Idaho National Laboratory
A Department of Energy national laboratory in eastern Idaho focused on nuclear energy research, reactor testing, and advanced reactor development.
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: Paducah Services Bids Delayed 2 Weeks
The Energy Department has again extended the deadline for bids on a potential five-year, $250 million support services contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. In a notice published last week, DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said proposals are now due by 4 p.m. EDT on April 16. Originally, proposals were due March 19 […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Earthquake Rattles Idaho; No Damage Detected at INL So Far
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake shook Idaho at around 6 p.m. local time Tuesday, with the epicenter about 120 miles from the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. “While ground shaking was felt, there was no damage to any INL facilities,” INL spokesperson Sarah Neumann said in a Wednesday email. It was […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP Taking Limited Waste Shipments Following Maintenance Outage
The Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., is taking a reduced number of waste shipments following a recently concluded maintenance outage that coincided with a national public health emergency. The underground disposal facility for defense-related transuranic waste is accepting “limited shipping to support critical operations within the DOE complex while observing COVID-19 […]
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Transuranic Waste
Pandemic Forces DOE Cleanup Sites to Scale Back Work
While only a handful of COVID-19 cases have been confirmed to date across the Energy Department nuclear complex, most nuclear remediation sites are dramatically scaling back operations as the pandemic expands. That finding is based on conversations with sources who work with DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, public websites and social media posts, and stay-at-home […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Idaho Fines Against DOE Approach $7.8 Million
Idaho continues to assess $6,000 in daily penalties against the Department of Energy for failure to treat 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing liquid radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, and the total is approaching $7.8 million, a state official said last week. The penalties will continue until the lab’s the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
COVID-19 Could Gum Up DOE Nuclear Cleanup Contract Pipeline
As its impact spreads across the United States, the COVID-19 outbreak could further delay procurements at the Energy Department nuclear cleanup office, industry sources said this week. The DOE Office of Environmental Management has a difficult time issuing new contracts on time even “when there is not a pandemic,” a manager with one federal contractor […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
COVID-19 Could Slow Three DOE Nuclear Cleanup Contracts
The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management could tap the brakes on a trio of major procurements due to the ongoing national emergency surrounding the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Due to travel restrictions and other uncertainty spawned by the outbreak, the Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) said in a special notice Saturday it might […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Idaho Fines Against DOE Approach $7.8 Million
Idaho continues to assess $6,000 in daily penalties against the Department of Energy for failure to treat 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing liquid radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, and the total is approaching $7.8 million, a state official said last week. The penalties will continue until the lab’s the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP Could Focus More on Disposal of NNSA Waste in Future
PHOENIX — As time goes by, the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico could increasingly dispose of transuranic material from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a top nuclear cleanup official said here Monday. The Idaho National Laboratory is far and away the No. 1 shipper of defense-related transuranic waste to the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Nuclear Cleanup Office at DOE No Longer Publishing Procurement Schedules
PHOENIX – The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is no longer producing a public roundup of solicitation timelines for cleanup jobs within the nuclear weapons complex, a procurement official said here Tuesday. “We no longer have a procurement schedule on the website,” Norbert Doyle, EM deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and program management, […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
2020 Called Pivotal Year for DOE Tank Waste, Cleanup
PHOENIX — By the end of 2020, the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management expects to start operation of facilities in Idaho and South Carolina that will convert radioactive tank waste into stable forms for eventual disposal, agency officials said here Monday. The Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at the Savannah River Site in South […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: DOE Still Working on PILT Issues, Secretary Says
An Energy Department working group is still grappling with recommended changes on management of the payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) program for communities around nuclear facilities, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said Feb. 27. During a hearing of the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee, the secretary promised to personally brief Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Idaho Cleanup Industry Day Draws Major Contractors
Roughly 90 representatives from some of the Energy Department’s major contractors registered for an industry day last week on the potential 15-year, $6.4 billion cleanup contract for the Idaho National Laboratory. The Energy Department issued the draft request for proposals for the award last month. It followed that up with a tour, informational program, and […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Idaho Cleanup Industry Day Draws Major Contractors
Roughly 90 representatives from some of the Energy Department’s major contractors registered for an industry day last week on the potential 15-year, $6.4 billion cleanup contract for the Idaho National Laboratory. The Energy Department issued the draft request for proposals for the award last month. It followed that up with a tour, informational program, and […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Multi-Agency Review to Evaluate Effectiveness of INL Remediation
The Energy Department, together with the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, have launched a site-wide five-year review of cleanup at the Idaho National Laboratory. Five-year reviews gauge the effectiveness of remediation efforts as required by the Superfund law, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Fluor Idaho said […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Energy Dept. Still Working on PILT Issues, Secretary Says
An Energy Department working group is still grappling with recommended changes on management of the payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) program for communities around nuclear facilities, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said Thursday. During a hearing of the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee, the secretary promised to personally brief Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) on […]
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Transuranic Waste
Wash. Congressman Balks at Shrinking Hanford Funding in Fiscal 2021
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) on Thursday expressed dismay at the dramatically reduced level of money the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state would receive under the White House latest budget request. The agency has a moral and legal obligation to clean up 56 million gallons of liquid waste, generated by decades of plutonium production […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
SPRU Effectively Finished, Hanford Reclamation to Last to 2075
While remediation is nearly complete at a couple of the 16 sites overseen by the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management, other cleanup efforts could last late into this century, according a roundup included in the Donald Trump administration’s budget request for fiscal 2021. The Energy Department announced in June 2019 that demolition of facilities […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
BWXT Chief Sees ‘Robust’ DOE Contract Pipeline
While BWX Technologies lost out on a multibillion-dollar remediation contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state, President and CEO Rex Geveden said Tuesday he is optimistic about a “robust” pipeline of potential Energy Department projects. “Unfortunately, we were not awarded the Hanford Central Plateau Cleanup contract,” Geveden said during the Lynchburg, Va.-based company’s quarterly […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Energy Dept. Headquarters Would Get Most Interim Storage Funding in FY21
Funds for the Department of Energy’s planned program for interim storage of nuclear waste in the upcoming budget would be focused on headquarters operations in Washington, D.C., with smaller amounts distributed to Idaho and Nevada, according to figures released Monday. The Energy Department on Feb. 10 requested $27.5 million for an Interim Storage and Nuclear […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Fluor Calls Off Sale of Government Biz, Faces SEC Scrutiny
Engineering and procurement giant Fluor seemingly caught its peers in the nuclear contracting complex off-guard Tuesday in announcing it would not proceed with the sale of its government services business. As recently as last week some managers within Fluor were still talking as if the sale was going forward, an executive with a rival Energy […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Fluor Stock Drops By Nearly 25% in Tuesday Trading
Fluor’s stock lost nearly a quarter of its value in trading Tuesday after the company released partial earnings numbers because it is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for 2019 accounting practices. The stock closed the day at $14.79 per share, roughly 24% lower than its Friday closing price of $19.54 per […]
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Transuranic Waste
White House Proposes Cutting DOE Nuclear Remediation Spending to $6.1B
The Donald Trump administration on Monday requested $6.1 billion for the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management during fiscal 2021, which would be an 18% reduction from the $7.5 billion enacted by Congress in the current budget year. It also represents a $400 million slice from the $6.5 billion the White House sought last March […]
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Transuranic Waste
Draft RFP Released for Energy Dept. Idaho Cleanup Contract
The Energy Department on Tuesday issued a draft request for proposals for the potential 10-to-15-year, $6.4 billion contract for the Idaho Cleanup Project. The work at the Idaho National Laboratory includes operation of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, management and disposal of both low-level radioactive and transuranic waste, decommissioning old facilities, and spent fuel management […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Draft RFP Issued for Energy Dept. Idaho Cleanup Contract
The Energy Department on Tuesday issued a draft request for proposals for the potential 10-year, $6.4 billion contract for the Idaho Cleanup Project. The Idaho National Laboratory cleanup contract includes operation of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, management and disposal of both low-level radioactive and transuranic waste, decommissioning old facilities, and spent fuel management of […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Oak Ridge, Other Sites Would Take Haircut Under White House Request
Several of the 16 nuclear cleanup sites overseen by the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management would receive less money during the upcoming fiscal 2021 than they do in the current budget, under the latest spending proposal from the administration of President Donald Trump. Environmental remediation funding for the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee would […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE Cleanup Office Makes Trio of Management Moves
Energy Department Office of Environmental Management leaders on Thursday said three longtime supervisors are getting new roles. Dae Chung will become the new associate principal deputy assistant secretary for corporate services; Connie Flohr will head DOE’s Idaho Cleanup Project; and Candice Roberson will be the new senior site liaison coordinator within Environmental Management’s (EM) Field […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Idaho, DOE Seal Deal on Managing Spent Fuel From National Lab Reactor
The Department of Energy and the state of Idaho on Tuesday sealed a deal that would allow some spent nuclear fuel to remain at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) past the deadline set under a 1995 agreement. The 25-year-old Settlement Agreement between the state, the Energy Department, and the Navy requires that all federally managed […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Idaho, DOE Seal Deal on Spent Fuel From National Lab Reactor
The Department of Energy and the state of Idaho on Tuesday sealed an agreement on management of spent nuclear fuel generated by the Advanced Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory. The nearly 53-year-old reactor is used for government and commercial research and testing on nuclear fuels and materials, including on fuel that powers naval […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Waste Technical Review Board Seeks Closer Tie With DOE Cleanup Office
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board wants to forge a closer working relationship with the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. In a Jan. 10 letter to DOE Senior Adviser for Environmental Management William (Ike) White, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board Chairwoman Jean Bahr urged “a framework for more regular interaction” between the two […]







