Y-12
The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, produces and stores enriched uranium components for the nuclear stockpile. Coverage tracks the Uranium Processing Facility construction project, secondary production, highly enriched uranium storage, site contracts, and security and safety findings.
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Decommissioning
Tennessee Signs Off on DOE Demolition of Y-12 Buildings
The Department of Energy has received approval from the state of Tennessee to proceed with demolition of two Manhattan Project-era buildings at the Biology Complex within the Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Reservation. Representatives from DOE and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) confirmed this week the state has given […]
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Budget & Policy
Alexander, DOE’s Head Senate Appropriator, Calling it Quits After 2020
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who this year secured full construction funding for a crucial defense uranium plant in his state even as he stood in the way of the Trump administration’s plans for civilian nuclear-waste disposal, on Monday announced he will leave the Senate after 2020. Alexander chairs the crucial Senate Appropriations energy and water […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE Extends Comment Deadline on New Oak Ridge Landfill
Stakeholders now have through Jan. 9 to weigh in on the proposed new 2.2-million-cubic yard-landfill to eventually replace the existing facility at the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. An Energy Department spokesman confirmed by email the public comment deadline has been extended from Dec. 10. This marks the second extension — DOE had […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Comment Deadline Approaches on New Oak Ridge Landfill
Stakeholders have until 5 p.m. local time Monday to submit public comment on the Energy Department’s proposed new waste disposal facility at the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee. Officially called the Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) is a proposed a 2.2-million-cubic yard landfill to replace the current one that has been taking waste since 2002 […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
APTIM-North Wind Venture Wins $92M Contract for Y-12 Mercury Treatment Plant
A joint venture, APTIM-North Wind Construction, has won a $92 million contract from the Energy Department to build the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The DOE Office of Environmental Management announced the four-year award in a Tuesday press release. The agency received two proposals for […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
LANL Deploys System to ‘Intercept’ Unwanted Drones
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) says it has deployed a system at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico that can “detect, identify, track and intercept unsanctioned and suspicious drones.” The Department of Energy agency announced the news in a press release Nov. 19, shortly before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. The NNSA did […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Longenecker Adds Two Members to Advisory Board
Longenecker & Associates, the Las Vegas-based Energy Department subcontractor, has added a former Honeywell executive and a retired Air Force officer to its advisory board. The new members are retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Sandra Finan, now a consultant based in Spokane, Wash.; and ex-Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies (FM&T) President Chris Gentile, Longenecker […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
DOE Investigating CNS For ‘Criticality Safety Weaknesses’
The Department of Energy’s Enterprise Assessments (EA) office will investigate Consolidated Nuclear Security for “nuclear criticality control weaknesses” at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s main uranium-handling site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The internal DOE oversight body informed Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) of the impending investigation on Nov. 13, according to a notice posted on the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Bechtel’s New UPF Project Manager Comes From LANL Plutonium Project
Brian Zieroth on Oct. 29 replaced Valerie McCain as Bechtel National’s project manager on the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) being built at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., a company spokesperson said Monday. Zieroth will now manage construction of a roughly $6.5 billion facility designed to mold uranium into shapes usable in […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA Review of UPF Compounds Legal Violations, Environmental Groups Say
A September review by the Department of Energy compounded the agency’s alleged transgressions of federal environmental law stemming from a 2016 design change to a next-generation uranium plant under construction at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, a band of environmental groups said this week in an amended federal lawsuit. The supplemental analysis DOE’s semiautonomous […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Public Meeting Set Today on New Oak Ridge Waste Landfill
The Energy Department has scheduled a public information meeting for 5 p.m. today on the new Environmental Management Disposal Facility planned for the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The Energy Department is proposing a 2.2 million-cubic-yard landfill site on federal land in Bear Creek Valley, according to a notice for the 90-minute meeting at the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Further Environmental Review of UPF Still Not Needed, NNSA Says
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) reaffirmed Tuesday that, despite public comments and even a federal lawsuit that say otherwise, it does not need to perform another environmental review of the Uranium Processing Facility being built at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency “has determined, at […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Further Environmental Review of UPF Still Not Needed, NNSA Says
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) reaffirmed Tuesday that, despite public comments and even a federal lawsuit that say otherwise, it does not need to perform another environmental review of the Uranium Processing Facility being built at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency “has determined, at […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: Small-Biz Cleanup RFP Issued at Oak Ridge
The Energy Department last week issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a small business set-aside contract, potentially worth almost $25 million over five years, to tackle low-risk, low-complexity characterization and remediation for the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management in Tennessee. The Y-12 National Security Complex, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE Seeking Contractor for Characterization, Remediation at Oak Ridge
The Energy Department last week issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a small business set-aside contract, potentially worth almost $25 million over five years, to tackle low-risk, low-complexity characterization and remediation for the Oak River Office of Environmental Management in Tennessee. The Y-12 National Security Complex, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Decision to Study Stripping Tritium Mission from Savannah River ‘Routine,’ DOE Official Says
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) decision to study transferring some $300 million in annual defense nuclear materials operations to Tennessee from South Carolina is “routine,” according to the head of the Department of Energy’s cleanup mission at the Savannah River Site. “This is just a routine kind of process we always go through, especially […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Bechtel National Under Federal Contract Spending Restrictions
Bechtel National (BNI) is under new federal restrictions on issuing subcontracts and making large purchases in the wake of a routine audit of its purchasing systems by the Pentagon’s Defense Contract Management Agency. On July 20, Bechtel issued an internal “Procurement & Subcontracts Compliance Bulletin” with the subject head “Disapproval of BNI Purchasing System” for […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
DNFSB Sending Two Inspectors on New Assignments to Y-12
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is sending two of its technical staffers on new assignments to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Matthew Duncan will become Oak Ridge resident inspector on Aug. 20, while Brandon Weathers will become an Oak Ridge resident inspector in December, the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Oak Ridge Congressman Says Y-12 Can Handle NNSA Tritium Mission
WASHINGTON — The Congressman who represents the Y-12 National Security Complex is confident the weapons facility could handle the National Nuclear Security Administration’s tritium mission, should the agency eventually move the mission to Oak Ridge, Tenn. “I want NNSA [the National Nuclear Security Administration] to make the final decision, but the Oak Ridge Reservation can […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA Could Take Tritium Mission Away From Savannah River Over MOX Court Case
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is considering a radical restructuring of its nuclear weapons mission at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, including moving some work to another location. Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency, said she must at least consider winding down certain operations at the Aiken, S.C., […]
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Contracts & Procurement
NNSA Rolling On With CNS Contract as Senate Presses For More Insight Into Deal
As House and Senate lawmakers this week debate whether to tighten congressional scrutiny of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) weapons production contract, the agency is pressing ahead on all cylinders with the deal, which was extended for two years just this spring. The Senate’s 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, passed in June, mandates that […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA Could Take Tritium Mission Away From Savannah River Over MOX Court Case
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is considering a radical restructuring of its nuclear weapons mission at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, including moving some work to another location. Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency, said she must at least consider winding down certain operations at the Aiken, S.C., […]
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Contracts & Procurement
NNSA Rolling On With CNS Contract as Senate Presses For More Insight Into Deal
As House and Senate lawmakers this week debate whether to tighten congressional scrutiny of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) weapons production contract, the agency is pressing ahead on all cylinders with the deal, which was extended for two years just this spring. The Senate’s 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, passed in June, mandates that […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Judges Involved With Y-12 Break-in Rulings Are on Supreme-Court Shortlist
Among the jurists who President Donald Trump could tap to fill an impending Supreme Court vacancy are two who were involved with the case of an octogenarian nun who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and , and defaced a uranium storehouse. Judge Amul Thapar, presently of the U.S. Court of Appeals for […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Judges Involved With Y-12 Break-in Rulings Are on Supreme-Court Shortlist
Among the jurists who President Donald Trump could tap to fill an impending Supreme Court vacancy are two who were involved with the case of an octogenarian nun who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and defaced a uranium storehouse. Judge Amul Thapar, presently of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the […]
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Contracts & Procurement
CNS, Union Agree on New Five-Year Contract for Y-12 Guards
Consolidated Nuclear Security, the prime contractor for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons sites, reached a new collective bargaining agreement with a union representing Y-12 security personnel in Tennessee. The five-year contract with International Guards Union of America will go into effect in August and run through Aug. 15, 2023, according […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
UCOR Takes In 92 Percent of Potential Fee in Latest Scorecard, Hires DOE Adviser
URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR), prime cleanup contractor for the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, earned a total of $6.24 million in fee awards for the first half of 2018, according to a recent performance scorecard. The contractor garnered 100 percent of the potential $2.59 million in objective criteria fee, along with $3.65 million, […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
UPF Prime Says It Hit Halfway Mark in Purchasing
Consolidated National Security said last week it has since 2015 awarded some $725 million in purchase orders and subcontracts for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Uranium Processing Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. “Some of the largest awards included structural steel, rebar, specialized equipment and a subcontract for an onsite concrete batch plant,” the project prime […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Uranium Casting Resumes at Y-12’s Building 9212
Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) this week resumed casting enriched uranium at the World War II-vintage Building 9212 at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., a company spokesperson said Thursday. Casting was offline for about two-and-a-half months after an unspecified quantity of fissile material leaked into machinery at the National Nuclear Security Administration […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
UPF Prime Says It Hit Halfway Mark in Purchasing
Consolidated National Security said Thursday it has since 2015 awarded some $725 million in purchase orders and subcontracts for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Uranium Processing Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. “Some of the largest awards included structural steel, rebar, specialized equipment and a subcontract for an onsite concrete batch plant,” the project prime said […]





