Hanford Site

Two recent management appointments at the Energy Department’s $7-billion nuclear cleanup office should help keep the focus on key projects, a spokesperson said this week. The Office of Environmental Management earlier this month announced Nicole Nelson-Jean, who heads the National Nuclear Security Administration field office for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, would become […]

The Energy Department said Thursday it is extending the CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Co. contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state for up to six months through March 2021. The $7.16-billion contract held by the Jacobs subsidiary would otherwise expire on Sept. 30, and the DOE Office of Environmental Management is not ready to […]

Starting Monday, the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state will enter Phase 2 of remobilization toward full-scale operations following the March drawdown forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance announced the change in a Thursday message to the 11,000 federal and contract workers at the former plutonium production complex. Phase 2 […]

In his newly created role as chief operating officer, Thomas Mooney will focus on key projects at the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. This is “a pivotal time for the cleanup mission,” and Mooney will assist incoming Environmental Management Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations (EM-3) Nicole Nelson-Jean in keeping the focus […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped state-federal “holistic” negotiations over major environmental remediation issues at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The talks between DOE, the state, and the Environmental Protection Agency are occurring remotely, Washington state Department of Ecology spokesman Randy Bradbury said in an Aug. 11 email. The talks began in […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina as of Friday confirmed a total of 406 cases of COVID-19 among its workforce. Of those, 308 workers have recovered and been cleared to return to work, according to the weekly online update from DOE’s operations office at Savannah River. The total confirmed cases at SRS […]

A Washington state law that makes it easier for workers at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site to qualify for certain compensation benefits has been upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced in a press release Wednesday that a three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit unanimously […]

The Washington state Department of Ecology and the Energy Department have agreed to mediate their dispute over access to certain records from the Hanford Site. “The data access case is still pending, but the parties have agreed to try to mediate the dispute,” Ecology spokesman Randy Bradbury said in an Aug. 11 email. The mediation […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina has confirmed a total of 368 cases of COVID-19 infections among its workforce, though about two-thirds of those personnel have recovered and been authorized to return to the job. The total, posted Friday on the website for the DOE operations office at Savannah River, represents […]

Robert Wilkinson and Amy Basche, the two top executives for the current support services contractor at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, will remain in charge of its successor. A DOE hosting page for the Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) website cites Wilkinson as president and general manager and Basche as chief operating […]

Four people employed by Nuclear Waste Partnership, the prime contractor for the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend. The Amentum-BWX Technologies venture said in a Tuesday press release that three of the people showed no symptoms when tested and were already in quarantine due […]

An Energy Department effort to disallow $15.4 million in fees to Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance can go forward, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals ruled recently. The services vendor at the Hanford Site in Washington state asked Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) for summary judgement against the agency’s attempt to disallow $15.4 million in […]

Four more workers at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state have tested positive for novel coronavirus 2019, the agency said Monday. An additional 12 workers have undergone testing for COVID-19 and are awaiting results, according to an announcement on the Hanford website. The announcement did not state whether the individuals work directly for […]

The Energy Department is extending the public comment deadline from Sept. 26 until Nov. 27 on a plan for on-site disposal of vitrified low-activity waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The Aug. 6 notice from DOE did not cite a reason for the 60-day extension. The agency on May 26 started taking comments […]

Insulated from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic by its large government contracts and a bread-and-butter nuclear Navy business that didn’t shut down in the spring, BWX Technologies posted a modest uptick in both profit and revenue for the second quarter of 2020. Quarterly net income rose $5 million to about $64 million, or $0.67 […]

Jacobs Engineering on Monday reported a slight bump in revenue for its fiscal third quarter, from $3.2 billion in 2019 to $3.3 billion this year. Net revenue took a similarly modest step up for the three-month period ending June 26, from $2.6 billion to $2.7. billion on a year-over-year basis. The Department of Energy contractor […]

Jacobs Engineering on Monday reported a slight bump in revenue for its fiscal third quarter, from $3.2 billion in 2019 to $3.3 billion this year. Net revenue took a similarly modest step up for the three-month period ending June 26, from $2.6 billion to $2.7. billion on a year-over-year basis. The Department of Energy contractor […]

The Department of Energy on Thursday set the date for the new support services contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state to begin the transition to operations. In a notice to proceed, the agency told Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) it can start the 120-day turnover on Aug. 17. Hanford Mission Integration Solutions is […]

By Cal Biesecker Defense Daily Leidos on Tuesday posted higher sales and earnings in its second quarter, driven by two acquisitions earlier this year and a payment related to patent infringement, more than offsetting higher than expected negative impacts from the ongoing pandemic. Net income increased 13% to $153 million, $1.06 earnings per share (EPS), from […]

The Oregon Department of Energy’s top specialist on environmental remediation at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in neighboring Washington state is preparing to retire. Oregon DOE Nuclear Safety Division Administrator Ken Niles is calling it a career effective Aug. 31, after 19 years in the post and 31 years with the state agency. […]

The Senate overwhelmingly approved Mark Menezes as deputy secretary of energy on Tuesday, despite opposition from some nuke-wary Democrats. The 79-16 vote elevated Menezes to the No. 2 position at the nuclear weapons, waste, and energy agency. Menezes was sworn in to his new job Thursday, after nearly three years as undersecretary of energy. All but […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) comfortably won over 50% of the vote in a Tuesday top-two primary for the congressional district covering the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. Newhouse received 50,599 of 89,274 votes in the 4th Congressional District primary, 56.7% of the total, according to unofficial results from the Washington state Secretary of State. He […]

Leidos on Tuesday posted higher sales and earnings in its second quarter, driven by two acquisitions earlier this year and a payment related to patent infringement, more than offsetting higher than expected negative impacts from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Net income increased 13% to $153 million, $1.06 earnings per share (EPS), from $136 million ($0.93 […]

Access to a facility at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has been almost entirely closed off while an employee is tested for infection by novel coronavirus 2019. “A Hanford Site employee is undergoing testing for the coronavirus (COVID-19). Access to T64-B in the 200 East Area where the employee worked has […]

After running operations at the Energy Department’s most complex nuclear cleanup project for nearly 18 months, Brian Vance this week was named manager of the Hanford Site on a permanent basis. Vance in October 2017 assumed management of the DOE Office of River Protection, which oversees radioactive waste tank operations at the Washington state complex. […]

Two Democrats from Washington state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Adam Smith and Sen. Patty Murray, are proposing legislation to make it easier for certain workers at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site and other nuclear cleanup jobs to qualify for federal benefits. The Seattle Times reported Wednesday the two lawmakers were proposing companion bills in the House […]

The full House of Representatives on Friday passed in a 217-197 vote a $1.3 trillion package of six spending bills for fiscal 2021, including billions of nuclear cleanup operations managed by the Department of Energy. President Donald Trump is threatening to veto the entire minibus package. In a 29-page statement of administration policy, the White […]

A recent audit by the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General found that a major vendor at the Hanford Site in Washington state, Mission Support Alliance (MSA), is not meeting its agreed-upon small business contracting commitments. The Leidos-led vendor, which provides landlord services at the former plutonium production complex that range from road maintenance to […]

The Energy Department plans to take “corrective action” over concerns about its May award of a $13-billion long-term Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state to the BWX Technologies-led Hanford Works Restoration. “Following our investigation and addressing other issues as appropriate, DOE will make a new award determination,” James Jurich, an attorney […]

Two of the largest properties overseen by the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management reported significant spikes in COVID-19 cases over the past week, although the number of active cases across the complex have dropped. The DOE Office of Environmental Management complex currently has 88 active COVID cases,  down from 94 last week, according to […]