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.

  • NAS Putting Together Expert Panel to Vet Analysis of Supplemental LAW at Hanford

    The National Academies of Science are putting together a panel of experts to look at the thoroughness and technical quality of a recent analysis done by the Department of Energy national laboratories on supplemental treatment options for low-activity tank waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Nominations are due by May 21 via this […]

  • N3B President Morgan Heading Back to Huntington Ingalls

    The president of News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) Glenn Morgan is leaving his post with the legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and taking a job with Huntington Ingalls Industries. “I wanted to let you know that I have been called upon to fill a corporate position for […]

  • Sparking Drum at Los Alamos Sparks Concern at DNFSB

    An April 16 staff report by a federal watchdog questions if the Department of Energy and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration have fully learned lessons stemming from a drum breach and radiation release that shut down the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico in February 2014. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) […]

  • DOE to Brief Oak Ridge Advisory Panel on Proposed Landfill

    The Department of Energy was scheduled to brief a local agency-chartered advisory group on Wednesday about plans for a new landfill at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee.  A DOE draft record of decision is expected in July on the proposed Environmental Management Disposal Facility, designed to handle low-risk construction material from building demolition at […]

  • Tech Solutions Information Sought for DOE Carlsbad Office

    The Department of Energy has issued a request for information on “innovative approaches” for information technology at the Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico. This ranges from workaday software to cyber security solutions for the office that oversees agency’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), according to a notice published Thursday on a federal procurement website. […]

  • DOE Picking Up Another 4-Month Option With Centerra at Savannah River

    The Department of Energy is picking up its option to keep Centerra Group on through at least Oct. 7 as provider of security at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina while the agency continues to review a 10-year, $1-billion follow-on contract awarded in February to Securitas CIS. A DOE spokesperson said in an email […]

  • Jacobs Quarterly Numbers Reflect Higher Revenue, Adjusted Net Earnings

    Profits were about flat at Dallas-based Jacobs in its second fiscal quarter that ended April 2, something the international engineering and construction services company attributed to its March acquisition of a 65% stake in PA Consulting, which advises energy, defense and government clients. During the same period last year, Jacobs suffered a $122 million net […]

  • Fluor Brings in Less Revenue During Q1 But Government Contracting a Bright Spot

    Fluor, Irving, Texas, suffered a net loss from continuing operations of $61 million compared with a net gain of $21.6 million during the first quarter of 2020, the international engineering and construction company said Friday. A $68-million expense linked to development of its NuScale small modular reactor business, and other costs, contributed to the slide, […]

  • May Could Prove Busy Month for DOE Procurement

    The next several weeks could be a busy time for the Department of Energy’s procurement in the weapons complex. The long-awaited draft request for proposals (RFP) for the potential 10-year, $21.5-billion operations contract for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina was issued last week. The draft RFP virtual meetings kick off May 11. The […]

  • Inspector General Likens Cooperative Audits at DOE to ‘Fox-Guarding-the-Henhouse’

    Leaving Department of Energy contractors in charge of auditing costs ultimately paid by the government has created something of a “fox-guarding-the-henhouse problem,” the DOE’s Office of Inspector General said recently. As a result, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) wants DOE to hire dozens of independent federal auditors to overcome shortcomings in the “cooperative audit” […]

  • Groups Urge Granholm to Set Up Special Nuclear Waste Office

    The Nuclear Energy Institute, the Energy Communities Alliance and six other groups Monday urged Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to set up a Nuclear Waste Management office to oversee both civilian- and defense-nuclear waste. The federal government “has effectively failed to pursue a nuclear waste program for over a decade,” according to the letter. “We […]

  • BWXT Confirms Pursuit of Big DOE Management Pacts on Earnings Call

    BWX Technologies is among the companies in the hunt for high-dollar Department of Energy contracts, president and CEO Rex Geveden said in a conference call this week with financial analysts. “We now have four large DOE proposals submitted and anticipate three of those contracts to be announced sometime later this year,” Geveden told Wall Street […]

  • Wrap Up: Test Reactor Planned at Oak Ridge, DOE Updates Los Alamos Plume

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Kairos Power are cooperating to develop a low-power test reactor at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The government-owned electric utility, which holds an early site permit for a small modular reactor from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, will provide Kairos Power with engineering, operating and licensing […]

  • Seeking to Stay on at Paducah, Swift & Staley Takes Small Biz Case to Claims Court

    Having lost its appeal before a Small Business Administration panel and hoping to retain a $160-million Department of Energy infrastructure support contract for the Paducah Site awarded in December, Swift & Staley has taken its case to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington. At issue is whether the company was small enough to […]

  • Court Filing Pulls Back Curtain Slightly on Mediated Hanford Talks Between State, Feds

    The Department of Energy and the Washington state Department of Ecology have been involved in so-called “holistic” talks with the aid of a federal mediator since June 2020, the parties told a federal court Friday. With a confidentiality deal in place, publicly the parties have said little, other than that talks are ongoing, with the […]

  • Draft RFP for Savannah River Management Includes Plan for New Emergency Ops Center

    The Department of Energy is making plans for replacement of the emergency operations center at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina by late 2028, according to one of the procurement documents published last week. Last week DOE issued its draft request for proposals for the Savannah River Site Operations Acquisition, a contract which could […]

  • Granholm Backs Oak Ridge Landfill, Hears Portsmouth Contamination Concerns in Budget Hearing

    Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm told a House Appropriations panel Thursday that she supports a new on-site landfill at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee and that the Department of Energy is studying contamination at a school near the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee called Granholm in to […]

  • Case Closed Between Justice Department, Mission Support Alliance

    The Justice Department has formally closed out its fraud case against Mission Support Alliance, the joint venture that formally provided landlord services at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, according to a settlement filed last week with a federal court in Washington state. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson of the Eastern District […]

  • Weekly EM COVID-19 Cases Decline But Hanford Not Letting Down Guard

    The number of confirmed active cases of COVID-19 at the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup worksites had as of Thursday declined to 106 from 132 last week, but the Hanford Site in Washington state is warning workers not to grow complacent. The figure for the entire DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) complex, provided by […]

  • Case Closed Between Justice Department, Mission Support Alliance

    The Justice Department has formally closed out its fraud case against Mission Support Alliance, the joint venture that formally provided landlord services at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, according to a settlement filed last week with a federal court in Washington state. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson of the Eastern District […]

  • Draft RFP for Savannah River Management Includes Plan for New Emergency Ops Center

    The Department of Energy is making plans for replacement of the emergency operations center at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina by late 2028, according to one of the procurement documents published last week. Last week DOE issued its draft request for proposals for the Savannah River Site Operations Acquisition, a contract which could […]

  • Pro2Serve, Leidos File Joint Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit

    A frequently-used Department of Energy subcontractor is dropping its lawsuit against a large contractor over business at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Professional Project Services or Pro2Serve or filed a joint motion to dismiss April 15 with Leidos Integrated Technology and its Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) joint venture in U.S. District Court for […]

  • DOE, Los Alamos Cleanup Contractor Make Headway on Chromium Plume

    The Department of Energy and its legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory said Tuesday an interim groundwater pump-and-treat system to contain a hexavalent chromium plume is now fully operational. Three extraction wells and two injection wells that came online this month are part of what DOE dubbed an “interim measure” to control […]

  • Court Filing Pulls Back Curtain Slightly on Mediated Hanford Talks Between State, Feds

    The Department of Energy and the Washington state Department of Ecology have been involved in so-called “holistic” talks with the aid of a federal mediator since June 2020, the parties told a federal court Friday. With a confidentiality deal in place, publicly the parties have said little, other than that talks are ongoing, with the […]

  • SBA Panel Denies Swift & Staley’s Appeal on Paducah Contract; Says Company Too Big

    A Small Business Administration appeals panel recently agreed that incumbent Swift & Staley was too large to qualify for a $160-million infrastructure support contract it won last year at the Department of Energy’s Paducah site in Kentucky. The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals issued its decision April 20, effectively affirming a […]

  • Fluor Divests Equipment Services Biz for $73M

    In a move that has been in the works for some time, Irving, Texas-based Fluor has sold its North American equipment business, AMECO, to One Equity Partners for $73 million. Fluor announced the transaction in a Tuesday morning press release. The engineering and construction company first put AMECO up for sale in September 2019 at […]

  • Net Income, Revenue Dips for BWXT During Q1

    Revenue and net income fell for BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., during the first quarter of 2021, the naval reactor maker and nuclear services company reported after markets closed Monday. BWXT ended the first three months of the year with revenue of $528 million, a 2.6% dip from the $542 million taken in during the first […]

  • Groups Urge Granholm to Set Up Special Nuclear Waste Office

    The Nuclear Energy Institute, the Energy Communities Alliance and six other groups Monday urged Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to set up a Nuclear Waste Management office to oversee both civilian- and defense-nuclear waste. The federal government “has effectively failed to pursue a nuclear waste program for over a decade,” according to the letter. “We […]

  • May Could Prove Busy Month for DOE Procurement

    The next several weeks could be a busy time for the Department of Energy’s procurement in the weapons complex. The long-awaited draft request for proposals (RFP) for the potential 10-year, $21.5-billion operations contract for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina was issued last week and anyone interested in participating in next week’s virtual pre-solicitation […]

  • Inspector General Likens Cooperative Audits at DOE to ‘Fox-Guarding-the-Henhouse’

    Leaving Department of Energy contractors in charge of auditing costs ultimately paid by the government has created something of a “fox-guarding-the-henhouse problem,” the DOE’s Office of Inspector General said recently. As a result, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) wants DOE to hire dozens of independent federal auditors to overcome shortcomings in the “cooperative audit” […]