Office of Environmental Management (EM)

The head of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico says a recent government watchdog report on rundown infrastructure at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) was mostly a “retrospective” on the former prime contractor. DOE Carlsbad field manager Mark Bollinger addressed a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found key […]

Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the second quarter, despite what the engineering and construction company described as hesitancy in world trade markets. Over the next 12 months, Fluor expects to pursue Department of Energy contracts for work at the Savannah River Plutonium Pits Project and to support high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) nuclear fuel […]

-=The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Wednesday morning in an 11-to-nine vote advanced the nomination of Tim Walsh to head the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management. Ranking member Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) led the committee Democrats in voting against Walsh and two other nominees, in an identical partisan split in something […]

The Department of Energy and Washington state have agreed to grant federal and contract managers a 75-day extension until Oct. 15 to start making glass from some of the less-radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. The prior deadline was Aug. 1 and DOE officials announced this latest extension in a Monday […]

The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Wednesday morning in an 11-to-nine vote advanced the nomination of Tim Walsh to head the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management. Ranking member Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) led the committee Democrats in voting against Walsh and two other nominees, in an identical partisan split in something […]

The Department of Energy and Washington state have agreed to grant federal and contract managers a 75-day extension until Oct. 15 to start making glass from some of the less-radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. The prior deadline was Aug. 1 and DOE officials announced this latest extension in a Monday […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee could vote Wednesday morning on whether to advance the nomination of Colorado developer Tim Walsh to be assistant secretary of energy for Environmental Management. The business meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time at 366 Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Barring a postponement, the committee […]

While the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA),  was one of hundreds of organizations affected by a massive SharePoint hack, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) was not.  “It was not,” a DOE headquarters spokesperson said Thursday in response to an Exchange Monitor question While the bug was discovered last week, Microsoft […]

RSI EnTech, based in Oak Ridge, Tenn., has acquired Albuquerque-based Sigma Science, another well-known small contractor with the Department of Energy nuclear complex, the companies announced recently.  RSI EnTech, which is part of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) Industrial or AIS, an Alaska Native corporation, did not disclose the value of the transaction in the […]

The Department of Energy is publishing its Supplement Analysis and Amended Record of Decision for blending down roughly 2.2 metric tons of highly enriched uranium in order to make about 3.1 metric tons of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The document should soon be published in the Federal […]

The staff at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky has completed an environmental baseline study that could set the stage for transferring 188 acres of land to local authorities for redevelopment. The 169-page study was completed by DOE contractor Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership and forwarded to Kentucky officials and the Environmental Protection Agency […]

The Savannah River Site in South Carolina hopes to officially open its $66 million, offsite research center next month, following a greenlight this week from the Department of Energy to begin operations. During a bimonthly meeting of the Savannah River Site (SRS) Citizens Advisory Board, Edwin DeShong, field boss for the Office of Environmental Management […]

The Department of Energy should soon publish its Supplement Analysis and Amended Record of Decision for blending down roughly 2.2 metric tons of highly enriched uranium in order to make about 3.1 metric tons of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The document should soon be published in the […]

The staff at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky has completed an environmental baseline study that could set the stage for transferring 188 acres of land to local authorities for redevelopment. The 169-page study was completed by DOE and forwarded to Kentucky officials and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in late May, the […]

The Savannah River Site in South Carolina hopes to officially open its $66 million, offsite research center next month, following a greenlight this week from the Department of Energy to begin operations. During a bimonthly meeting of the Savannah River Site (SRS) Citizens Advisory Board, Edwin DeShong, field boss for the Office of Environmental Management […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: July: 22: Meeting: A meeting of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board, which will be livestreamed, is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Eastern Time from the  Center for African American History, Art and Culture, 120 York Street NE, Aiken, South […]

A Department of Energy contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state has finished taking down a 6,000-square-foot water treatment structure near the Columbia River that supported remediation work at the property. Crews from Amentum-led Central Plateau Cleanup carried out the work, DOE said in a Tuesday release. The facility provided water for firefighting and […]

The House Appropriations Committee Thursday night passed the Energy & Water Development Appropriations bill for fiscal 2026, which trims the budget of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management to $7.7 billion, down from more than $8.4 billion in the current fiscal year. The measure passed 35-27 in the House committee and now moves […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 59 transuranic (TRU) waste shipments last month.  That is more than the 53 shipments it received in May and is the highest total the facility has received since the 64 shipments sent to WIPP in June 2024.  Of the 59 shipments, 45 […]

Six environmental groups have sued the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over approval of a new low-level radioactive waste landfill at DOE’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, according to a press release from the groups. The case has […]

Brian Vance, the Department of Energy’s former manager of nuclear cleanup at the Hanford Site in Washington state is the new site leader at the Framatome nuclear fuel plant in Richland, Wash. The Tri-City Herald reported Monday Vance started working as a manager for the Framatome fuel manufacturing plant July 9. The company subsequently confirmed […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office could issue a draft solicitation as early as next month for a contractor to perform landlord services at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The draft request for proposals (RFP)  for the Portsmouth Infrastructure Support Services could be issued in August, the DOE Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in […]

Six environmental groups have sued the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over approval of a new low-level radioactive waste landfill at DOE’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, according to a press release from the groups. The plaintiffs are […]

A Department of Energy contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state has finished taking down a a 6,000-square-foot water treatment structure near the Columbia River that supported remediation work at the property. Crews from Amentum-led Central Plateau Cleanup carried out the work, DOE said in a Tuesday release. The facility provided water for firefighting […]

The House Appropriations’ Energy & Water subcommittee is proposing a $7.7-billion budget for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management in fiscal 2026. That is according to the July 13 House Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. A summary of the legislation is here and the bill text is here. The […]

Brian Vance, the Department of Energy’s former manager of nuclear cleanup at the Hanford Site in Washington state has reportedly accepted an executive position with the Framatome nuclear fuel plant in Richland, Wash. The Tri-City Herald reported Monday Vance started working as a manager for the Framatome fuel manufacturing plant July 9. The newspaper said […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office could issue a draft solicitation as early as next month for a contractor to perform landlord services at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The draft request for proposals (RFP)  for the Portsmouth Infrastructure Support Services could be issued in August, the DOE Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in […]

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday said the White House can go ahead with plans for major layoffs and restructuring of the federal government while legal challenges play out, according to media reports. The Washington Post  and other media outlets reported Tuesday afternoon that the high court elected not to block planning for mass layoffs at […]

Crews at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) are expected to double-stack 300 canisters of vitrified high level waste this fiscal year ending Sept. 30.  That figure would continue a decade-long mission that is conserving space at the South Carolina complex, according to the DOE.    To date, liquid waste contractor BWX Technologies-led Savannah […]

The Department of Energy’s underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste is still well behind its shipment rate from before a major accident in 2014, but things are gradually rebounding, according to the Government Accountability Office. “According to DOE officials, WIPP [the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.] had been receiving as many as […]