Hanford Site

The fire chief for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has died, contractor Mission Support Alliance announced this week. Norbert Kuhman had served in the position since February 2014. Management of the 145-person Hanford Fire Department is part of Leidos-led MSA’s contract to provide support services at Hanford. Kuhman spent more than […]

Bechtel National earned $5 million of the potential $7.87 million 2019 fee for ongoing construction on the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Energy Department said Tuesday. By claiming an overall score of “good” and winning roughly 64% of the maximum available fee for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, […]

A weekend wildfire on Gable Mountain in Washington state, near the Energy Department’s Hanford Site , been brought under control, officials said Monday. The fire was ignited Saturday night by a lightning strike and burned about 9,000 acres before being contained by 8 p.m. local time Sunday night, said Reneé Brooks, spokeswoman for contractor Mission […]

Some of the Energy Department’s largest nuclear cleanup sites are calling more employees back to the jobsite, but asking them to travel solo to help limit the potential spread of COVID-19. Officials for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, along with the company building the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington […]

The Department of Energy confirmed this week that the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, as well as the cleanup vendor at the Nevada National Security Site, are gradually restarting operations scaled back two months ago to curb the spread of COVID-19 among workers. At press time Friday, there have been 32 confirmed cases of […]

The Department of Energy indicated in a draft report issued Tuesday that vitrified low-activity waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state can be disposed of at the facility, rather than requiring transfer to another location. Conversion of low-activity waste from Hanford’s 177 underground storage tanks into a glass form for disposal is expected to […]

Two runners-up for a potential $13 billion tank closure contract at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state filed protests Wednesday with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Hanford Tank Closure Co. and Tank Closure Partnership LLC both objected to DOE’s May 14 award to Hanford Works Restoration, which is comprised of BWX Technologies, Fluor, […]

The Department of Energy announced Wednesday that the Savannah River Site in South Carolina is starting a “safe and deliberate process to resume operations” scaled back two months ago to curb the spread of COVID-19 among its workforce. In the same news release, the department said a 19th case of COVID-19 had been confirmed at […]

Two runners-up for a potential $13 billion tank closure contract at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state filed protests Wednesday with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Hanford Tank Closure Co. and Tank Closure Partnership LLC both objected to DOE’s May 14 award to Hanford Works Restoration, which is comprised of BWX Technologies, Fluor, […]

The Department of Energy indicated in a draft report issued Tuesday that vitrified low-activity waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state can be disposed of at the facility, rather than requiring transfer to another location. The agency will accept public comment through Sept. 26 on its draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation. The agency […]

Tim Griffin, executive director of the Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Energy, Technology, and Environmental Business Association for nearly five years, has left to take another job. Griffin’s last day was May 8 at the trade group that represents about 170 firms and individuals doing business with the Energy Department or its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration […]

After weeks of speculation, three Department of Energy nuclear sites are entering the first phase of the full resumption of remediation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency’s Office of Environmental Management confirmed Friday. The Hanford Site in Washington state, the Idaho National Laboratory, and the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee are the first to take […]

There’s a good chance of a protest against the recent win by a BWX Technologies team of an Energy Department contract for radioactive waste tank closure at the Hanford Site in Washington state, two industry sources said this week. One one source said he would expect a challenge if for no other reason that one […]

The Energy Department has yet to issue a notice to proceed to the new services contractor selected late last year for the Hanford Site in Washington state, Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS). Typically, most new vendors receive the notice to start transition shortly after either winning the award or prevailing in any protest against […]

The Energy Department has yet to issue a notice to proceed to the new services contractor selected late last year for the Hanford Site in Washington state, Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS). Typically, most new vendors receive the notice to start transition shortly after either winning the award or prevailing in any protest against […]

Stakeholders now have until June 29 to comment on Energy Department plans to use grout to stabilize three underground waste structures at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The original deadline for comments was April 24, which was later extended until May 22, then pushed back again, according to a recent notice from DOE. The […]

The Department of Energy could hold virtual debrief sessions this week for bidders on the Hanford Site Tank Closure Contract just awarded to a team led by BWX Technologies. The sessions should happen Thursday and Friday, an industry source said Monday. During these briefings, DOE explains the thinking behind a contract award. Those companies then […]

Hanford Communities Executive Director Pamela Larsen is retiring after a quarter-century of advocating for localities around the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Larsen is the only executive director in the history of the intergovernmental organization established under Washington state law in 1994. Hanford Communities represents two counties, four cities, and a Port District […]

Perma-Fix Environmental Services on Tuesday reported a 112.3% increase in revenue for the first quarter of 2020, even as the COVID-19 pandemic began to bite into its business. Sales rose from $11.7 million in the first quarter of 2019 to $24.9 million in the three-month period ending March 31 of this year, according to a […]

The Government Accountability Office said Tuesday the Energy Department should use best practices when seeking alternatives to the Pretreatment Facility for the Waste Treatment Plant being built at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The Pretreatment Facility is intended to separate radioactive waste into high-level and low-level streams before processing at the Waste Treatment Plant, […]

The Government Accountability Office was not convinced by the argument from a Bechtel-led team that it should have received a remediation contract at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state because it proposed a cheaper price for performing the first set of tasks than the rival group that won the business. Late Wednesday, the […]

A team led by BWX Technologies is the winner of the Energy Department’s Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management announced the $13 billion contract award Thursday to Hanford Works Restoration. Along with Lynchburg, Va.-based BWXT, the other members of the team are Texas-based companies Fluor […]

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state rose to four as of Wednesday, one more than a week ago. Most of the four infected individuals have “not been on site for several weeks,” DOE Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance said in a post on Facebook. No further […]

The Government Accountability Office was not convinced by the argument from a Bechtel-led joint venture that it should have been issued a long-term contract for remediation at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state because its proposed price tag for performing the first set of tasks was lower than that from the rival group that […]

Hanford Communities Executive Director Pamela Larsen is retiring after a quarter-century of advocating for localities around the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Larsen is the only executive director in the history of the intergovernmental organization established under Washington state law in 1994. Hanford Communities represents two counties, four cities, and a Port District […]

The Government Accountability Office said Tuesday the Energy Department should use best practices when seeking alternatives to the Pretreatment Facility for the Waste Treatment Plant being built at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The Pretreatment Facility is intended to separate radioactive waste into high-level and low-level streams before processing at the Waste Treatment Plant, […]

Top executives for contractors at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state don’t know when staffing will return to normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but said last week changes are being made to protect employee health. The combined federal and contractor workforce at the nuclear cleanup complex is roughly 11,000, but only 20% to […]

Engineering giant Jacobs said Wednesday it took in $3.4 billion in revenue during its fiscal 2020 second quarter, up from the $3.1 billion generated during the same period of 2019, despite moving most of its worldwide workforce to telework. Thanks to rapid action since the beginning of the crisis, Jacobs expedited the shift of its […]

Even as the Energy Department stays mum on the schedule for staffing up operations that have been depopulated during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are increasing indicators that nuclear remediation sites will gradually start bring more workers back inside the fence before the end of June. This is based on comments from sources around the DOE […]

The COVID-19 health crisis is so far having only a marginal impact on BWX Technologies, including delay of certain Energy Department contract awards, President and CEO Rex Geveden said Tuesday, . A potential 10-year deal for management of radioactive waste at the DOE Hanford Site in Washington state probably won’t be issued until late summer, […]