Hanford Site

The number of confirmed active cases of COVID-19 among the federal and contractor workforce for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is up from last week, according to figures provided Thursday by a spokesperson. There are currently 116 cases across the Environmental Management (EM) complex, which represents an increase from last week’s total […]

Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance, the former landlord services contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, settled a fraud lawsuit, reportedly for $6-million, in a case brought two years ago by the Department of Justice. “I can confirm that this case has been settled,” Bob Miller, a spokesman for the Leidos-Centerra joint […]

With the conclusion of a 100-day transition on Thursday, Navarro-led Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration has taken over the 222-S Laboratory from two separate contractors, Veolia and Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions, at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The “transition is complete… effective today,” a DOE spokesperson said in a Thursday […]

Work crews have finished shoring up three old liquid waste disposal structures in danger of collapse at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Department of Energy and contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Co. said Thursday. “With this work completed, Hanford has ensured the stability of these structures and reduced risks to workers and the environment,” […]

Within 10 years, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management hopes to have its vitrification plant humming at the Hanford Site in Washington state, with 40% of the tanks closed at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and also be about done with legacy cleanup at the Moab Site in Utah as well […]

Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance, the former landlord services contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, settled a fraud lawsuit, reportedly for $6-million, in a case brought two years ago by the Department of Justice. “I can confirm that this case has been settled,” Bob Miller, a spokesman for the Leidos-Centerra joint […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office first rolled out its end state contracting model in 2018 and now wants to clearly define exactly how that model is supposed to work. The DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) tucked this nugget inside its Strategic Vision for 2021-2031. “In 2021, EM will implement a new End-State […]

Managers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state have confirmed six more positive cases of COVID-19 since Saturday. The latest five were reported Tuesday in a note posted to a DOE website run by a Leidos-led Hanford support contractor. New cases at the former plutonium production complex have run in the low- […]

Within 10 years, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management hopes to have its vitrification plant humming at the Hanford Site in Washington state, with 40% of the tanks closed at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and also be about done with legacy cleanup at the Moab Site in Utah as well […]

In its final scorecard, CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation earned 78% of the fee available to it for about four months of work at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Altogether, the Jacobs subsidiary pocketed $6.36 million out of an available $8.16 million for the period from Oct. 1, 2020 through Jan. 24, […]

Navarro-led Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration is scheduled to take over the 222-S Laboratory soon from two separate contractors, Veolia and Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions, at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration (HLMI), a joint venture of Oak Ridge, Tenn.,-based Navarro and Gaithersburg, Md., -based Advanced […]

After settlement talks failed to bridge the gap between Department of Energy contractor Leidos and subcontractor Professional Project Services, or Pro2Serve, the parties could be headed toward a federal court trial this summer on the smaller company’s claim it was wrongly cut out of the new landlord services team at the Hanford Site in Washington […]

It is time for the Department of Energy to focus on ensuring two aging facilities for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Hanford Site in Washington state remain safe beyond the current 40-year design life, according to a recent DOE report. The agency’s Office of Enterprise Assessments, in the report issued last month, […]

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), whose district includes the Hanford Site, wants Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to continue a controversial policy change from the Donald Trump administration that declared certain radioactive waste now categorized as high-level may not need to go to a deep underground disposal site. In a March 30 letter to Granholm, […]

The lure of getting a piece of the potential $26.5-billion Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract (ITDC) at the former plutonium production complex in Washington state attracted a crowd of nearly 90 tire-kickers to virtual meetings held last week by the Department of Energy. DOE spread out the meetings over three days, Tuesday through Thursday, to […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, which as of March 31 has confirmed 4,593 cases of COVID-19 among its federal and contractor workforce since the pandemic began, has no plans to order employees to take the vaccine. An Environmental Management (EM) spokesperson provided the cumulative figure and addressed the office’s approach to vaccinations […]

After settlement talks failed to bridge the gap between Department of Energy contractor Leidos and subcontractor Professional Project Services, or Pro2Serve, the parties could be headed toward a federal court trial this summer on the smaller company’s claim it was wrongly cut out of the new landlord services team at the Hanford Site in Washington […]

Appointments to receive Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine are available from the occupational medicine contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, where eight workers have since Saturday tested positive for the disease. The latest four positive tests at Hanford were reported Tuesday, according to a DOE website run by Hanford’s Leidos-led landlord contractor. […]

An article in Tuesday’s Weapons Complex Morning Briefing [“Better Guidance Urged for Interim Storage of Spent Fuel at Hanford”] should have reported that an Amentum-led group has managed Central Plateau cleanup since Jan. 25, 2021. 

It is time for the Department of Energy to focus on ensuring two aging facilities for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Hanford Site in Washington state remain safe beyond the current 40-year design life, according to a recent DOE report. The agency’s Office of Enterprise Assessments, in the report issued last month, […]

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), whose district includes the Hanford Site, wants Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to continue a controversial policy change from the Donald Trump administration that declared certain radioactive waste now categorized as high-level may not need to go to a deep underground disposal site. In a March 30 letter to Granholm, […]

Don’t expect the Department of Energy to roll out its final solicitation for the potential $26.5-billion Integrated Tank Disposition Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state before August, officials said Tuesday during a virtual briefing for potential bidders. Hanford’s site manager, Brian Vance and many of his lieutenants at the DOE Office of Environmental […]

While the weekly infection numbers remain well below winter levels for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch, agency officials are staying mum on when operations might return to something akin to pre-pandemic levels. “Given the current rates of COVID across the county, we have no timeline or projections on when sites will return to […]

An affiliate of Idaho-based North Wind Group was picked by the Department of Energy from a field of eight firms to build a $50-million research center for nuclear cleanup at the University of South Carolina at Aiken, located about 20 miles from the Savannah River Site. Roughly six months after issuing a sources-sought for contractors, […]

Don’t expect the Department of Energy to roll out its final solicitation for the potential $26.5-billion Integrated Tank Disposition Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state before August, officials said Tuesday during a virtual briefing for potential bidders. Hanford’s site manager, Brian Vance and many of his lieutenants at the DOE Office of Environmental […]

Two key Congressional Democrats from Washington state, Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Adam Smith, are proposing to make it easier for cleanup workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site and elsewhere to claim medical benefits after being exposed to toxic substances. The lawmakers last week proposed the Toxic Exposure Safety Act of 2021. Murray, […]

The prime contractor for liquid-waste cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is looking for a subcontractor to transport and dispose of non-radioactive waste this fall from test runs of the site’s main treatment plant. The contract will be worth $900,000 over one year beginning Oct. 1, 2021, Amentum-led Washington River […]

David Turk was sworn in this week as the deputy secretary of energy after clearing the Senate with only two Republicans in opposition. Turk took the oath, administered by his boss, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, on Thursday. The full Senate approved his nomination Wednesday 98-2, with only Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rand Paul […]

Deciding where nuclear cleanup fits in the pecking order within President Joe Biden’s Department of Energy will likely be determined by the just-confirmed deputy secretary David Turk, the acting boss at the Office of Environmental Management said Wednesday. The assessment was offered by William (Ike) White, acting assistant secretary for the Office of Environmental Management […]

The Department of Energy, Washington State and the Environmental Protection Agency are meeting more frequently these days to negotiate changes to legally binding Hanford cleanup deadlines that longstanding technical challenges — and later, COVID-19 — may have made untenable, a Washington state official said Wednesday. “I am optimistic on some progress we have made,” Bowen […]