Office of Environmental Management (EM)

The White House has ended remaining COVID-19 federal jobsite vaccination rules triggered by two 2021 executive orders but attorneys for 315 workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site say the legal fight should go on. The administration of President Joe Biden (D) and other defendants in David Donovan versus Brian Vance “have not relinquished […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission could issue a Federal Register notice this week of a draft environmental review to allow Waste Control Specialists to move stranded Department of Energy transuranic waste to a different location within the company’s 1,300-acre property in preparation for its ultimate removal from Texas, a federal spokesperson said Tuesday. The public notice, […]

The Department of Energy aims to use an advanced new solvent by the end of fiscal 2025 to improve the numbers at the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a cleanup contractor boss told a federal advisory board Tuesday. Other glitches at the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) should […]

State officials signed off last week on a Department of Energy request to delay installation of what’s known as Next Generation Solvent at the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a federal advisory board heard Monday. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control on May 8 approved […]

The Department of Energy will not begin transition to a new BWX Technologies-led contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state until a legal challenge of the $45-billion liquid-waste contract is resolved in court, according to a Friday court filing. The Department of Justice confirmed May 8 that DOE would stay performance of the potentially […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico appears headed for its busiest calendar year since the disposal site reopened in 2017.  The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) received 47 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during the month of April, based upon a search of DOE’s public website for the facility on […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is looking to beef up its staff devoted to procurement through what it calls the Environmental Management Career Acquisition Program, DOE said Friday. “Given how integral acquisition and contracting is to how we conduct our work, ensuring continuity in the procurement function is essential to the [Environmental […]

An Atkins-led team’s decision to bypass the Government Accountability Office and take a Department of Energy bid protest straight to the Court of Federal Claims is rare but not shocking given that $45 billion hangs in the balance, industry people told Exchange Monitor this week. Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance, which also includes Jacobs and Westinghouse […]

The Government Accountability Office this week denied a bid protest challenging the Department of Energy’s award to Centerra of a new security contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. In a redacted version of the decision posted online Thursday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) dismissed Securitas-led SRS Critical Infrastructure Security’s (SCIS) argument that […]

A contractor for the Department of Energy has removed 13.4 million tons at the Moab uranium tailings site in Utah and transported the debris to a disposal facility near Crescent Junction, a local advisory panel heard recently. “Approximately 96,991 tons of tailings and mill debris were moved in March 2023,” Jessica Thacker, a liaison for […]

The Department of Energy’s final solicitation for small business nuclear deactivation and demolition contractors has hit the streets. Responses to the DOE Office of Environmental Management final request for proposals (RFP) is June 26 for the Small Business Nationwide Deactivation, Decommissioning and Removal procurement, the agency said in the cover letter published Friday. The DOE […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the first quarter, which the nuclear services and manufacturing company attributed largely to its government operations. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31 were $61 million or $0.67 per share up from $59.1 million, or $0.64 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was […]

The U.S. Department of Labor invited both current and former nuclear-weapons workers to Richland, Wash., near the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, to discuss eligibility for occupational illness benefits. The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act outreach session will be held at 9 a.m. Pacific Time at the Holiday Inn Richland, according to a […]

Washington state, the Department of Energy and the public interest group Heart of America Northwest, have reached a settlement on how the government agencies should respond to leaks of underground radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford Site. The formal settlement agreement was filed with the Washington’s Pollution Control Hearings Board Wednesday, the parties announced. This […]

Jacobs Solutions, Dallas, announced Tuesday it will spin off its Critical Mission Solutions business, which coordinates business with the Department of Energy, late next year. The DOE business, accounted by the parent company as an equity share from the joint venture companies that manage DOE sites, is only a small part of Critical Mission Solutions […]

The Department of Energy said Tuesday 60 uranium-oxide storage cylinders recently arrived by rail at a private radioactive waste disposal site in West Texas from the Paducah Site in Kentucky. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said in a press release the 60 cylinders recently arrived at Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, Texas from Paducah. […]

The recently-commissioned treatment plant at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory is now processing an evenly mixed blend of simulant and liquid sodium-bearing radioactive waste, an agency spokesperson said this week. The $1.4-billion Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Idaho National Laboratory, which began radiological operations April 11, has progressed to a half-and-half […]

Washington state, the Department of Energy and the public interest group Heart of America Northwest, have reached a settlement on how the government agencies should respond to leaks of underground radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford Site. The formal settlement agreement was filed with the Washington’s Pollution Control Hearings Board Wednesday, the parties announced. This […]

The U.S. Department of Labor invited both current and former nuclear-weapons workers to Richland, Wash., near the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, to discuss eligibility for occupational illness benefits. The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act outreach session will be held at 9 a.m. Pacific Time at the Holiday Inn Richland, according to a […]

The Government Accountability Office Tuesday denied a bid protest challenging the Department of Energy’s award of a new security contract to Centerra at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. While a redacted version of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) opinion likely won’t be available for several days, the federal watchdog posted a notice on […]

An Atkins-led group that bid and lost on the Department of Energy’s $45-billion Integrated Tank Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state bypassed the usual channels of protest and sued DOE over the award. Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance, a team with Atkins Nuclear Secured, Jacobs Technology, and Westinghouse Government Services, filed suit under seal […]

A contractor for the Department of Energy has removed 13.4 million tons at the Moab uranium tailings site in Utah and transported the debris to a disposal facility near Crescent Junction, a local advisory panel heard recently. “Approximately 96,991 tons of tailings and mill debris were moved in March 2023,” Jessica Thacker, a liaison for […]

BWX Technologies CEO Rex Geveden could share new details today on a 10-year, $45-billion Department of Energy contract recently awarded to a joint venture the company is leading at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Lynchburg, Va.,-based BWXT will discuss the company’s first quarter 2023 financial earnings today at 5 p.m. Eastern time during a […]

Earnings fell at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the first quarter, which the government contractor attributed to charges on a defense contract and losses associated with the sale of an international subsidiary. But in an analysts conference call following the morning earnings release, Fluor CEO David Constable was upbeat about prospects for the company’s work in […]

In its latest effort to expand and diversify its pipeline of future workers, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management said it is making up to $24.5 million in federal money available to its Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program. The funding opportunity announcement should result in multiple financial assistance awards ranging from 12-36 months, […]

With the White House ending mandatory COVID-19 vaccination rules for most federal workers, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has postponed oral arguments on a case involving the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The San Francisco-based court Tuesday told the parties, including DOE and hundreds of plaintiff government and contractor employees, […]

Nicole Nelson-Jean is leaving the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management for the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, the cleanup office said Monday. Nelson-Jean, currently associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations, has been chosen as the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) associate administrator for infrastructure, said Jeff Avery, the No. 2 boss […]

Over the past year, the Department of Energy decided to change the location of a planned fire station at the Hanford Site in Washington state because similar facilities are being developed in nearby Richland, Wash., an agency spokesperson said. Rather than building in Hanford’s 400 area as initially planned, managers at the 580-square-mile Hanford Site […]

If New Mexico and the Department of Energy do not soon resolve starkly different ideas about the long-term future of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the agencies may try to bridge the gap in a public hearing this summer. The public hearing, if necessary, would take place in August or September, a spokesperson for the […]

United Steelworkers Local 1-689 members are still doing nuclear remediation at the Department of Energy Portsmouth Site in Ohio more than a month after their labor deal with Fluor BWXT Portsmouth expired, their union representative said this week. Negotiations have not gone well so far, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1-689 President Herman Potter said during […]