Office of Environmental Management (EM)

The Department of Energy has awarded a contract up to $74.8 million to a women-owned small business in Richland, Wash. to provide professional support services at the DOE’s Oak Ridge, Tenn. nuclear environmental cleanup site. The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) announced the contract with the company, Independent Strategic Management Solutions, Inc. (ISMSolutions), in […]

President Donald Trump has nominated several officials to lead key Department of Energy branches serving nuclear energy and the weapons complex, and some are making progress through the confirmation process.  The nominees would report to the already confirmed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Exchange Monitor will update the nominees’ progress from time to time. James […]

A high ranking official in the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management (EM) office says leadership across DOE sites remains strong, following the departure of several agency officials departing under the federal Deferred Resignation Program (DRP). “With respect to staffing levels, certainly there’s been a number of people who chose to take the DRP program. But […]

President Donald Trump has nominated several officials to lead key Department of Energy branches serving nuclear energy and the weapons complex, and some are making progress through the confirmation process.  The nominees would report to the already confirmed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Exchange Monitor will update the nominees’ progress from time to time. James […]

President Donald Trump has nominated several officials to lead key Department of Energy branches serving nuclear energy and the weapons complex, and some are making progress through the confirmation process.  The nominees would report to the already confirmed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Exchange Monitor will update the nominees’ progress from time to time. James […]

According to an April 4 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board report, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management approved an exemption request to allow for critical decision 4 approval for the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System project at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The Environmental Management office approved the request on March 12, the report said. Critical […]

The DOE Hanford Site did not meet a technical safety requirement regarding the fissile mass of a waste box, according to a Feb. 28 report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Personnel at the site discovered the waste box with a fissile mass value exceeding the container limit in an outside storage area, according […]

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and contractor UCOR recently finished removing legacy radioactive waste that was stored at the site for more than 50 years, according to a DOE press release. The material was used by Oak Ridge in the 1970s for experiments for scientists to understand the makeup of the atomic nucleus. […]

The DOE Hanford Site did not meet a technical safety requirement regarding the fissile mass of a waste box, according to a Feb. 28 report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Personnel at the site discovered the waste box with a fissile mass value exceeding the container limit in an outside storage area, according […]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s office of Environmental Management announced Tuesday it has completed construction of the fourth On-Site Waste Disposal Facility cell at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The fourth cell will be used to dispose of debris of uranium enrichment process buildings, Federal Project Director Jud Lilly said in the DOE press release. […]

Two organizations serving the Department of Energy’s weapons complex will soon reduce staff levels at offices in Virginia. News of both layoffs were first reported April 4 by FFX Now, a local news service covering Fairfax County, Va. Reston, Va.-based Leidos, which has several DOE contracts and leads a partnership providing services at the Hanford […]

The Department of Energy is seeking feedback on how 16 installations, mostly in the weapons complex, stack up as potential spots to develop artificial intelligence data centers. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Thursday April 3 that DOE is issuing a request for information on how the 16 federal properties might work for permitting and construction […]

With key Democrats denouncing any possible mass firings at the Department of Energy, the deadline was before midnight April 8 for DOE staff to opt into the latest round of voluntary buyouts. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said April 4 they are troubled by reports by Associated Press and other media […]

Roger Jarrell, a senior adviser at the Department of Energy, was appointed Wednesday to serve as DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary for Environmental Management. Jarrell’s appointment to the position, sometimes referred to as EM-2, means he will lead the DOE Office of Environmental Management until whatever point an assistant secretary for Environmental Management (EM-1) is […]

The Department of Energy could issue draft solicitations for key contracts at the Paducah Site in Kentucky and the Portsmouth Site in Ohio as soon as July, according to a recent notice. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said last month draft requests for proposals (RFPs) could come as early as July for Paducah environmental […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., is winding down its maintenance outage to the point it has resumed disposal of defense-related transuranic waste. DOE and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) prime, Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, began the outage for refurbishment in January. The weeks-long outage, conducted for repair and replacement projects […]

With the top two feds at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state leaving, an interim deputy manager, Brian Harkins, has been appointed effective April 3. The selection of Harkins to serve as the acting deputy was announced in a recent staff memo from DOE Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance. Harkins replaced deputy […]

Roger Jarrell, a senior adviser at the Department of Energy, was appointed Wednesday to serve as DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary for Environmental Management. Jarrell’s appointment to the position, sometimes referred to as EM-2, means he will lead the DOE Office of Environmental Management until whatever point an assistant secretary for Environmental Management (EM-1) is […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., is winding down its maintenance outage to the point it has resumed disposal of defense-related transuranic waste. DOE and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) prime, Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, began the outage for refurbishment in January. The weeks-long outage, conducted for repair and […]

The Department of Energy could issue draft solicitations for key contracts at the Paducah Site in Kentucky and the Portsmouth Site in Ohio as soon as July, according to a recent notice. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said last month draft requests for proposals (RFPs) could come as early as July for Paducah environmental […]

The area around the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in western Kentucky was facing a flood warning Sunday evening. The flood warning was in effect until 7 p.m. Central Time, according to the National Weather Service forecast. Some minor flooding was already occurring and moderate flooding was forecast around the Ohio River in Paducah, according […]

The Department of Energy is seeking feedback on how 16 installations, mostly in the weapons complex, stack up as potential spots to develop artificial intelligence data centers. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Thursday April 3 that DOE is issuing a request for information on how the 16 federal properties might work for permitting and construction […]

John (Jay) Mullis, who recently retired as head of the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management office at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, didn’t stay idle long — he announced in a weekend LinkedIn post he has agreed to become chief nuclear officer for United Cleanup Oak Ridge. “I’m happy to share that I’m starting […]

The Senate on Wednesday afternoon unveiled its updated budget resolution that sets a blueprint for passing Trump administration priorities, retaining a proposal to boost defense spending by $150 billion. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chair of the Budget Committee, said President Trump is “fully on board” with the upper chamber’s new resolution, which also includes raising […]

The Donald Trump administration’s pick to be deputy secretary of energy, told a Senate panel Wednesday that if confirmed his focus would be on easing federal regulatory approval for new infrastructure and electricity projects.   In his prepared testimony to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, James Danly also said keeping the Department of Energy’s […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site has completed nearly half of the plutonium downblends it scheduled for fiscal year 2025, the site’s interim manager reported earlier this week.  Managers at the DOE site, located near Aiken, S.C., updated South Carolina’s Nuclear Advisory Council on several production and remediation goals on tap for the fiscal […]

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia are appealing a U.S. District judge decision limiting temporary reinstatement of probationary staff at the Department of Energy and many other federal agencies to just states that sued the Donald Trump Administration over mass firings. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of DOE, the Department of […]

The departure of the Department of Energy’s top manager for nuclear cleanup at the Hanford Site in Washington state as well as federal layoffs at site, concern the head of the advocacy group Hanford Challenge. In a Friday email response to Exchange Monitor the executive director of Seattle-based Hanford Challenge said he was caught off […]

John (Jay) Mullis finished his federal career last week as the Department of Energy’s manager for nuclear cleanup at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, with deputy Eric Olds stepping in as the acting boss. The transition was confirmed via email Monday by a spokesperson for DOE. Exchange Monitor first reported the Mullis retirement plans […]

The Department of Energy cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory continues to find more old drums of transuranic waste with leaks and corrosion problems at the lab’s Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project, according to a safety board. The issue was cited in a regular report on Idaho National Laboratory (INL) remediation work by the […]