Savannah River Site

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up on news affecting U.S. nuclear cleanup during the […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries on Thursday reported modest revenue and operating income increases for both fourth-quarter and full-year 2016. Specifically, the shipbuilder reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.9 billion, a 0.9 percent increase from the same year-ending period of 2015. Meanwhile, it brought in $7.1 billion in revenue over the full year, up by 0.7 percent from […]

South Carolina’s new governor thinks the state Attorney General’s Office should refile its $100 million plutonium disposition claim against the Department of Energy. Meanwhile, a spokesperson said Attorney General Alan Wilson is still contemplating his next move after a federal judge last week dismissed the state’s monetary claim over DOE’s failure to meet its plutonium […]

Cold War nuclear cleanup managed by the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for more than half of the federal government’s total environmental liability of $447 billion, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said this week. The cost of the remaining cleanup work across DOE’s nuclear complex was estimated at $257 billion as of […]

The Savannah River National Laboratory has opened an office in Richland, Wash., to support its work at the Hanford Site. The Department of Energy facility’s work has included leading the team of experts who produced the 2014 Hanford Tank Vapor Assessment Report and supporting the Office of River Protection plan to start treating low-activity waste […]

Fluor Corp.’s work at Energy Department nuclear cleanup sites in Kentucky and Ohio has enhanced the company’s reputation at the agency, the construction giant’s chief executive told investors Friday. Remediation of former gaseous diffusion plants at DOE’s Paducah and Portsmouth facilities is “proving us to be one of the DOE’s go-to contractors,” CEO David Seaton said on Fluor’s 2016 […]

The contractor managing construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina this week issued a request for proposals for a fixed-price subcontract to install HVAC ductwork for the project. CB&I AREVA MOX Services said the subcontract will involve the installation of ductwork, supports, and […]

South Carolina’s new governor thinks the state Attorney General’s Office should refile its $100 million plutonium disposition claim against the Department of Energy. Meanwhile, a spokesperson said Attorney General Alan Wilson is still contemplating his next move after a federal judge last week dismissed the state’s monetary claim over DOE’s failure to meet its plutonium […]

Mum is the word on when shipments of highly enriched uranium (HEU) are scheduled to arrive at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina following a recent federal court decision against environmental groups seeking to block the transports from Canada. “In order to preserve operational security, DOE/NNSA does not comment on planned shipments of nuclear material,” a National […]

The Department of Energy is responsible for the overwhelming majority of the federal government’s environmental liability, which has more than doubled from $212 billion to $447 billion over the last two decades, the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday. DOE represents 83 percent of that liability: $372 billion as of fiscal 2016; it is followed distantly […]

The contractor managing construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina this week issued a request for proposals for a fixed-price subcontract to install HVAC ductwork for the project. CB&I AREVA MOX Services said the subcontract will involve the installation of ductwork, supports, and […]

Mum is the word on when shipments of highly enriched uranium (HEU) are scheduled to arrive at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina following a recent federal court decision against environmental groups seeking to block the transports from Canada. “In order to preserve operational security, DOE/NNSA does not comment on planned shipments of nuclear material,” a National […]

Four federal nuclear sites and one privately operated disposal facility will send a total of 128 shipments of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) from April 2017 to January 2018, the Energy Department announced Tuesday. These will be the first waste shipments to WIPP following the February 2014 underground fire and subsequent, unrelated […]

Earnings season is ramping up this week for power producers and Department of Energy contractors. Utility Entergy has scheduled its fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 earnings report before the market open on Wednesday. The quarterly conference call is scheduled for 11 a.m. Eastern time. The company, which is advancing through the regulatory process on its $110 million sale […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has identified a problem with loose bolts used for HVAC ductwork during construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, sending as a result a notice of violation to project contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services. The MOX facility is being built to convert 34 metric tons of […]

A pretrial conference has been scheduled for later this month for two men accused of stealing more than $4 million from the federal government while working at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). In December 2015, the Department of Justice announced the indictment of Aaron Vennefron of Hamilton, Ohio, and Phillip […]

A federal judge has dismissed South Carolina’s claim seeking $100 million for the missed plutonium disposal deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs on Wednesday also sent another request against the Department of Energy – for the removal of 1 metric ton of nuclear […]

The Savannah River Site’s main waste processing facility will be offline for much of the year to allow for replacement of a key component. The Energy Department said on Feb. 3 that site liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR) is preparing to replace a melter in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), which converts […]

A federal judge has dismissed South Carolina’s claim seeking $100 million for the missed plutonium disposal deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs on Wednesday also sent another request against the Department of Energy – for the removal of 1 metric of weapons-usable plutonium […]

A federal judge has dismissed South Carolina’s claim seeking $100 million for the missed plutonium disposal deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs on Wednesday also sent another request against the Department of Energy – for the removal of 1 metric of weapons-usable plutonium […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has identified a problem with loose bolts used for HVAC ductwork during construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, sending as a result a notice of violation to project contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services. The MOX facility is being built to convert 34 metric tons of […]

A pretrial conference has been scheduled for later this month for two men accused of stealing more than $4 million from the federal government while working at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). In December 2015, the Department of Justice announced the indictment of Aaron Vennefron of Hamilton, Ohio, and Phillip […]

The liquid waste management contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is preparing to replace a melter in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), DOE said in a press release Friday. A Melter 2 heater stopped functioning on Feb. 1 and cannot be repaired, the release says. Savannah River Remediation is expected to need about […]

Congressional advocates of the Savannah River Site’s controversial plutonium disposition project, known as MOX, are unfazed by reports that President Donald Trump intends to significantly reduce the Department of Energy budget, saying it’s too early to predict how Trump will handle the project. Multiple news outlets this month reported details of apparent Trump administration plans […]

A federal judge on Thursday ruled against requiring the Department of Energy to produce a new environmental impact statement for shipments of highly enriched uranium from Canada to the agency’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The ruling opens the door for shipments to begin as soon as this month. Upward of 150 shipments, totaling […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is seeking approval from agency headquarters to redirect money not needed for salt waste work toward other liquid waste missions. The DOE facility in South Carolina, like the rest of the federal government, is currently being funded at fiscal 2016-enacted levels under a budgetary continuing resolution that expires […]

Congressional advocates of the Savannah River Site’s controversial plutonium disposition project, known as MOX, are unfazed by reports that President Donald Trump intends to significant reduce the Department of Energy budget, saying it’s too early to predict how Trump will handle the project. Multiple news outlets this month reported details of apparent Trump administration plans […]

A key Savannah River Site (SRS) waste treatment facility returned to operations last month after a three-month scheduled outage to address equipment concerns. The Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) receives low-radioactive salt solution that has been separated from radioactive sludge. That pre-separation material is stored together in more than 40 liquid waste tanks, which in total hold about […]

A $74.2 million project to clean up the coal ash stored at the Savannah River Site is progressing through its second phase, with roughly two-and-a-half years left to complete the work, a site official reported this week. The D Area Ash Project involves 1.3 million cubic yards of ash stored on 90 acres of land […]

A key Savannah River Site (SRS) waste treatment facility returned to operations last month after a three-month scheduled outage to address equipment concerns. The Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) receives low-radioactive salt solution that has been separated from radioactive sludge. That pre-separation material is stored together in more than 40 liquid waste tanks, which in total hold about 35 […]