Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

Addressing the elephant in the desert, an official with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Wednesday warned that ongoing nuclear-weapon maintenance will require a transuranic waste disposal site that is open beyond 2050: the current, best-case availability for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. “From an NNSA perspective, with an enduring mission, […]

A top official with the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management declined Wednesday to specify when a new subcontractor might be selected to finish building a new underground ventilation system for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. “It is certainly a high-priority for us,” Todd Shrader, DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental […]

With two of its own fire trucks out of service, the management contractor for the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico is leasing vehicles from local communities. One of WIPP’s two fire trucks had problems with braking and shifting into gear and a second vehicle was leaking fluids, according to a […]

To settle a lawsuit filed in 2016, the federal government will pay $600 million to South Carolina in recognition of the Department of Energy’s inability to remove several metric tons of plutonium from the state by a legal deadline of 2022, the parties said Monday. The money is expected by the end of September from […]

The Amentum-led prime that manages the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has terminated a $135 million subcontract for construction of a new ventilation system. Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) on Monday announced the dismissal of Critical Applications Alliance (CCA) from the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) project. The contractor said it […]

There are 88 active cases of novel coronavirus 2019 infection within the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management complex, an agency official said via email Thursday. That is down significantly from the 149 active COVID-19 cases reported one week earlier, although multiple infections were reported this week at facilities in New Mexico, South, Carolina, and […]

The Amentum-led prime that manages the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has terminated a $135 million subcontract for construction of a new ventilation system. Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) on Monday announced the dismissal of Critical Applications Alliance (CCA) from the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) project. The contractor said it […]

The prime contractor for the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico has now confirmed a total of 23 COVID-19 cases among its employees, bringing the site-wide count to 28 to date during the pandemic. In a memo sent to employees Monday, President and Project Manager Sean Dunagan said Nuclear Waste Partnership […]

Weapons Complex Monitor took its annual summer recess in mid-August, but we kept track of the nuke news during the publishing holiday and have compiled it here for you. Ninth Court Upholds State Law on Hanford Worker Compensation A Washington state law that makes it easier for workers at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site to […]

Starting Monday, the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state will enter Phase 2 of remobilization toward full-scale operations following the March drawdown forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance announced the change in a Thursday message to the 11,000 federal and contract workers at the former plutonium production complex. Phase 2 […]

The Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 23 shipments of transuranic waste in July, bringing the total to 109 for the first seven months of 2020. That is down significantly from 194 recorded during the first seven months of 2019. Nuclear Waste Partnership, the Amentum-led prime contractor for the underground […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina has confirmed a total of 368 cases of COVID-19 infections among its workforce, though about two-thirds of those personnel have recovered and been authorized to return to the job. The total, posted Friday on the website for the DOE operations office at Savannah River, represents […]

Four people employed by Nuclear Waste Partnership, the prime contractor for the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend. The Amentum-BWX Technologies venture said in a Tuesday press release that three of the people showed no symptoms when tested and were already in quarantine due […]

The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management expects to stay busy with procurements during the remainder of 2020. The nuclear cleanup office intends to roll out up to six final requests for proposals (RFP) between now and December, according to a quarterly update posted Monday by the Cincinnati-based Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center. The Energy Department […]

The management prime at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has resumed downblending plutonium at the K Area after operations were suspended in October 2019. Workers for site manager Savannah River Nuclear Solutions started downblending 6 metric tons (MT) of surplus plutonium in the K Area in 2017, but the operations were […]

The management prime at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has resumed downblending plutonium at the K Area after operations were suspended in 2019. Workers for site manager Savannah River Nuclear Solutions started downblending plutonium in the K Area in 2017, but the operations were paused last year for an extensive maintenance […]

The number of active cases of COVID-19 among Energy Department nuclear cleanup personnel rose substantially this week, and some industry sources suspect this is slowing a return to normal operations at former Cold War and Manhattan Project sites. There were 94 active cases as of Thursday within the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) complex, […]

Another worker at the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has tested positive for infection by novel coronavirus 2019, contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership said Tuesday. The site management prime confirmed the new case in a social media post on both Facebook and Twitter. The individual became ill July 11 and was subsequently […]

A Texas congressman wants to grant the Energy Department authority to dispose of certain foreign-generated radioactive material at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. Rep. Pete Olson (R) is proposing an amendment to the House of Representatives’ fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to allow disposal of americium-241 in the WIPP […]

The Department of Energy on Thursday took its first step toward sealing a new long-term contract for operation of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The DOE Office of Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) issued a sources sought notice/request for information (RFI) for vendors interested in running the underground disposal site for […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Monday approved its fiscal 2021 energy and water development bill, clearing the way for a vote by the full House later this month on the spending plan that would provide at least $7.5 billion for Energy Department nuclear cleanup. The Democrat-majority panel approved the spending package in a 31-20 vote […]

Legislation advanced out of the House Appropriations Committee on Monday sets the stage for the Department of Energy to proceed with its plan for long-term storage of elemental mercury at a privately owned facility in Texas. The 2021 energy and water appropriations bill includes language saying DOE can start accepting fees from businesses, such as […]

Remediation of the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina would be funded at about $1.5 billion for fiscal 2021 under legislation passed out of the House Appropriations Committee on a 30-21 vote Monday. That amount would be about $83 million more than the $1.46 billion enacted by Congress for fiscal 2020, which ends […]

Three nuclear cleanup sites have received approval from the Energy Department to bring back more staff who have been at home for months during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Energy Department announced the status change for the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the Paducah Site in Kentucky, and the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York in […]

The House Appropriations Committee indicated Monday it plans to fund the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management at $7.46 million for fiscal 2021. The nuclear cleanup funding is roughly equal to the amount appropriated for fiscal 2020, which ends Sept. 30, and an increase of $1.4 billion from the request submitted in February by the […]

The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management is expected to decide soon whether to keep Nuclear Waste Partnership in place as the prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. The joint partnership between Amentum (formerly AECOM Management Services) and BWX Technologies is working under the first option of its $2.4 […]

The Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state will continue in Phase 1 of restart operations next week, Manager Brian Vance announced Thursday as the facility moves toward more normal work levels while simultaneously trying to avoid the spread of COVID-19. However, there will be a “marginal increase” in on-site staffing at the Waste Treatment […]

The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management is expected to decide soon whether to keep Nuclear Waste Partnership in place as the prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. The joint partnership between Amentum (formerly AECOM Management Services) and BWX Technologies is working under the first option of its $2.4 […]

The Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC) this week appealed to the New Mexico Supreme Court in an effort to halt construction of a new underground shaft at the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The case was filed with the state’s high court Monday after the New Mexico Court of Appeals on June […]

The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management is expected to decide soon whether to keep Nuclear Waste Partnership in place as the prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. The joint partnership between Amentum (formerly AECOM Management Services) and BWX Technologies is working under the first option of its $2.4 […]