Hanford Site

The Washington Department of Ecology is taking public comment through March 25 on proposed modifications to the state’s permit for key equipment used to help control liquid waste volume in underground tanks at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site. The original transfer lines that connect double-shell tanks holding radioactive waste to the 242-A Evaporator flunked […]

Non-essential workers in many areas around the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state are staying home Monday due to adverse weather, according to an advisory posted on an operations website run by a contractor. The stay-home advisory applied to non-essential day shift workers north and south of the Wye Barricade, including Richland, according […]

The Energy Communities Alliance and local groups around the Hanford Site in Washington state claim a change in contracting policy by the Department of Energy could cripple some local subcontractors. In essence, the critics say DOE is ending many existing professional and support subcontracts at Hanford and encouraging the site’s new support services and central […]

There were as of Thursday 296 active, confirmed cases of COVID-19 among personnel in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, which is 39 fewer than the previous week’s total of 335. The figure, provided Thursday by an Environmental Management (EM) office spokesperson, marks several weeks of mostly steady decreases in the active cases […]

Jacobs Engineering, the Dallas-based parent of multiple nuclear-cleanup and nuclear-weapon site contractors, saw profits rise about $20 million in the first quarter of 2021, while revenue stayed flat, the company reported this week.  That accounts for adjustments related to the 2019 sale of the company’s Energy, Chemicals and Resources division to Australia’s Worley, and other […]

Managers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state received confirmation of six positive COVID-19 tests among its workers over the weekend. There were two positive cases reported at Hanford Friday evening and four more on Sunday, according to advisories, posted on a DOE operations website for Hanford run by a contractor. There […]

The Department of Energy’s plans to kick off a public comment period next month on options for removing seven aging structures within the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site in Washington state. In a Monday announcement, DOE said these are “Tier 2” structures, meaning the facilities are chemically or radiologically contaminated due to Hanford’s […]

The Department of Energy is about 85% finished shoring up the three sagging underground waste structures around the Plutonium Finishing Plant at the Hanford Site, a Department of Energy spokesperson at the former plutonium production site said late last week. “We have finished stabilizing the largest structure, the Z-9 crib, and the settling tank, Z-361,” […]

There are currently 335 active COVID-19 cases within the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup complex this week, a spokesperson said Thursday. The number, provided via email by a DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) spokesperson, is 56 fewer than the prior week’s total of 391 active confirmed cases. It is also well below the 423 […]

The Department of Energy’s plans to kick off a public comment period next month on options for removing seven aging structures within the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site in Washington state. In a Monday announcement, DOE said these are “Tier 2” structures, meaning the facilities are chemically or radiologically contaminated due to Hanford’s […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has now confirmed a total of 243 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in the United States a little more than a year ago while the Hanford Site in Washington state is up to about 645 cases during the same period. That is […]

The Washington state Department of Ecology kicked off a 45-day comment period Monday on proposed changes to its permit for the Waste Treatment Plant being built by Bechtel at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. The state is inviting public comment until March 17 on the closure plan for the $17-billion facility designed to convert […]

The Department of Energy is about 85% finished shoring up the three sagging underground waste structures around the Plutonium Finishing Plant at the Hanford Site, a Department of Energy spokesperson at the former plutonium production site said Friday. “We have finished stabilizing the largest structure, the Z-9 crib, and the settling tank, Z-361,” the spokesperson […]

The Department of Justice wants the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals to lift a stay with implications for a federal False Claims Act lawsuit against the Department of Energy contractor Mission Support Alliance.  The Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance (MSA), which in the past week ended its nearly 12-year run as landlord for DOE’s Hanford […]

Two new contractors, for Central Plateau remediation and site services, took charge this week at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Sunday was the end of the transition period and today marked the first Monday on the job for both Central Plateau Cleanup Co. as well as Hanford Mission Integration Solutions. Central Plateau is composed […]

Jennifer Granholm, President Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of energy, vowed Wednesday that cleaning up the Hanford Site would be a top priority if she is confirmed by the Senate. “You have my assurance that this is going to be a priority,” Granholm, the former Michigan governor, said in response to questioning from Sen. Ron […]

There are currently 391 active COVID-19 cases within the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup complex, a spokesperson for the Office of Environmental Management said via email Thursday. The latest figure represents a decrease from the 423 active cases confirmed by Environmental Management (EM) the prior week as well as the 473 from two weeks ago.  […]

Jennifer Granholm, President Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of energy, vowed Wednesday that cleaning up the Hanford Site would be a top priority if she is confirmed by the Senate. “You have my assurance that this is going to be a priority,” Granholm, the former Michigan governor, said in response to questioning from Sen. Ron […]

The Department of Justice wants the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals to lift a stay with implications for a False Claims Act lawsuit against a Department of Energy contractor, Mission Support Alliance, before a federal court in Washington state. The Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance (MSA), which recently ended its nearly 12-year run as landlord […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., had 14 more employees test positive for COVID-19 between Jan. 13 and Jan. 19, the prime contractor said in a Saturday Twitter post, while a half-dozen more cases were confirmed Sunday at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Eleven of the 14 at the […]

Two new contractors, for Central Plateau remediation and site services, are taking charge today at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Sunday was the end of the transition period and today marks the first Monday on the job for both Central Plateau Cleanup Co. as well as Hanford Mission Integration Solutions. Central Plateau is composed […]

The number of active cases of COVID-19 within the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup complex dropped by about 50 this week but remained above 400.  There are currently 423 active cases at properties run by the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), a spokesperson for the cleanup branch said in a Thursday email.  That marks […]

Less than a month after officially calling off a $13-billion liquid-waste cleanup award at the Hanford Site, the Department of Energy has started procurement of a replacement pact called the Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract, with a draft solicitation expected by March. The draft request for proposals (RFP) will, unlike the now-revoked tank-waste contract awarded […]

A federal judge in Virginia this week refused to throw out a lawsuit filed by a Department of Energy subcontractor, Professional Project Services or Pro2Serve, claiming Leidos Integrated Technology wrongly excluded it from a team about to take over site services at Hanford in Washington state. In the November suit filed in the U.S. District […]

Less than a month after officially calling off a $13-billion liquid-waste cleanup award at the Hanford Site, the Department of Energy has started procurement of a replacement pact called the Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract, with a draft solicitation expected by March. The draft request for proposals (RFP) will, unlike the now-revoked tank-waste contract awarded […]

Management at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has confirmed nine new cases of COVID-19 since Friday. Bosses at the former plutonium production facility were informed of the latest batch of positive cases, seven, on Monday, according to an advisory posted on a DOE website run by the site services contractor. The […]

There are currently 473 active cases of COVID-19 within the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup complex as of close of business on Wednesday, which is up significantly from the past two weeks. The latest figure was provided in a Thursday email from a DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) spokesperson. The tally represents a jump […]

The Government Accountability Office in separate reports this week said Congress should look for a disposal path for transuranic waste now at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York, and the Department of Energy must do a better job of monitoring contractors for potential fraud. As of February 2020, DOE reported spending about $3.1 […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management still has much work to do on its end state contracting model in order to truly drive nuclear cleanup projects toward completion, according to a National Academy of Sciences report released Monday. The Environmental Management (EM) office should set up results on intermediate end state milestones midway […]

Here’s some of the news Weapons Complex Monitor tracked over the last two weeks during the Exchange Monitor’s publishing break for the winter holidays. Navarro-led Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration this week began the process of taking over the Department of Energy’s 222-S Laboratory at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Located in the 200-West […]