Archive

Office of Environmental Management (EM)

DOE’s Office of Environmental Management runs the cleanup of Cold War nuclear weapons production sites, the largest environmental remediation program in the world. Coverage tracks EM budgets, contract awards, tank waste treatment, and site closure milestones across Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge, Idaho, Portsmouth, and Paducah.

  • Parsons Reduces its 2021 Earnings Guidance

    Earnings fell at Parsons, Centreville, Va., in the 2nd quarter, which the defense and infrastructure company attributed in part to its acquisition announced in June of BlackHorse Solutions, a company involved in cyber and artificial intelligence, for $203 million. Net income for the second quarter ended June 30 was $6.7 million or $0.7 per share […]

  • DOE Spells Out Steps to Stem Rising COVID Case Count Around Nuclear Sites

    The Department of Energy is taking steps to implement White House policy to stem the tide of increasing COVID-19 infections by again ordering mask wearing indoors, giving more time off to have family members vaccinated and holding off on many in-person meetings. Effective immediately, “any DOE-hosted in-person meeting, conference, or event that will be attended […]

  • Senate Appropriators’ EM Budget Hair Lower Than House

    The Senate Appropriations Committee approved 25-to-five on Wednesday a fiscal year 2022 spending bill for the Department of Energy and other agencies with roughly $7.7-billion for Department of Energy nuclear weapons cleanup. The committee’s plan for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) office, which oversees cleanup of 16 Cold War and Manhattan Project nuclear sites, […]

  • Jacobs Bosses Cheer Idaho Cleanup Contract

    During an earnings call Tuesday with Wall Street analysts, top executives at Jacobs said the company is excited about leading a joint venture becoming the new remediation contractor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. “During the quarter Jacobs was awarded the Idaho Cleanup Project at Idaho National Laboratory as a majority partner in […]

  • Lawsuit at Portsmouth Placed on Hold Until November

    A federal suit brought by former security guards at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio along with other individuals alleging “racketeering” by contractors at the nuclear complex has been stayed for 120 days to give plaintiffs time to replace their trial lawyers. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Deavers in the U.S. District Court for Southern […]

  • DOE, Washington State Resuming Hanford Talks After July Pause

    The Department of Energy, the Washington state Department of Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are expected to resume later this month what have been dubbed the “holistic” talks about future cleanup deadlines at the Hanford Site. “Vacation schedules have complicated meeting during July, but mediation sessions may potentially resume in August,” according to […]

  • Hanford Copes With Heat, Contamination Problems

    During an unusually hot summer, some crews at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state are sweating through their protective clothing, according to federal safety reports. Hanford workers at the Liquid Effluent Retention Facility experienced some incidents of contamination during June and July after management modified requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE) as […]

  • BWXT 2Q Earnings Fall But Revenue Remains Steady

    Earnings fell at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the second quarter, which the Department of Energy contractor and maker of nuclear submarine reactors and components attributed to non-recurring costs such as commercializing a line of medical isotopes, plus higher interest rates. Net income for the second quarter ended June 30 was $59.4 million or $0.62 […]

  • Quarterly Earnings Down While Revenue Rises at Jacobs

    Earnings from operations dipped at Jacobs, Dallas, in the third quarter of fiscal 2021, which the international engineering and construction company attributed in part to a non-cash valuation connected with its March purchase of the majority stake in PA Consulting. Net earnings for the third quarter ended July 2 were $165 million, or $0.82 a […]

  • Contractor CEOs Could Use Earnings Week to Comment on White House Vax Policy

    If the recent past is a guide, CEOs at some of the nation’s largest publicly-traded Department of Energy contractors could use their upcoming public earnings calls with Wall Street analysts to discuss President Joe Biden’s toughened stance on vaccinations for federal employees and on-site contractors. Weapons complex contractors BWXT, Fluor, Huntington Ingalls, Jacobs, Leidos and […]

  • Senate Defense Bill Restores SRS Community Funds, Would Keep GAO Busy on EM Issues

    Like a spending bill passed Thursday by the full House of Representatives, the National Defense Authorization Act that cleared Senate Armed Services last week, restores $5.7 million in community funds the Joe Biden White House left out of its fiscal 2022 budget request for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. That […]

  • Jacobs Coalition to Start Transition at Idaho National Laboratory Oct. 1

    The Jacobs-led Idaho Environmental Coalition should take over cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory around Jan. 1, 2022, an agency spokesperson said via email Friday. The Jacob-led joint venture, awarded the potential 10-year, $6.4-billion contract in May, received its notice to proceed on July 20. The 90-day changeover from incumbent Fluor Idaho […]

  • White House Takes Tougher Line on Vaccinations for Federal Workers, Contractors

    Uncle Sam has long wanted federal workers and contractors to get vaccinated against COVID-19 but now is growing more insistent, with infections on the rise around Department of Energy nuclear installations. President Joe Biden this week reinstated mandatory mask wearing in government buildings and imposed a series of safety measures and restrictions for federal workers […]

  • House Passes Bill With Nearly $7.8B for EM; Next Stop Senate for Fiscal 2022 Budget

    The House of Representatives voted 219 to 208 Thursday on a party line to approve a package of seven fiscal 2022 spending bills including one that sets the budget for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management at $7.76 billion. The bill, which includes DOE along with the other agencies as part of H.R. […]

  • Court Offers Mediation in DOE Portsmouth Contamination Lawsuit

    A federal district court in Ohio has said attorneys involved in a lawsuit over off-site radioactive contamination from the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio should explore potential mediation soon. A notice published Friday by Richard Nagel, the federal clerk for the U.S. District Court in Southern Ohio, listed a case brought by Ursula […]

  • 2 New Panels Should Pose No Big Threat at WIPP, DOE Says

    Developing two new deep-mine panels for disposal of transuranic waste at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., should not entail new environmental risks, according to a document posted last week on the procurement website for a new prime contract. Excavation and use of two replacement panels, dubbed Panels 11 and […]

  • DOE 2022 Budget Includes $9 Million Toward Emergency Ops Center

    The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board heard Monday the proposed fiscal 2022 budget proposal for the Department of Energy site in South Carolina includes $9 million toward development of a new emergency operations center. The minibus appropriations package passed by the full House of Representatives Thursday also includes the $9 million for the new […]

  • WIPP Lays Groundwork for Resumption of Remote-Handled Waste Shipments

    The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has opened a training center in Carlsbad, N.M., to prepare staff for resumption of shipments of remote-handled waste at the underground disposal facility, the agency tweeted this week. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has not taken shipments of remote-handled (RH) transuranic waste using RH-72B casks since […]

  • No Sign of Ammonia Detected at Tank Farm Area Where Odors Detected

    Testing done in recent weeks by the Department of Energy at the Hanford Site in Washington state has turned up no signs the foul odor encountered by workers around a tank farm was ammonia from tank vapors, an agency spokesperson said this week. Following last month’s incident three employees were checked out at a Richland, […]

  • Wrap Up: HII Makes Acting N3B Boss Permanent N3B Boss, OIG Reviews EM Cyber

    Huntington Ingalls Industries this week officially made Kimberly Lebak the full-time president and general manager of the joint venture in charge of legacy cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Lebak has run the Huntington Ingalls-led Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) since May when she stepped in for […]

  • No Decision Issued Yet by EM Brass on Savannah River Panel Staffing Proposal

    The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has made no decision yet on a Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board proposal to allow members to serve beyond their term expiration dates in order to keep the panel near full strength. The Office of Environmental Management (EM) headquarters is reviewing the Savannah River Site (SRS) […]

  • Superfund Sites Could Share in $3.5B Over 5 Years in Infrastructure Bill

    A roughly $1-trillion infrastructure bill negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators could provide Superfund sites with more than $3 billion for cleanup over the next five years. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would increase federal investment in projects including roads, bridges and broadband —and quicken cleanup of environmental contamination through $3.5 billion […]

  • No Decision Issued Yet by EM Brass on Savannah River Panel’s Staffing Proposal

    The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has made no decision yet on a Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board proposal to allow members to serve beyond their term expiration dates in order to keep the panel near full strength. The Office of Environmental Management (EM) headquarters is reviewing the Savannah River Site (SRS) […]

  • Superfund Sites Could Share in $3.5B Over 5 Years in Infrastructure Bill

    A roughly $1-trillion infrastructure bill negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators could provide Superfund sites with more than $3 billion for cleanup over the next five years. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would increase federal investment in projects including roads, bridges and broadband —and quicken cleanup of environmental contamination through $3.5 billion […]

  • WIPP Lays Groundwork for Resumption of Remote-Handled Waste Shipments

    The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has opened a training center in Carlsbad, N.M., to prepare staff for resumption of shipments of remote-handled waste at the underground disposal facility, the agency tweeted Monday. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has not taken shipments of remote-handled (RH) transuranic waste using RH-72B casks since 2014, […]

  • No Sign of Ammonia Found at Tank Farm Area Where Odors Detected

    Testing done in recent weeks by the Department of Energy at the Hanford Site in Washington state has turned up no signs the foul odor encountered by workers around a tank farm was ammonia from tank vapors, an agency spokesperson said Tuesday. Following last month’s incident three employees were checked out at a Richland, Wash., […]

  • Court Offers Mediation in DOE Portsmouth Contamination Lawsuit

    A federal district court in Ohio has said attorneys involved in a lawsuit over off-site radioactive contamination from the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio should explore potential mediation soon. A notice published Friday by Richard Nagel, the federal clerk for the U.S. District Court in Southern Ohio, listed a case brought by Ursula […]

  • DOE 2022 Budget Includes $9 Million Toward Emergency Ops Center

    The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board heard Monday the proposed fiscal 2022 budget proposal for the Department of Energy site in South Carolina includes $9 million toward development of a new emergency operations center. The minibus appropriations package scheduled for debate Tuesday afternoon on the House floor also includes the $9 million for the […]

  • 2 New Panels Should Pose No Big Threat at WIPP, DOE Says

    Developing two new deep-mine panels for disposal of transuranic waste at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., should not entail new environmental risks, according to a document posted last week on the procurement website for a new prime contract. Excavation and use of two replacement panels, dubbed Panels 11 and […]

  • Senate Defense Bill Restores SRS Community Funds, Would Keep GAO Busy on EM Issues

    Like a spending bill passed earlier this month by the House Appropriation Committee, the National Defense Authorization Act that cleared Senate Armed Services last week,restores $5.7 million in community funds the Joe Biden White House left out of its fiscal 2022 budget request for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. That […]