Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

While the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad, N.M., field office believes passage of time has made transuranic drums stranded since 2014 at Waste Control Specialists in Texas safe for travel to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is not yet convinced. That is the crux of a Sept. 8 letter sent to […]

Now that a state administrative law judge recommends the Department of Energy be allowed to continue digging a new underground shaft at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., parties in the case have until Wednesday, Sept. 29, to file responses. In a 56-page report provided Sept. 14 to DOE, prime contractor Nuclear Waste […]

The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed two-month stopgap spending bill for 2022 that would keep the Department of Energy cleanup office at roughly fiscal 2021 levels, but also includes a provision to prevent a shortfall in uranium cleanup funds after Oct. 1. The plan released Tuesday by House Appropriations, and passed later the same day in […]

Now that a state administrative law judge recommends the Department of Energy be allowed to continue digging a new underground shaft at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., parties in the case have until Wednesday, Sept. 29, to file responses. In a 56-page report provided Sept. 14 to DOE, prime contractor Nuclear Waste […]

While the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad, N.M., field office believes passage of time has made transuranic drums stranded since 2014 at Waste Control Specialists in Texas safe for travel to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is not yet convinced. That is the crux of a Sept. 8  letter sent to […]

An uptick in COVID-19 cases and some uneven underground floor conditions led the Department of Energy to temporarily halt disposal of defense-related transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant recently, according to a safety board report. An increase in COVID cases required some Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) workers to quarantine, according to a […]

After recording one of its busier months in more than a year, shipments of transuranic waste to the Department of Energy’s underground disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., declined in August. Data available on the DOE’s public website for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) show only seven shipments during August, with the most recent being […]

States and tribal governments along haulage routes leading to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico could divvy up about $8.9-million in federal project grants during fiscal 2022, according to a recent notice. “The participating States, tribes, and the DOE will work to develop, coordinate, and implement activities in accident prevention, […]

After recording one of its busier months in more than a year, shipments of transuranic waste to the Department of Energy’s underground disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., declined in August. Data available Monday on the DOE’s public website for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) show only seven shipments during August, with the most recent […]

Navarro Research & Engineering took over this week as the new Carlsbad Technical Assistance in New Mexico after a challenge to its $76-million award from the Department of Energy was dismissed. According to a notice filed Friday, Aug. 27, on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) website, the challenge lodged July 26 by Pecos Technical Solutions […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state lifted a take cover order about four hours after workers detected strange odors Wednesday morning in the 200 West Area of the cleanup complex. Crews investigating reports of odors near the Reduction Oxidation (REDOX) plant found no evidence of radiation or a chemical release near the […]

A public meeting is set for 5 p.m. Mountain Time today as the New Mexico Environment Department reviews plans by the Department of Energy and its prime contractor for two new underground disposal panels at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. The Amentum-led Nuclear Waste Partnership, which includes BXW Technologies, will present information on […]

A bid protest filed in July after Navarro Research & Engineering won the $76-million Carlsbad Technical Assistance Contract from the Department of Energy has been dismissed. According to a notice filed Friday on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) website, the challenge lodged July 26 by Pecos Technical Solutions has been dismissed. At DOE’s direction, Oak […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant received 41 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste in July, making it one of the busier months since the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading in the United States in early 2020. Last month’s total is up from the 23 shipments in July 2020, during deep pandemic times. It is […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant received 41 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste in July, making it one of the busier months since the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading in the United States in early 2020. Last month’s total is up from the 23 shipments in July 2020, during deep pandemic times. It is […]

Navarro Research & Engineering should take over Sept. 1 as the new Technical Assistance contractor at the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico, an agency spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. The Oak Ridge, Tenn.,-based company, which beat out five other bidders for the potential five-year, $76-million small business set-aside, received its notice to proceed […]

Bethesda, Md.,-based Orano USA has a new management team and several new board of directors for its Federal Services Business unit that does business with the Department of Energy, the company said early Wednesday. Orano Federal Services President Dorothy Davidson said in a press release that the new management team will include: Joe Faldowskim, chief […]

The Department of Energy expects several dozen drums of transuranic waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory will be found not to pose any ignition risk and eventually cleared for transport to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, a spokesperson said this week. The 60 drums now isolated within storage domes at Area […]

After sources told Weapons Complex Monitor of the latest federal efforts to stem the surge of new COVID-19 cases, the Department of Energy acknowledged Friday it  is imploring government contractors to find ways to get workers to take the shot. A DOE spokesperson told Weapons Complex Monitor Friday the agency is reaching out to managers […]

With the COVID-19 pandemic making telecommuting more routine, the Department of Energy might terminate the lease for office space it secured last year in Albuquerque, N.M., to accommodate certain staff for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, an agency spokesperson said by email. “Due to COVID-19 restrictions,” the Carlsbad Field Office was not able to use […]

After Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) this week mandated state employees get vaccinated for COVID-19 by Oct. 4, the Washington Department of Ecology, state regulator for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, delayed a planned “soft reopening” of its offices previously scheduled for August, an Ecology spokesman said Tuesday. The reopening has been pushed back […]

Navarro Research & Engineering should take over Sept. 1 as the new Technical Assistance contractor at the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico, an agency spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. The Oak Ridge, Tenn.,-based company, which beat out five other bidders for the potential five-year, $72-million small business set-aside, received its notice to proceed […]

Oak Ridge, Tenn.,- based Navarro Research & Engineering won the $76-million Carlsbad Technical Assistance Contract from the Department of Energy and promptly drew a bid protest by a firm called Pecos Technical Solutions. A DOE chart of major contracts for the Office of Environmental Management, updated July 21, has Navarro taking over from incumbent North […]

With the COVID-19 pandemic making telecommuting more routine, the Department of Energy might terminate the lease for office space it secured last year in Albuquerque, N.M., to accommodate certain staff for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, an agency spokesperson said by email. “Due to COVID-19 restrictions,” the Carlsbad Field Office was not able to use […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved 25-to-five on Wednesday a fiscal year 2022 spending bill for the Department of Energy and other agencies with roughly $7.7-billion for Department of Energy nuclear weapons cleanup. The committee’s plan for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) office, which oversees cleanup of 16 Cold War and Manhattan Project nuclear sites, […]

Earnings fell at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the second quarter, which the Department of Energy contractor and maker of nuclear submarine reactors and components attributed to non-recurring costs such as commercializing a line of medical isotopes, plus higher interest rates. Net income for the second quarter ended June 30 was $59.4 million or $0.62 […]

Earnings fell at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the second quarter, which the Department of Energy contractor and maker of nuclear submarine reactors and components attributed to non-recurring costs such as commercializing a line of medical isotopes, plus higher interest rates. Net income for the second quarter ended June 30 was $59.4 million or $0.62 […]

If the recent past is a guide, CEOs at some of the nation’s largest publicly-traded Department of Energy contractors could use their upcoming public earnings calls with Wall Street analysts to discuss President Joe Biden’s toughened stance on vaccinations for federal employees and on-site contractors. Weapons complex contractors BWXT, Fluor, Huntington Ingalls, Jacobs, Leidos and […]

Developing two new deep-mine panels for disposal of transuranic waste at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., should not entail new environmental risks, according to a document posted last week on the procurement website for a new prime contract. Excavation and use of two replacement panels, dubbed Panels 11 and […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has opened a training center in Carlsbad, N.M., to prepare staff for resumption of shipments of remote-handled waste at the underground disposal facility, the agency tweeted this week. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has not taken shipments of remote-handled (RH) transuranic waste using RH-72B casks since […]