Hanford Site

Uncertainty over Department of Energy funding and guidance at the Hanford Site in Washington state threatens to bog down work at the nation’s largest nuclear cleanup site, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash) told Secretary of Energy Chirs Wright Wednesday. “The Hanford Site is on the brink of having to lay off subcontractors and restart an entire […]

The Department of Energy received hundreds of responses to a request for information, which closed earlier this month, seeking stakeholder input on placing data centers on DOE nuclear sites, officials said this week. The request for information that went out in April closed May 7, not only drew hundreds of responses, but the comments were […]

The current head of the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management told a Senate Armed Services Committee panel this week progress is being made toward solidifying liquid radioactive waste left over from the Cold War and Manhattan Project. Roger Jarrell II, DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary for Environmental Management (EM) also told the […]

EnergySolutions, Salt Lake City, said Tuesday it is planning to seek an Early Site Permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the shuttered Kewaunee nuclear power plant in Wisconsin. The company is collaborating with WEC Energy Group (WEC) to explore new nuclear generation in Wisconsin, EnergySolutions said in a press release. WEC is a Milwaukee-based […]

A center for processing and storing transuranic waste could start up at the Hanford Site in 2033, Department of Energy and Washington state officials said during a public meeting last week. DOE and Washington state Department of Ecology managers on May 7 summarized plans to build and run a proposed Contact-Handled Waste Processing Treatment and […]

Two former federal prosecutors central to many U.S. Justice Department legal cases involving the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, have joined San Diego-based plaintiffs’ law firm with offices across the Western United States. Singleton Schreiber announced in an April 28 press release that former U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref and former Assistant U.S. […]

A center for processing and storing transuranic waste could start up at the Hanford Site in 2033, Department of Energy and Washington state officials said during a public meeting last week. DOE and Washington state Department of Ecology managers on May 7 summarized plans to build and run a proposed Contact-Handled Waste Processing Treatment and […]

The Washington state Department of Ecology has promoted John Temple to a waste management section manager position. The job opened up when a prior section manager, Eddie Holbrook was promoted to deputy program manager, according to an Ecology spokesperson. Temple’s new post was announced May 7 by Program Manager Stephanie Schleif during a meeting of […]

Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions, which recently completed its long run as tank farm contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, is looking for a subcontractor to help audit the books. Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), a joint venture of Amentum and Atkins, said in a federal procurement notice it is […]

The Department of Energy is in no rush to transfer operation of the new Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant to the new liquid waste contractor from the builder of the multi-billion facility, the Hanford Site Advisory Board heard Wednesday. Bechtel National, which in December 2000 acquired the contract to build the plant to convert  liquid […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said despite proposed budget cuts, there should be no slowdown in remediation at Department of Energy nuclear cleanup sites. “Through doing things smarter, there won’t be any slowdown” in nuclear cleanup at Cold War and Manhattan Project sites, Wright told Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) during a Congressional hearing Wednesday. The […]

Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions, which recently completed its long run as tank farm contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, is looking for a subcontractor to help audit the books. Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), a joint venture of Amentum and Atkins, said in a federal procurement notice it is […]

During the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term he has moved aggressively to reduce the federal workforce and the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex has not been immune. Trump’s second term, which started Jan. 20, hit the 100-day mark this week on April 30.  A document shared with Exchange Monitor in […]

The Department of Energy said Thursday it has completed its 2,000-gallon demonstration of the so-called Test Bed Initiative at the Hanford Site in Washington state. In a press release, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said it has sent two shipments of treated, low-level radioactive tank waste to commercial disposal sites in Texas and Utah. The […]

With Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance having resigned from the Department of Energy, longtime federal supervisor Brian Harkins is now the highest-ranking fed at the former plutonium production complex in Washington state, a spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. Acting deputy manager Brian Harkins is currently leading the site, after Vance’s departure last week, a DOE spokesperson said […]

With Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance having resigned from the Department of Energy, longtime federal supervisor Brian Harkins is now the highest-ranking fed at the former plutonium production complex in Washington state, a spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. Acting deputy manager Brian Harkins is currently leading the site, after Vance’s departure last week, a DOE spokesperson said […]

The DOE Hanford Site did not meet a technical safety requirement regarding the fissile mass of a waste box, according to a Feb. 28 report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Personnel at the site discovered the waste box with a fissile mass value exceeding the container limit in an outside storage area, according […]

In a Lifecycle report released every three years, the Department of Energy said costs to fully complete the nation’s biggest and most expensive nuclear cleanup in Washington State will be between $364 billion and $589.4 billion. The Hanford Lifecycle Scope, Schedule, and Cost Report, released April 15, also estimated that cleanup could not be complete […]

The DOE Hanford Site did not meet a technical safety requirement regarding the fissile mass of a waste box, according to a Feb. 28 report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Personnel at the site discovered the waste box with a fissile mass value exceeding the container limit in an outside storage area, according […]

With the top two feds at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state leaving, an interim deputy manager, Brian Harkins, has been appointed effective April 3. The selection of Harkins to serve as the acting deputy was announced in a recent staff memo from DOE Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance. Harkins replaced deputy […]

The Donald Trump administration’s pick to be deputy secretary of energy, told a Senate panel Wednesday that if confirmed his focus would be on easing federal regulatory approval for new infrastructure and electricity projects.   In his prepared testimony to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, James Danly also said keeping the Department of Energy’s […]

The departure of the Department of Energy’s top manager for nuclear cleanup at the Hanford Site in Washington state as well as federal layoffs at site, concern the head of the advocacy group Hanford Challenge. In a Friday email response to Exchange Monitor the executive director of Seattle-based Hanford Challenge said he was caught off […]

A virtual public meeting is scheduled April 30 on a proposal to build a facility to analyze, store and process transuranic and mixed low-level wastes at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. DOE’s Hanford Field Office and the Washington state Department of Ecology will hold the briefing at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time. […]

The pending departure of the Department of Energy’s top manager for nuclear cleanup at the Hanford Site in Washington state as well as federal layoffs at site, concern the head of the advocacy group Hanford Challenge. In a Friday email response to Exchange Monitor the executive director of Seattle-based Hanford Challenge said he was caught […]

The lease for a Department of Labor office set up in Richland, Wash., to handle claims from workers made ill from nuclear weapons-related work at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, could be on the chopping block, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said last week. In addition to the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, the White […]

The manager of the Department of Energy’s largest and most expensive nuclear cleanup property announced Wednesday he is leaving the department. “After much consideration, I have made the very difficult decision to resign as Hanford Field Office manager, effective on April 24, 2025,” said Brian Vance, Hanford Site manager in a Wednesday memo to site […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is accepting public comments between now and April 23 on plans to grout some of the less-radioactive waste from the 200 West Area. The draft analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act looks at DOE’s plans to pretreat tank waste from the 200 West Area and […]

The manager of the Department of Energy’s largest and most expensive nuclear cleanup property announced Wednesday he is leaving the department. “After much consideration, I have made the very difficult decision to resign as Hanford Field Office manager, effective on April 24, 2025,” said Brian Vance, Hanford Site manager in a Wednesday memo to site […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is accepting public comments between now and April 23 on plans to grout some of the less-radioactive waste from the 200 West Area. The draft analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act looks at DOE’s plans to pretreat tank waste from the 200 West Area and […]

Local development officials in the Tri-Cities area of Washington state remain cautiously optimistic a major new solar power project envisioned for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site will happen despite a change in administrations. Officials at DOE and the Chicago-based developer, Hecate Energy, both declined comment last week. Also last week, Roger Jarrell, a DOE […]