Office of Environmental Management (EM)

AtkinsRéalis-led Mission Conversion Services Alliance is now handling landlord work at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth and Paducah Sites, a company executive said Wednesday. Meanwhile, an Amentum-led team, Southern Ohio Cleanup, has taken over remediation at the Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio. Southern Ohio’s contract is worth nearly $5.9 billion over 15 years. As for […]

The final 1 million tons of uranium mill tailings from a pile near the Colorado River at Moab, Utah has been removed, the Department of Energy said this week. In a Tuesday announcement, DOE said work crews for contractor North Wind Portage have successfully removed all 16 million tons of tailings and other contaminated material […]

Construction of a new fire hall at the Hanford Site in Washington state gets underway in October and could be finished sometime in spring 2027, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. In a news release, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said the long-planned new fire station will have enough room, 22,000-square-feet, to sleep 12 firefighters […]

Two new Department of Energy contractor teams this week take over billions of dollars’ worth of work at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky. A new Amentum-led team will be in charge of remediation at Portsmouth while an AtkinsRéalis-led team will take landlord responsibility at both Portsmouth and Paducah. This […]

Top management for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office should use available information to identify the scope and cost of remediating contaminated soil and legacy landfills, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last week.  DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) should also use that information to prioritize work at nuclear sites, GAO said in […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: September 30 Fiscal 2025 ends at midnight which could trigger a federal government shutdown Oct. 1 unless a continuing resolution is agreed upon. October 06: Hearing: An NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will hear oral arguments on Long Mott’s construction permit […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is weighing a new strategy for moving transuranic waste stuck for years at Waste Control Specialists (WCS) in Texas, a federal manager said Thursday. The prior plan declared several acres inside the WCS property in Andrews, Texas a temporary “DOE island,” […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The new acting head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch reiterated here Wednesday DOE remains committed to start making glass in mid-October from the radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Following his address to the National Cleanup Workshop, Joel Bradburne, acting assistant secretary for DOE’s Office […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — Two Department of Energy cleanup properties are expected to issue solicitations for artificial intelligence (AI)-related data centers soon, federal officials said here Wednesday. The Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee could issue a request for proposals in early November for a potential data center, Rob Seifert, director of infrastructure disposition and regulatory policy […]

The Department of Energy nuclear cleanup office has awarded $15-million in financial help to the Georgia-based Southern States Energy Board to provide technical assistance in moving transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The agreement, announced Thursday by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, starts Nov. 1 and runs five years through […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — Two Department of Energy cleanup properties are expected to issue solicitations for artificial intelligence (AI)-related data centers soon, federal officials said here Wednesday. The Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee could issue a request for proposals in early November for a potential data center, Rob Seifert, director of infrastructure disposition and regulatory policy […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., expects to meet its fiscal 2025 target of receiving 425 shipments of transuranic waste within days, a DOE manager said here Wednesday. As of this week, WIPP has received 419 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste from across the weapons complex, […]

Over the past seven-plus years, the Department of Energy’s legacy waste cleanup contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has shipped more than 20,000 cubic meters of waste offsite. That figure, which reflects the period between April 30, 2018 and Aug. 31, 2025, was posted as part of a Sept. 10 slide […]

The rules Department of Energy nuclear sites follow when transporting radioactive and hazardous wastes short distances can be confusing and sometimes contradictory, DOE recently told the Defense Nuclear Facilities and Safety Board (DNFSB). “Onsite transfers can vary widely depending on the materials, distance, routes, equipment, ability, to implement controls, and natural phenomena hazards at a […]

Environmental health officials reemphasized Tuesday that the radioactive wasp issue at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, one that made national headlines last month, is not currently considered a concern to the public. During a bimonthly meeting with the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB), site officials fielded questions about the July 3 discovery of […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — Two Department of Energy cleanup properties are expected to issue solicitations for artificial intelligence (AI)-related data centers soon, federal officials said here Wednesday. The Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee could issue a request for proposals in early November for a potential data center, Rob Seifert, director of infrastructure disposition and regulatory policy […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., expects to meet its fiscal 2025 target of receiving 425 shipments of transuranic waste within days, a DOE manager said here Wednesday. As of this week, WIPP has received 419 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste from across the weapons complex, […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The new acting head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch reiterated here Wednesday the department remains committed to start making glass in mid-October from the radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Following his address to the National Cleanup Workshop, Joel Bradburne, acting assistant secretary for DOE’s […]

The prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has finished its $15-million overhaul of the so-called “salt pocket” at the Department of Energy’s underground transuranic waste disposal site in New Mexico. The DOE Office of Environmental Management and Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors began the work in January. Completion of the project means […]

Over the past seven-plus years, the Department of Energy’s legacy waste cleanup contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has shipped more than 20,000 cubic meters of waste offsite. That figure, which reflects the period between April 30, 2018 and Aug. 31, 2025, was posted as part of a Sept. 10 slide […]

Joel Bradburne, the Department of Energy’s acting head of its $8-billion nuclear remediation branch, will help kick off the National Cleanup Workshop Wednesday in Arlington, Va. Bradburne was appointed this month to oversee DOE’s Office of Environmental Management following the forced departure of Roger Jarrell. Jarrell apparently differed with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on […]

The Citizen Task Force for the West Valley Demonstration Project in Ashford, N.Y., meets this Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time at Ashford Town offices. The Citizen Task Force is scheduled to hear an update from BWX Technologies-led West Valley Cleanup Alliance, the new remediation contractor at West Valley. Peggy Loop, a West […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: September 23: Meeting of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board starts at 9 a.m. Eastern Time at the new Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative building, located at 4345 Trolley Line Road, Aiken, SC. The meeting will be carried over youtube.    24: National Cleanup […]

The rules Department of Energy nuclear sites follow when transporting radioactive and hazardous wastes short distances can be confusing and sometimes contradictory, DOE recently told the Defense Nuclear Facilities and Safety Board (DNFSB). “Onsite transfers can vary widely depending on the materials, distance, routes, equipment, ability, to implement controls, and natural phenomena hazards at a […]

WASHINGTON – House Republicans Friday morning passed a short term stopgap spending bill to run through Nov. 21 that would keep funding at fiscal 2025 levels aside from exceptions including the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons activities. The final vote was 217-212, with two Republicans voting against the bill and one Democrat voting for the […]

BWX Technologies (BWXT) announced Tuesday the award of a contract valued at $1.5 billion to support national defense-focused domestic uranium enrichment for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Lynchburg, Va.-based nuclear company will begin tackling the list of requirements for building the Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment (DUECE) pilot plant, the […]

A new org chart from the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management makes it official – longtime DOE hand Joel Bradburne now heads the $8-billion nuclear cleanup branch. The new chart lists Bradburne, most recently manager of the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, as acting assistant secretary of Environmental Management, or EM-1. The chart dated Sept. […]

Most of President Donald Trump’s picks to be leaders in the Department of Energy nuclear complex were finally confirmed Thursday 51-47, some after waiting on the bench since May after being voted through at the committee level. The nuclear weapons complex nominees confirmed en bloc this week are: Brandon Williams, the nominee to head DOE’s […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 55 waste shipments in August.  That’s slightly more than the 50 shipments sent to the facility in August 2024, and the 48 WIPP received in July. The figures are according to DOE’s public website for the underground salt mine disposal site.  Of […]

Crews at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state have relocated 430,000 gallons of liquid radioactive and chemical waste from an old single-shell underground tank into a newer double-shell one, DOE said Tuesday. BWX Technologies-led contractor Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) oversaw the transfer to a newer double-shell tank from Single-Shell […]