, for the low-activity waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state that won’t be converted into glass by the Waste Treatment Plant. The public comment notification was sent out […]

After the government won a key legal battle last week, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should allow it to begin enforcing a presidential executive order that federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. On April 7 the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit overturned a nationwide preliminary injunction issued […]

Treatment of the Hanford Site’s liquid radioactive waste will produce toxic vapors from a substance called acetonitrile, the Department of Energy said last year in an internal report, a compound that would be unsafe for workers and, according to an environmental group, potentially threatening to people and animals living near the site. The week of […]

Workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state had to cope with an unexpected springtime snowfall in their daily commute on Monday. The DOE’s Hanford Site said via Twitter Monday that the 2.3 inches recorded by  Leidos-led services contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) represents a new record for an April snow […]

A Hanford occupational health contractor agreed to pay almost $3 million in restitution and penalties for false financial statements that enabled it to obtain a COVID-related loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which was later forgiven. The loan ended up in the personal bank accounts of the owners of HPMCorp., Holly and Grover Cleveland […]

After a probe, the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General could not substantiate claims of cheating and other problems with Bechtel’s substance abuse program at the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. “Specifically, we found that management had taken several actions to address drug-related concerns,” the Office of Inspector General […]

After a probe, the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General could not substantiate claims of cheating and other problems with Bechtel’s substance abuse program at the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. “Specifically, we found that management had taken several actions to address drug-related concerns,” the Office of Inspector General […]

While the Joe Biden administration’s 2023 budget request would trim spending at the Hanford Site in Washington state relative to the omnibus 2022 budget passed in early March, other major cleanup sites would get year-over-year increases if Congress enacts the request. According to a Department of Energy budget in brief published Tuesday, the Richland Operations […]

While the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state would receive a haircut under the fiscal 2023 budget request rolled out Monday by President Joe Biden’s administration, a citizen group leader expects Congress will beef up the cleanup appropriation for the former plutonium production facility. Funding for the Richland Operations Office would be $818 […]

A Hanford occupational health contractor agreed to pay almost $3 million in restitution and penalties for false financial statements that enabled it to obtain a COVID-related loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which was later forgiven. The loan ended up in the personal bank accounts of the owners of HPMCorp., Holly and Grover Cleveland […]

The Hanford Advisory Board again stressed its concerns about leaking tanks in two pieces of written advice sent to the U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday. In the second day of a virtual meeting, the board voted to tell DOE that it wants the feds to prioritize removal of 3.37 million gallons of liquid wastes […]

Members of the Hanford Advisory Board said Wednesday they should have a voice in the Department of Energy’s plans to diversify the panel that provides policy recommendations on cleanup of the Hanford Site in Washington state. During an online meeting of the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB), many members said they want to provide input on […]

Department of Energy and Washington state Department of Ecology managers reassured the Hanford Advisory Board Wednesday their agencies remain interested in the Test Bed Initiative to grout 2,000 gallons of low-activity tank waste that would be shipped out of state. Brian Vance, the DOE’s manager for the Hanford Site, expects the Nuclear Regulation Commission to […]