Office of Environmental Management (EM)

AVANTech Inc. of Columbia, S.C., has acquired Mid Columbia Engineering Inc. (MCE), a Richland, Wash., firm that has done work at the nearby Hanford Site. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. AVANTech plans to continue to expand the Richland manufacturing and service facility and use it to help deliver products and services to […]

With one day left to spare, the U.S. Energy Department announced Monday that it would extend by one year the contract for the Savannah River Site’s management and operations provider. The initial contract for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), a 10-year deal worth $9.5 billion, was set to expire on July 31. In its press […]

A recent leak of radioactive waste from a storage tank at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina reinforces the need to properly fund the facility’s liquid waste program, local stakeholders said this week. Liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR) noticed the leak from Tank 15 in early June and […]

The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed the final version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, clearing the way for President Donald Trump to sign a bill that would tighten congressional oversight of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The $717 billion bill sailed through on an 87-10 vote, less than […]

Fluor Chairman and CEO David Seaton said Thursday the company remains in pursuit of a multibillion-dollar liquid waste management contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina that the Department of Energy is due to award again in a few weeks. Seaton offered his take, without elaboration, during Fluor’s quarterly earnings call with Wall Street […]

The White House on Tuesday nominated a former Capitol Hill staffer as general counsel for the Department of Energy. William Cooper is currently senior counsel and director in the Washington, D.C. branch of McConnell Valdés, a corporate law firm based in Puerto Rico. His prior positions as a congressional staffer include staff director for the […]

Andrew Wheeler, acting head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on Monday signed a record of decision laying out the final cleanup plan for the 100 D and H Areas along the horn of the Columbia River at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Cleanup began under interim decisions in the mid-1990s on 7.8 square […]

Fluor Chairman and CEO David Seaton said Thursday the company remains in pursuit of a multibillion-dollar liquid waste management contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina that the Department of Enregy is due to award again in a few weeks. Seaton offered his comments, without elaboration, during Fluor’s quarterly earnings call with Wall Street […]

Fluor Idaho is in the advanced stages of its investigation into the cause of an April 11 incident in which four drums of radioactive sludge overheated and ejected their lids, causing waste to spill onto the floor at an Idaho National Laboratory facility. Representatives of the contractor, Energy Department officials in Idaho, and the Idaho […]

The search for a new executive director is over for an advocacy group for localities around the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico. The Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) recently retained the firm CPLC New Mexico to provide it with executive director services. Eric Vasquez has become the new RCLC […]

Waste treatment provider AVANTech, of Columbia, S.C., has acquired Mid Columbia Engineering (MCE), a Richland, Wash., firm that has done work at the nearby Hanford Site.  The companies did not release the sale price for the buyout. AVANTech plans to continue to expand its newly acquired Richland manufacturing and service facility, which will help deliver […]

Hiring has begun for the workers at the Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant’s Analytical Laboratory who will support the facility’s commissioning prior to the start of operations by a 2023 federal court deadline. A 3,300-square-foot laboratory has been established at Columbia Basin College (CBC) near Hanford in Pasco, Wash., to help prepare for work at […]

The Department of Energy expects in September to again issue a new contract for liquid waste management at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a senior procurement official said Tuesday. This will be the department’s second attempt to seal the deal, after the first contract was successfully protested to the Government Accountability Office. “I […]

One day after the Energy Department issued a draft request for proposals for lab services at the Hanford Site in Washington state, an agency official said a final RFP could soon hit the street for another contract. The final RFP for the potential 10-year, $4 billion Hanford Mission Essential Services contract could be out by […]

Andrew Wheeler, acting head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on Monday signed a record of decision laying out the final cleanup plan for the 100 D and H Areas along the horn of the Columbia River at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Cleanup began under interim decisions in the mid-1990s on 7.8 square […]

The Energy Department has issued a draft request for proposals (RFP) for a contract potentially worth up to $904 million over seven years, including options, for analysis services at the 222-S Laboratory at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The current contract, held by Veolia subsidiary Wastren Advantage, ends on Sept. 20, 2020, DOE said […]

Transuranic waste shipments from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee early this month were still arriving at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant with elevated radiological readings that exceed the New Mexico disposal site’s waste acceptance criteria (WAC), the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in a July 6 report. “Although there is no evidence […]

Tennessee-based RSI EnTech said Monday it would not follow a competitor’s lead in protesting the Energy Department’s recent $137 million consolidated contract award for technical support services for the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office complex. “Yes, we received a debrief [on the contract award]; no, we did not/are not filing a protest,” RSI EnTech President Paul Clay […]

A New Mexico company on July 20 filed a formal protest against the Department of Energy’s recent award of a contract worth up to $137 million over five years for technical support services at the office that oversees cleanup of the Paducah Site in Kentucky and Portsmouth Site in Ohio. In its docket notice for […]

Total penalties assessed by Idaho against the Energy Department for failing to start treating sodium-bearing waste at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) hit $4.16 million earlier this month, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality. The Idaho DEQ on June 20 approved DOE’s latest round of proposed supplemental environmental projects, which will allow DOE […]

The Energy Department wants a proposed change for counting the volume of transuranic waste disposed of in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico to be retroactive to 1999. That is among the primary points included in a July 12 letter from Todd Shrader, manager of DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office, and Bruce Covert, president […]

Bechtel National (BNI) has been placed under new federal restrictions on issuing subcontracts and making large purchases following a routine audit of its purchasing systems by the Pentagon’s Defense Contract Management Agency. The business is the U.S. government-focused branch of global engineering and project management provider Bechtel. Among its current work is construction of the […]

The congressional conference version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes the Senate spending allowance for defense environmental cleanup: the single-largest bloc of annual funding at the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. The House of Representatives voted 359-54 Thursday in favor of the compromise bill report released earlier in the week, […]

The Department of Energy is making plans for the next phase of a demonstration project for commercial grouting and disposal of some of the low-activity radioactive waste held in underground storage tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Phase 2 of the test bed initiative, grouting 2,000 gallons of waste, could be completed by […]

The Department of Energy is preparing to restart demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, after most work was halted after a spread of radioactive contamination in December. A contractor-led, DOE-overseen management assessment evaluating preparations to resume work is expected to start Aug. 13. It could clear the way […]

The Department of Energy is just days from sealing a one-year extension for the management and operations contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a senior official said Monday. “As you know the M&O contract expires on 31 July and any day now we’ll have an extension signed,” Michael Budney, manager of DOE’s […]

Workers for Idaho National Laboratory cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho have full access to glove boxes following an extended suspension of operations after an employee suffered a puncture wound on June 5. The incident occurred while the employee was conducing cleanup activities in a glove box at the lab’s Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP). By […]

Workers for Idaho National Laboratory cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho have full access to glove boxes following an extended suspension of operations after an employee on June 5 suffered a puncture wound while using one of the devices. The incident occurred while the employee was conducing cleanup activities in a glove box at the lab’s Advanced […]

Bechtel National (BNI) is under new federal restrictions on issuing subcontracts and making large purchases in the wake of a routine audit of its purchasing systems by the Pentagon’s Defense Contract Management Agency. On July 20, Bechtel issued an internal “Procurement & Subcontracts Compliance Bulletin” with the subject head “Disapproval of BNI Purchasing System” for […]

The congressional conference version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes the Senate spending allowance for defense environmental cleanup: the single-largest bloc of annual funding at the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. The Senate version of the NDAA met the Energy Department’s request for $5.63 billion in defense environmental cleanup funding […]