Idaho National Laboratory

A plant built to solidify sodium-bearing liquid radioactive waste at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory is offline for maintenance until June, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). According to a DNFSB staff report dated Feb. 7 and recently posted on the board’s website, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) started […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environment has awarded a three-year contract worth up to $4.5 million to a small Idaho- based consulting company for emergency preparedness training connected to radioactive material shipments. Technical Resources Group, based in Idaho Falls, will provide Environmental Management’s Office of Packaging and Transportation with training to “prepare for a […]

Earnings fell at Amentum Holdings, Chantilly, Va., in fiscal 2024, although the company, which consolidated this summer with the government contracting and cyber wings of Jacobs, sees better days ahead with new  contracts entering the pipeline, such as at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington. For the company’s 2024 fiscal year ended Sept. […]

Concern over farmland damage by elk around the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has federal and state authorities considering a plan to widen the hunting boundary around the DOE complex. DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality are in the midst of a 30-day comment period on […]

Concern over farmland damage by elk around the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has federal and state authorities considering a plan to widen the hunting boundary around the DOE complex. DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality are in the midst of a 30-day comment period on […]

In a sort of paperwork anti-milestone, the Department of Energy last week asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to terminate a materials license for an unbuilt nuclear fuel handling facility once planned for Butte County, Idaho. “The decision has been made that the facility will not be constructed and therefore the License should be terminated,” reads a […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex has entered fiscal 2025 facing more than a half-trillion dollars in environmental liability, the rising threat of cyber-attack and the need to revive plutonium pit production. Those are a few takeaways in a DOE Office of Inspector General (OIG) management challenges report about the department’s Office of Environmental […]

In a sort of paperwork anti-milestone, the Department of Energy last week asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to terminate a materials license for an unbuilt nuclear fuel handling facility once planned for Butte County, Idaho. “The decision has been made that the facility will not be constructed and therefore the License should be terminated,” reads […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 29 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during October, according to figures posted on the facility’s public website. There were 24 shipments from the Idaho National Laboratory, four from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and one from the Los Alamos National Laboratory […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has selected Maria Mitchell-Williams as the next deputy manager of the Idaho Cleanup Project at Idaho National Laboratory. Mitchell-Williams fills the vacancy created when Mark Brown became manager of the cleanup project in March, a DOE spokesperson said in an emailed statement Tuesday to Exchange Monitor. Mitchell-Williams, […]

Vehicle mishaps at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory complex continue to worry the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to a staff report dated Oct.4 and posted on the board’s website. There were four onsite wrecks during September, including one involving an overturned dump truck, although no one was injured, according to the […]

Vehicle mishaps at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory complex continue to worry the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to a staff report dated Oct.4 and posted on the board’s website. There were four onsite wrecks during September, including one involving an overturned dump truck, although no one was injured, according to the […]

Vehicle mishaps at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory complex continue to worry the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to a staff report dated Oct.4 and posted on the board’s website. There were four onsite wrecks during September, including one involving an overturned dump truck, although no one was injured, according to the […]

Ty Blackford, the president and project manager of the Department of Energy’s Amentum-led cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory, told an advisory board Wednesday that he is leaving. At a meeting of the Idaho Cleanup Project’s Citizens Advisory Board, Blackford said this would be his last time meeting with the panel. “I will be […]

Since it resumed operations in late August, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has treated more sodium-bearing waste than it did during its first year of operations, an advisory board heard Wednesday. Since exiting a long-running outage this summer the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) has solidified about […]

A Department of Energy advisory board Wednesday endorsed DOE’s preferred cleanup plan for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The DOE Idaho Cleanup Project Citizens Advisory Board endorsed the $70-million cleanup option in a public meeting.  The public comment period on remediation of the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric […]

Ty Blackford, the president and project manager of the Department of Energy’s Amentum-led cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory, told an advisory board Wednesday that he is leaving. At a meeting of the Idaho Cleanup Project’s Citizens Advisory Board, Blackford said this would be his last time meeting with the panel. “I will be […]

Since it resumed operations in late August, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has treated more sodium-bearing waste than it did during its first year of operations, an advisory board heard Wednesday. Since exiting a long-running outage this summer the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) has solidified about […]

State and federal agencies plan a public meeting this week to discuss cleanup plans for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The public comment period on remediation of the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric Prototype Facility and its defueled reactor vessel at the Idaho National Laboratory started Oct. 15 […]

The Integrated Waste Treatment Unit is again solidifying sodium-bearing liquid waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, a Department of Energy spokesperson said Thursday in an email. “During maintenance, engineers replaced granulated activated carbon beds, which remove mercury during the waste treatment process, replaced process gas filter bundles, and completed minor maintenance operations,” the spokesperson wrote […]

The Integrated Waste Treatment Unit is again solidifying sodium-bearing liquid waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, a Department of Energy spokesperson said Thursday in an email. “During maintenance, engineers replaced granulated activated carbon beds, which remove mercury during the waste treatment process, replaced process gas filter bundles, and completed minor maintenance operations,” the spokesperson wrote […]

Here is a look at how far five Department of Energy nuclear-weapon sites have come in the year since the agency announced a drive to repurpose underutilized land for clean energy generation.  DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy Project launched in July 2023. It was DOE’s way of meeting President Biden’s (D) Executive Order calling on […]

The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup office needs better oversight of contractors doing big, expensive infrastructure projects, according to a federal audit released Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wants DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) to better monitor performance “and hold contractors accountable,” according to the new report. “GAO reviewed five selected EM […]

The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup office needs better oversight of contractors doing big, expensive infrastructure projects, according to a federal audit released Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wants DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) to better monitor performance “and hold contractors accountable,” according to the new report. “GAO reviewed five selected EM […]

Editor’s note: the election digest tracks lawmakers whose constituencies include Department of Energy nuclear sites. Most lawmakers with big nuclear constituencies look, as usual, safe to win reelection this November. However, a few are retiring and some are in tight races. The Exchange Monitor’s election digest is tracking them all. Among the expected Senate retirees […]

Two final Department of Energy small business solicitations, one for technical support at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee and another for a landlord contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky, could be released as early as July, the agency said Thursday. In a June 20 online notice,  DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said final […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 51 shipments of transuranic waste during May, according to the facility’s public website. Also this week, DOE formally announced construction completion of the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System after crews finished ductwork on the project.  The majority, 36, of the May shipments to […]

The Department of Energy nuclear cleanup office placed orders for 219 zero-emissions vehicles in fiscal 2024, which accounts for 89% of the total throughout the department, the Office of Environmental Management at the agency said last week. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management has to date also installed a total of 120 charging ports, the department […]

Environmental crews at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory have discovered three broken ceramic filter elements are to blame for stalling operations at a plant built to solidify liquid sodium-bearing radioactive waste. In March, DOE and its Jacobs-led contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition, decided to suspend restart of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU). While […]

The Department of Energy and its Nevada National Security Administration Wednesday announced the selection of a solar developer to pursue a carbon-free electric project at the Nevada National Security Site. Under the Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have selected Estuary Power LLC & NV Energy as the […]