Hanford Site

The second of two storage tunnels for radioactive waste from the PUREX Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state has been stabilized. Contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. completed work on April 26. “The tunnel has been filled with grout, and we’ve significantly reduced the risk of contaminating Hanford workers, the public, or the […]

The head of the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup office assured a congressional panel Wednesday she will get to the bottom of its mushrooming environmental liability. “We are going to find out,” Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Anne Marie White said when asked about the cause of escalating liability, by Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), during a […]

A small business that worked at the Hanford Site in Washington state, i-3 Global, has been accused of failing to pay $446,618 to another small business two years after being named Department of Energy Protege of the Year. Kennewick, Wash.-based I-3 Global, a provider of information technology and other services, was named in a civil […]

An amendment to Washington state workers’ compensation law for employees of contractors at the Hanford Site takes effect July 28. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed the bill last week to further ease requirements for approval of state workers’ compensation claims, even as the Department of Justice sues to have the underlying bill declared unconstitutional. […]

The second of two storage tunnels for radioactive waste from the PUREX Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state has been stabilized. Contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. completed work on Friday. “The tunnel has been filled with grout, and we’ve significantly reduced the risk of contaminating Hanford workers, the public, or the environment,” […]

Cleanup plans for the Hanford Site in Washington state, along with remediation milestones established under the Tri-Party Agreement, are in “serious jeopardy,” the Hanford Advisory Board said Wednesday in its annual budget advice letter to the Department of Energy. “The HAB views the combined lack of compliant budget appropriations, the unanticipated problems at Hanford, and […]

A Department of Justice civil lawsuit alleging past fraud and kickbacks under the Mission Support Alliance contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state should be dismissed, plaintiffs said in motions filed Wednesday with a federal court. A hearing on their motions is set for Oct. 3 in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington. The […]

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said Wednesday she will ask for a briefing on the Department of Energy’s new end-state contracting model for nuclear cleanup projects, which will be used for the first time at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Cantwell announced her intention after hearing concerns following a tour of the Hanford Site. The […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday gave Bechtel National a rating of “satisfactory,” and 47.9% of the maximum performance fee available for 2018, for its work on the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. That performance evaluation was good for $3.77 million out of a total available $7.87 million in the […]

WASHINGTON — While more than three months have passed since the public comment period closed, the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is “trying to keep this conversation going” on reinterpreting what material should be deemed high-level radioactive waste (HLW) by the Department of Energy. That was the word Wednesday from the ECA’s director of nuclear energy […]

Maryland-based Centrus Energy will hold its annual stockholders online meeting at 10 a.m. ET on June 6. “You will be able to participate in the meeting, vote, and submit questions during the meeting by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/LEU2019,” and entering a control number mailed to shareholders, Centrus President and CEO Daniel Poneman and Board Chairman Mikel Williams […]

Cleanup plans for the Hanford Site in Washington state, along with remediation milestones established under the Tri-Party Agreement, are in “serious jeopardy,” the Hanford Advisory Board said Wednesday in its annual budget advice letter to the Department of Energy. “The HAB views the combined lack of compliant budget appropriations, the unanticipated problems at Hanford, and […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday gave Bechtel National a rating of “satisfactory,” and 47.9% of the maximum performance fee available for 2018, for its work on the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. That performance evaluation was good for $3.77 million out of a total available $7.87 million in the […]

The Department of Energy says it is on schedule to award three prime contracts at the Hanford Site in Washington state in late July and August. “We’re actively in the source selection process now for all of the major contracts at the site other than Bechtel, (which) as you know has a completion contract,” Brian […]

Registration is open for the annual Bridging Partnerships Small Business Symposium, scheduled for May 15-16 near the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Eastern Washington state. The event starts with an optional bus tour of Hanford the morning of May 15. On May 16, talks at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick will address […]

The Department of Energy communication functions at the Hanford Site in Washington state have been combined into a single office as the Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office look for additional opportunities to collaborate more effectively. In February, Brian Vance was named to head both DOE Hanford offices, although they will continue to […]

Mission Support Alliance (MSA) has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by 13 current and former fire captains or platoon sergeants at the Hanford Site who are seeking overtime pay for routinely working beyond 40 hours per week. The case was filed against the Hanford support services contractor in April 2018 in […]

Contractors at the Hanford Site in Washington state overlooked some factors in conducting cost analyses before deciding whether to lease rather than purchase office trailers and other space for their work, according to a recent audit by the Department of Energy inspector general of the agency’s leased space. Those omissions included failing to ensure trailers […]

Open-air demolition using heavy equipment of the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state resumed on Thursday. It is the first demolition at the plant since an airborne spread of radioactive contamination was discovered in December 2017. Workers with cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. were ready to restart teardown […]

Three teams are believed to be vying for the 10-year, $13 billion Tank Closure Contract at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an industry source. Proposals by vendor teams hoping to succeed AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions were due March 21. The Energy Department is scheduled to hear oral presentations by […]

Contractors at the Hanford Site in Washington state overlooked some factors in conducting cost analyses before deciding whether to lease rather than purchase office trailers and other space for their work, according to a recent audit by the Department of Energy inspector general of the agency’s leased space. Those omissions included failing to ensure trailers […]

Open-air demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state is scheduled to resume today after being suspended for more than 15 months. It will be the first demolition at the plant since the airborne spread of radioactive contamination was discovered in December 2017. Workers for Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill […]

Three teams are believed to be vying for the 10-year, $13 billion Tank Closure Contract at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an industry source. Proposals by vendor teams hoping to succeed AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions were due March 21. The Energy Department is scheduled to hear oral presentations by […]

The Department of Energy could take steps to reduce the cost, shorten the schedule, and increase the efficiency of environmental remediation at the Hanford Site in Washington state, according to the agency’s top nuclear cleanup official. Anne White made her fifth trip to Hanford last week on the first anniversary of her March 29, 2018, […]

The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management (EM) expects to speed cleanup of its nuclear sites by decades and save “$100s of millions” in life-cycle costs, according to the Donald Trump administration’s fiscal 2020 budget request. The request, issued in March, would trim the DOE nuclear remediation appropriation from $7.2 billion in fiscal 2019 to […]

Perma-Fix Environmental Services said Monday it is progressing toward renewal of its Washington state Dangerous Waste Regulations permit for its low-level and mixed-low-level radioactive waste processing facility in the city of Richland. The permit for the Perma-Fix Northwest plant, near the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, expired in 2010 and has yet to be renewed. […]

The Department of Energy on Monday issued preliminary notices of violation to CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. over repeated incidents of radiological contamination spread at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Radioactive particles were found outside the established radiological control boundary of the Plutonium Finishing Plant demolition site in 2017 and 2018. The Energy Department […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry suggested Tuesday he is ready to again suspend his agency’s past practice of bartering excess government uranium to help pay for environmental remediation at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. “I agree with you,” Perry told Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a vocal opponent of the practice, during a Senate Energy and Natural […]

The Department of Energy on Monday issued preliminary notices of violation to CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. over repeated incidents of radiological contamination spread at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Radioactive particles were found outside the established radiological control boundary of the Plutonium Finishing Plant demolition site in 2017 and 2018. The Energy Department […]

The state of Washington on March 22 asked a federal judge to rule in its favor without going to trial in the Hanford Site workers’ compensation lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice in December. The Justice Department sued the state in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington, saying a new state law that increases […]