Office of Environmental Management (EM)

The U.S. Department of Energy is seeking the $50 million it believes it needs to design and build a facility intended to reduce the cost and time of cleaning up nuclear waste at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. The request in the fiscal 2020 budget rollout comes after a two-year standstill regarding the […]

WASHINGTON — The head of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) told members of Congress here Tuesday he hopes the Department of Energy will “fix” a controversial rule that could limit board access to nuclear weapons facilities during the agency’s upcoming one-year review of the directive. In May 2018, the department issued the controversial […]

Contractors at the Hanford Site in Washington state overlooked some factors in conducting cost analyses before deciding whether to lease rather than purchase office trailers and other space for their work, according to a recent audit by the Department of Energy inspector general of the agency’s leased space. Those omissions included failing to ensure trailers […]

The Energy Department is extending the deadline for bids on the paramilitary security services contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina from April 22 until May 7. In a question-and-answer exchange posted online April 5, a prospective contractor asked for a two-week extension, noting the pre-bid meeting and tour on March 26, “coupled […]

The Energy Department has until April 24 to decide whether to exercise a 22-month option to keep North Wind-led Portsmouth Mission Alliance (PMA) on the job as the infrastructure support contractor for the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The $140 million contract for the North Wind-Swift & Staley joint venture began in March 2016 and runs […]

The Energy Department and Parsons are saying little about their recent spat over missed deadlines at the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), including whether the federal agency has begun imposing up to $33 million in penalties against the contractor. One milestone has already passed: a March 31 deadline for Parsons to submit a declaration of readiness to […]

Fluor Idaho said Tuesday it intends in the next few months to shrink the workforce at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) at the Idaho National Laboratory by 190 employees. The contractor will first offer a voluntary separation package in two phases to reduce headcount as the facility nears the end of its mission. […]

The Department of Energy is asking the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, to overrule an EPA regional office in a dispute over water discharge standards for radionuclides at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. Jay Mullis, manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, said in an April 5 letter to […]

Open-air demolition using heavy equipment of the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state resumed on Thursday. It is the first demolition at the plant since an airborne spread of radioactive contamination was discovered in December 2017. Workers with cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. were ready to restart teardown […]

Three teams are believed to be vying for the 10-year, $13 billion Tank Closure Contract at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an industry source. Proposals by vendor teams hoping to succeed AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions were due March 21. The Energy Department is scheduled to hear oral presentations by […]

The Department of Energy has issued a small business sources-sought notice on nuclear remediation activities currently provided by Fluor Idaho and Spectra Tech at the Idaho National Laboratory. Fluor Idaho holds the full five-year, $1.6 billion Idaho Cleanup Project contract, which runs through May 2021. Spectra Tech has a five-year, $41 million contract for environmental […]

Limited record keeping at the old Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado might have factored into an April 2018 waste drum “explosion” at the Idaho National Laboratory, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chairman Bruce Hamilton said Tuesday. There were “marginal records kept” on drums of Rocky Flats-origin sludge waste buried at INL for […]

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos has named Glenn Morgan as its new president and program manager overseeing legacy cleanup operations at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Morgan replaces Nick Lombardo, who retired in January, according to N3B. Morgan has been serving as acting program manager since January after joining N3B […]

Funds for cleanup of the Energy Department’s footprint at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) in California would increase from $11 million in fiscal 2019 to $18 million in fiscal 2020, if Congress approves the Donald Trump administration’s budget request. The department in this calendar year expects to issue the record of decision for environmental […]

The Energy Department is extending the deadline for bids on the paramilitary security services contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina from April 22 until May 7. In a question-and-answer exchange posted online April 5, a prospective contractor asked for a two-week extension, noting the pre-bid meeting and tour on March 26, “coupled […]

The Department of Energy has issued a small business sources-sought notice on nuclear remediation activities currently provided by Fluor Idaho and Spectra Tech at the Idaho National Laboratory. Fluor Idaho holds the full five-year, $1.6 billion Idaho Cleanup Project contract, which runs through May 2021. Spectra Tech has a five-year, $41 million contract for environmental […]

The Energy Department has until April 24 to decide whether to exercise a 22-month option to keep North Wind-led Portsmouth Mission Alliance (PMA) on the job as the infrastructure support contractor for the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The $140 million contract for the North Wind-Swift & Staley joint venture began in March 2016 and runs […]

Contractors at the Hanford Site in Washington state overlooked some factors in conducting cost analyses before deciding whether to lease rather than purchase office trailers and other space for their work, according to a recent audit by the Department of Energy inspector general of the agency’s leased space. Those omissions included failing to ensure trailers […]

Limited record keeping at the old Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado might have factored into an April 2018 waste drum “explosion” at the Idaho National Laboratory, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chairman Bruce Hamilton said Tuesday. There were “marginal records kept” on drums of sludge waste buried at INL for years before […]

The state of Tennessee agrees with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the Energy Department must do more to protect people who live downstream from a planned waste landfill at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The Energy Department, meanwhile, has received an extension until May 7 to resolve issues raised by the state and […]

Open-air demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state is scheduled to resume today after being suspended for more than 15 months. It will be the first demolition at the plant since the airborne spread of radioactive contamination was discovered in December 2017. Workers for Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill […]

Fluor Idaho said Tuesday it intends in the next few months to shrink the current workforce at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at the Idaho National Laboratory by 190 employees. The contractor will first offer a voluntary separation package to reduce headcount as the facility nears the end of its mission. If the voluntary […]

WASHINGTON — The head of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) told members of Congress here Tuesday he hopes the Department of Energy will “fix” a controversial rule that could limit board access to nuclear weapons facilities during the agency’s upcoming one-year review of the directive. In May 2018, the department issued the controversial […]

Funds for cleanup of the Energy Department’s footprint at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) in California would increase from $11 million in fiscal 2019 to $18 million in fiscal 2020, if Congress approves the Donald Trump administration’s budget request. The department in this calendar year expects to issue the record of decision for environmental […]

The new on-site waste landfill planned at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee lacks sufficient protections against discharges of contaminated wastewater, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Mary Walker, acting administrator for EPA Region 4, relayed the findings to the manager of the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Jay […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management is nearing completion of cleanup for one of its smaller projects. After receiving $10 million to finish remediation of the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR) in fiscal 2019, DOE has zeroed out the project in its fiscal 2020 budget request. In addition, the University of Arkansas and […]

Queuing up fireworks ahead of this year’s annual National Defense Authorization Act, a House Armed Services panel has invited the head of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board to a Tuesday hearing with the heads of Department of Energy nuclear weapons and cleanup programs. The witness list for the hearing of the strategic forces subcommittee […]

Three teams are believed to be vying for the 10-year, $13 billion Tank Closure Contract at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an industry source. Proposals by vendor teams hoping to succeed AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions were due March 21. The Energy Department is scheduled to hear oral presentations by […]

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos has named Glenn Morgan as its new president and program manager overseeing legacy cleanup operations at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Morgan replaces Nick Lombardo, who retired in January, according to N3B. Morgan has been serving as acting program manager since January after joining N3B […]

A federal judge in South Carolina said Thursday that race might have been a factor in why a laid-off employee with the Savannah River Site’s liquid waste contractor was not rehired for a separate job five years ago. Magistrate Judge Paige Gossett added that, while Savannah River Remediation (SRR) says it used evaluation scores to […]