Hanford Site

Two workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state on Friday received medical evaluations after one smelled a suspicious odor and developed symptoms consistent with possible exposure to chemical vapors from radioactive tank waste, according to tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS). The second worker had no symptoms but requested a medical check […]

Respiratory protection requirements have again been eased at a Hanford Site double-shell tank farm, with directives in some additional radioactive waste storage tank farms expected to be reduced later this summer, according to contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS). Workers now are allowed to use full-face air-purifying respirators equipped with filter cartridges as protection from […]

Watchdog group Hanford Challenge is objecting to a Department of Energy plan to classify the waste remaining in the Hanford Site’s C Tank Farm as residual waste, or waste incidental to reprocessing (WIR). The new classification would allow the remaining waste in the C Farm’s 16 tanks to be considered low-level radioactive waste and the […]

Three technologies are sufficiently developed for consideration to treat some of the low-activity radioactive waste stored at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to a new report from a National Academies panel. The panel plans to issue four reports on supplemental treatment of Hanford low-activity waste. Congress ordered the study, which is […]

Washington Closure Hanford agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle a civil lawsuit alleging subcontracting fraud at the Hanford Site cleanup in Washington state, the Department of Justice announced on June 8. The parties told U.S. District Judge Sal Mendoza Jr. the day before they had reached an agreement but did not release the amount […]

An Idaho environmental group said this week it has significant concerns about the potential for the Energy Department to move 7,000 cubic meters of transuranic waste from the Hanford Site in Washington state to the Idaho National Laboratory for repackaging. While no written application has been filed, the idea has been kicking around DOE for […]

Bechtel, a major contractor for the Energy Department’s nuclear complex, announced June 7 it will move its corporate headquarters to one of Washington, D.C.’s Northern Virginia suburbs. The international engineering, procurement, and construction company said it will move corporate operations from Houston and San Francisco to Reston, Va., by the end of 2018. Bechtel already […]

Workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state successfully transferred the first batch of highly radioactive sludge out of underwater storage in the K West Reactor Basin late Tuesday afternoon. The Department of Energy had a Tri-Party Agreement deadline, reset most recently in 2015, to start removing sludge from the basin by the end of […]

The Department of Energy on Thursday released its request for proposals for an occupational medical services provider for the Hanford Site in Washington state. The new contract is expected to feature three types of scope: firm-fixed price, cost reimbursement, and indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity. The estimated value of the contract was increased from $120 million when […]

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to close debate on its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2019, setting up a floor vote Monday on the measure that sets spending caps on defense environmental cleanup at the Department of Energy. Senators voted 81-15 in favor of cloture. The defense policy bill, passed […]

Workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state successfully transferred the first batch of highly radioactive sludge out of underwater storage in the K West Reactor Basin late Tuesday afternoon. The Department of Energy had a Tri-Party Agreement deadline, reset most recently in 2015, to start removing sludge from the basin by the end of […]

An Idaho environmental group said Wednesday it has significant concerns about an Energy Department plan to move 7,000 cubic meters of transuranic waste from the Hanford Site Washington state to the Idaho National Laboratory for repackaging. The idea has been kicking around DOE for a couple years but seems to be “ripening” in recent months […]

Three technologies are sufficiently developed for consideration to treat some of the low-activity radioactive waste stored at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to a new report from a National Academies panel. The panel plans to issue four reports on supplemental treatment of Hanford low-activity waste. Congress ordered the study, which is […]

Watchdog group Hanford Challenge is objecting to a Department of Energy plan to classify the waste remaining in the Hanford Site’s C Tank Farm as residual waste, or waste incidental to reprocessing (WIR). The new classification would allow the remaining waste in the C Farm’s 16 tanks to be considered low-level radioactive waste and the […]

Bechtel, a major contractor for the Energy Department’s nuclear complex, announced Thursday it will move its corporate headquarters to one of Washington, D.C.’s Northern Virginia suburbs. The international engineering, procurement, and construction company said it will move corporate operations from Houston and San Francisco to Reston, Va., by the end of 2018. Bechtel already has […]

Washington Closure Hanford agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle a civil lawsuit alleging subcontracting fraud at the Hanford Site cleanup in Washington state, the Department of Justice announced Friday afternoon. The parties told U.S. District Judge Sal Mendoza Jr. on Thursday they had reached an agreement but did not release the amount at that […]

The Energy Department’s staggering environmental liability at its Manhattan Project and Cold War nuclear sites keeps Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White “up at night,” she said Thursday in Washington, D.C. Environmental liability is one of the U.S. government’s larger line items, behind the federal debt and entitlement programs such as Social […]

Washington Closure Hanford and the Department of Justice told a federal judge Thursday they had reached a settlement agreement in a civil lawsuit alleging the then-Hanford Site cleanup contractor knowingly awarded small business subcontracts to front companies. They told the judge they would execute the agreement on Thursday, but had not filed it with the […]

Spending plans that would ensure the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) will have somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 billion for cleanup of Cold War nuclear sites in fiscal 2019 continue to make their way through Congress. On Friday morning, the House of Representatives approved its fiscal 2019 energy and water appropriations as […]

Two candidates with ties to organizations funded by or concerned with the Los Alamos National Laboratory won primary elections Tuesday night that effectively assure them seats in the New Mexico state House of Representatives, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico secretary of state. Andrea Romero, former executive director of the local interest group […]

The Senate’s latest National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would allow the Department of Energy to spend $5.63 billion on defense environmental cleanup operations in fiscal 2019. That matches the department’s request for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, but it is $50 million lower than the level authorized in the House NDAA. The Senate measure […]

A wildfire Sunday evening burned across 2,800 acres of the Hanford Site in Eastern Washington but reached no radiologically contaminated areas or structures before it was contained. The fire, believed to have been ignited by a lightning strike, was discovered at about 6:45 p.m. after it had burned 5 acres. But windy weather caused it […]

Longtime Energy Department nuclear cleanup hand Ken Picha has been named to a top post at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) on an acting basis. Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management Anne Marie White said in a widely distributed email on May 25 that Picha was replacing Dae Chung as acting EM associate […]

The Department of Energy would continue to have an Office of River Protection at the Hanford Site until 2024 under an approved amendment in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2019. Since 1998, DOE has divided its cleanup work at the former plutonium production complex in Washington state between two […]

The Department of Energy has approved the documented safety analysis required for hot commissioning of the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant. Completion of the 7,000-page document is a required milestone for plant contractor Bechtel National, worth up to $6.65 million in fees. Bechtel National nuclear safety engineers spent three years […]

Hanford Site services contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) said Wednesday it has named a new vice president and a leader for the HAMMER federal training center. Karen McGinnis, who has led the development and then operation of HAMMER for 27 years, will retire in June. Paul Vandervert will become director of the facility effective June […]

Bechtel National, the construction and commissioning contractor for the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant, did not contest a preliminary notice of violation for a 2016 worker injury by the deadline at the end of last week. The Office of Enforcement within the Energy Department Office of Enterprise Assessments had given the company 30 days to […]

Hanford Site services contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) said Wednesday it has named a new vice president and a leader for the HAMMER federal training center. Karen McGinnis, who has led the development and then operation of HAMMER for 27 years, will retire in June. Paul Vandervert will become director of the facility effective June […]

Longtime Energy Department nuclear cleanup hand Ken Picha has been named to a top post at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) on an acting basis. Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management Anne Marie White said in a widely distributed email Friday that Picha is replacing Dae Chung as acting EM associate principal deputy […]

Bechtel National, the construction and commissioning contractor for the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant, did not contest a preliminary notice of violation for a 2016 worker injury by the deadline at the end of last week. The Office of Enforcement within the Energy Department Office of Enterprise Assessments had given the company 30 days to […]