Cleanup & Remediation

The Department of Energy Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., has now converted 250,000 gallons of less radioactive tank waste into solid glass form. In September, over 39,000 gallons were vitrified into glass form at the WTP’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Facility, Bechtel National, which built the plant, […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management last month marked the 20th anniversary of final remediation of the Fernald Site, a former uranium processing facility 20 miles outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. Over 250 people turned out for a Sept. 19 commemoration of the Cold War nuclear site that operated from 1951 until 1986 when […]

With dignitaries such as U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) on hand, Amentum Thursday formally opened what it calls its Global Nuclear headquarters in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The offices at 151 Lafayette Drive will house more than 150 staff and serve as a hub for Amentum’s international nuclear operations as well as providing the company a […]

The Department of Energy has removed “acting” from the title of Idaho Cleanup Project Manager Nick Balsmeier at the Idaho National Laboratory. “17 years ago today, I started my career at the Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) as a United Steelworker (Local 652),” Balsmeier said in an Oct. 5 post on LinkedIn. “Today, I started my […]

State and federal agencies are incrementally addressing some of the many issues required for the Department of Energy to start grouting some of its less radioactive waste at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. The DOE issued a final greenlight to the final waste incidental to reprocessing (WIR) finding for the contents of underground storage […]

The Department of Energy is preparing a Manhattan Project-era facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex for demolition while recovering equipment that can be reused across dozens of National Nuclear Security Administration facilities. The department’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and NNSA are working with their respective contractors, United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has removed 17 million tons of uranium mill tailings from the banks of the Colorado River near Moab, Utah, the agency said in a newsletter this week. Since 2009, crews have transported the tailings by rail to an engineered disposal cell about 30 miles away in Crescent […]

The Department of Energy is preparing a Manhattan Project-era facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex for demolition while recovering equipment that can be reused across dozens of National Nuclear Security Administration facilities. The department’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and NNSA are working with their respective contractors, United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) […]

The Department of Energy and its Hanford tank waste contractor are preparing to begin retrieving radioactive and chemical waste from the site’s 25th single-shell tank, marking another milestone in the decades-long cleanup effort. DOE’s Hanford Field Office and Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure are preparing to retrieve waste from Tank A-103 in the 200 […]

The head of the environmental contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site told a South Carolina nuclear advisory board last week production accelerated at the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), a vital cog in cleaning up the site’s radioactive waste tanks. “When we took over the job, SWPF was processing at a rate […]

The Department of Energy is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from vendors that could potentially help recover valuable critical materials from nuclear cleanup sites. DOE expects it can reclaim rare earth elements and other materials important to industry from Cold War and Manhattan Project sites overseen by the department’s Office of Environmental Management, according to […]

The Hanford Site’s Tank-side Cesium Removal (TSCR) system is back in operation for the first time since February, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management said in a Sept. 15 press release. DOE contractor Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) suspended operations Feb. 25 because Tank AP-106 was too full to take more […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The head of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office in Richland, Wash., said at a conference here last week it would be feasible to treat 80% of the Hanford Site’s underground tank waste by 2040. Hanford Field Office Manager Ray Geimer made the remark during a Sept. 15 panel discussion during […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup wing recently delayed or paused a couple of contract procurements, participants in the National Cleanup Workshop heard here Sept 15. The Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup solicitation in New Mexico has been delayed, as well as the Paducah Decontamination and Decommissioning Contract in Kentucky, said Aaron Deckard, […]

Uranium recovery at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina will resume next month when the site’s H Canyon facility restarts head end operations, meaning it will begin the initial processing stage.  During an SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) meeting on Tuesday, the site’s DOE Office of Environmental Management executive Edwin Deshong […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Within weeks the Department of Energy could announce potential winners of a solicitation to set up a nuclear fuel recycling demonstration at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the department’s head of nuclear cleanup said here last week. Tim Walsh, the head of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, said Sept. 15 at the […]

Nuclear cleanup crews at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio have taken down a huge chunk of the X-333 Process Building as part of the ongoing demolition of the 33-acre facility. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said in a Tuesday press release that workers have torn down the 66,000-square-foot southwest corner of […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Within weeks the Department of Energy could announce potential winners of a solicitation to set up a nuclear fuel recycling demonstration at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the department’s head of nuclear cleanup said here last week. Tim Walsh, the head of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, said Sept. 15 at the […]

Nuclear cleanup crews at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio have taken down a huge chunk of the X-333 Process Building as part of the ongoing demolition of the 33-acre facility. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said in a Tuesday press release that workers have torn down the 66,000-square-foot southwest corner of […]

Uranium recovery at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina will resume next month when the site’s H Canyon facility restarts head end operations, meaning it will begin the initial processing stage.  During an SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) meeting on Tuesday, the site’s DOE Office of Environmental Management executive Edwin Deshong […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup wing recently delayed or paused a couple of contract procurements, participants in the National Cleanup Workshop heard here Sept 15. The Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup solicitation in New Mexico has been delayed, as well as the Paducah Decontamination and Decommissioning Contract in Kentucky, said Aaron Deckard, […]

The Hanford Site’s Tank-side Cesium Removal (TSCR) system is back in operation for the first time since February, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management said in a Sept. 15 press release. DOE contractor Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) suspended operations Feb. 25 because Tank AP-106 was too full to take more […]

The Department of Energy’s environmental contractor at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has started building its final supersized Saltstone Disposal Unit (SDU) at the nuclear property near Aiken, S.C. Like its half-dozen jumbo-sized SDU predecessors, SDU-12 will be 43 feet high, 375 feet in diameter, and have a total capacity of 34.5 million […]

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in a Wednesday hearing will take its turn to discuss recent developments in the United States efforts to close the back end of the fuel cycle. The hearing will be at 10 a.m. in Room 406 in the Senate Dirksen Office Building in Washington, D.C. This Senate committee […]

The Department of Energy is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from vendors that could potentially help recover valuable critical materials from nuclear cleanup sites. DOE expects it can reclaim rare earth elements and other materials important to industry from Cold War and Manhattan Project sites overseen by the department’s Office of Environmental Management, according to […]