Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

An equipment problem at the U.S. Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico held up emplacement of transuranic waste in December, according to a regular monthly report filed by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Nuclear Waste Partnership, DOE’s contractor in charge of operating the salt mine disposal site, paused waste […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan to produce 80 pits a year would generate more than 1,110 cubic meters of transuranic waste a year, according to an environmental review the semiautonomous Department of Energy weapon steward released this week. Over 50 years — enough time at an 80-a-year throughput to produce two new pits, and […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan to produce 80 pits a year would generate more than 1,110 cubic meters of transuranic waste a year, according to an environmental review the semiautonomous Department of Energy weapon steward released this week. Over 50 years — enough time at an 80-a-year throughput to produce two new pits, and […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan to produce 80 pits a year would generate more than 1,110 cubic meters of transuranic waste a year, according to an environmental review the semiautonomous Department of Energy weapon steward released this week. Over 50 years — enough time at an 80-a-year throughput to produce two new pits, and […]

A veteran of 28 years in the commercial nuclear power industry is the new acting manager for the U.S. Department of Energy office that oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. Greg Sosson was apparently appointed to the temporary detail in December, according to the Carlsbad Field Office website. Sosson joined the […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico received 10 shipments of transuranic waste during November, bringing the total to 285 for the first 11 months of 2019. The figures, from WIPP’s publicly available database, show the underground transuranic waste disposal site has again fallen behind its 2018 pace. It received 291 […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) will hold a meeting on Jan. 9 to explore continuing cleanup issues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, under the 2016 Compliance Order on Consent governing remediation of Cold War weapons production at the Department of Energy site. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. MT at the University […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico received 10 shipments of transuranic waste during November, bringing the total to 285 for the first 11 months of 2019. The figures, from WIPP’s publicly available database, show the underground transuranic waste disposal site has again fallen behind its 2018 pace. It received 291 […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico briefly held up some shipments of transuranic waste from the Idaho National Laboratory in November after discovery of a hole in one drum, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The 4 millimeter-hole was discovered Nov. 2 by WIPP inspectors in a […]

A veteran of 28 years in the commercial nuclear power industry is the new acting manager for the U.S. Department of Energy office that oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. Greg Sosson was apparently appointed to the temporary detail earlier this month, according to the Carlsbad Field Office website. Sosson joined […]

A compromise budget passed by Congress this week would fund the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management at almost $7.5 billion. President Donald Trump is expected today to sign the fiscal 2020 domestic priorities and international assistance minibus, which encompasses appropriations bills for a long list of federal agencies. The House approved the bill […]

A defense policy bill on the verge of passage would require the U.S. Energy Department to provide Congress with anticipated costs of complying with court-enforced consent decrees at nuclear cleanup sites. The final version of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed easily out of the House of Representatives Wednesday on a vote […]

AECOM has named Bruce Covert as deputy general manager at the Waste Treatment Completion Co., based at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Waste Treatment Completion Co. is a joint venture formed by Bechtel and AECOM in January 2017 that acts as a subcontractor to Bechtel National for startup of low-activity waste vitrification […]

New U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette assured a Senate committee recently that steps are being taken to tighten his department’s shipment of radioactive waste for disposal at the Nevada National Security Site. Brouillette, at the time deputy energy secretary, listed several measures in a written response to a question submitted by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto […]

A risk of combustion linked to calcium prompted suspension in November of transuranic waste shipments from the U.S. Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant further south in New Mexico, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Workers discovered calcium metal in certain transuranic material that can ignite […]

New U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette assured a Senate committee recently that steps are being taken to tighten his department’s shipment of radioactive waste for disposal at the Nevada National Security Site. Brouillette, at the time deputy energy secretary, listed several measures in a written response to a question submitted by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto […]

A risk of combustion linked to calcium prompted suspension in November of transuranic waste shipments from the U.S. Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant further south in New Mexico, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Workers discovered calcium metal in certain transuranic material that can ignite […]

Two U.S. Energy Department contractors in fiscal 2019 together cited 48 violations of the New Mexico hazardous waste permit for the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), including incorrectly recording the whereabouts of 250 drums of radioactive waste. In September, about 250 waste drums shipped to the DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad were incorrectly […]

The U.S. Senate on Monday passed legislation to reauthorize the Energy Department’s cleanup of the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state. The measure awaits President Donald Trump’s signature after receiving unanimous consent from the Senate. The president is expected to sign the bill into law within a couple weeks, according to a congressional […]

Based on conversations with the U.S. Department of Energy, the state of Idaho expects the long-awaited Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) will start operating in late 2020 at the Idaho National Laboratory. However, the state for now will continue to assess financial penalties over DOE’s failure to meet the deadline for beginning operations at the […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico received 275 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during the first 10 months of this year, compared to 272 during the same period in 2018. October is the last full month for which shipment information is available through WIPP’s public database. It shows that the […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., is optimistic the state will green light its plans for a new utility shaft that is opposed by two local advocacy groups. “The project remains on course as we prepare for the construction process,” Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) spokesman Bobby […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico received 275 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during the first 10 months of this year, compared to 272 during the same period in 2018. October is the last full month for which shipment information is available through WIPP’s public database. It shows that the […]

AECOM said Friday that CEO and Chairman Michael Burke plans to retire by next year, either once his successor is found or ahead of the company’s 2020 yearly shareholders meeting scheduled for March. Burke will be the last executive to hold the dual title, the Los Angeles-based infrastructure and engineering multinational said in a press […]

The U.S. Energy Department has roughly 6,500 cubic meters of transuranic waste yet to be shipped from the Idaho National Laboratory to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico, an agency spokesperson said by email Nov. 15. That is about 10% of the 65,000 cubic meters of transuranic waste supposed to move from […]

The U.S. Energy Department has roughly 6,500 cubic meters of transuranic waste yet to be shipped from the Idaho National Laboratory to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico, an agency spokesperson said by email Friday. That is about 10% of the 65,000 cubic meters of transuranic waste supposed to move from the […]

AECOM, the international infrastructure company that is preparing its exit from contracting for the U.S. Energy Department, on Tuesday reported record annual revenue but a net loss for its fiscal 2019. Company-wide revenue of almost $20.2 billion was up 2% from $20.15 billion in fiscal 2018, according to AECOM’s latest earnings report. But the net […]

It could be well into 2020 before the U.S. Department of Energy can begin shipping spent fuel from the Byron nuclear power plant in Illinois to DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory. Likewise, it will probably take years before all the lab transuranic waste covered by a 1995 settlement agreement between DOE, the state, and the Navy […]

A local nuclear watchdog said it is happy Idaho is forcing the U.S. Department of Energy to “clean up the radioactive mess” at the Idaho National Laboratory, but does not want more spent nuclear fuel coming into the state. “We strongly oppose additional nuclear waste coming into Idaho,” Snake River Alliance Executive Director Holly Harris […]

BWX Technologies President and CEO Rex Geveden said Tuesday the U.S. Energy Department should soon issue one multibillion-dollar contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state, while another probably won’t arrive until mid-2020. “In the coming weeks we expect to hear about the Hanford Plateau Central Cleanup contract for which we are competing,” Geveden said […]