Cleanup & Remediation

A second draft of the Department of Energy’s Record of Decision to build a new on-site landfill for low-level radioactive waste at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee is now expected in mid-October, the agency said late recently. Originally slated to appear this week, publication of the updated draft has been pushed back until mid-October […]

Recent federal employee forms show 90% of workers at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board have been vaccinated against coronavirus infection, a spokesperson for the board said Tuesday. All Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) personnel have submitted the recently-required forms to attest to their COVID-19 vaccination status, said Tara Tadlock, associate director for board […]

The Army Corps of Engineers gave North Wind Portage the green light to continue its cleanup work at a former beryllium manufacturing plant in Ohio, a company spokesperson said this week. North Wind, which was awarded the $82 million contract for the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) Luckey site on August 18, has […]

While the Joe Biden administration in its appropriations request floated the idea of moving a military cleanup program to the Department of Energy from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, lawmakers seem inclined to keep things as they are, according to a recent analysis from the Congressional Research Service. The White House budget request in […]

The Department of Energy last week defended a 2020 update to a key nuclear safety management regulation but said the agency will work with a federal nuclear watchdog over its “technical concerns” with the final rule — including as it relates to aging nuclear facilities. The DOE “continues to conclude that its current regulatory framework, […]

Construction of a plant to treat mercury-laden water stemming from building demolition at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee is more than a third complete, an agency spokesperson said Tuesday. Construction of the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility by a joint venture of Louisiana-based APTIM and Idaho-based North Wind is about 35% […]

The Justice Department last week asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a 2020 ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a state law making it easier for workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site to win compensation for work-related health problems. The move has prompted swift rebukes from the Washington […]

The Army Corps of Engineers gave North Wind Portage the green light to continue its cleanup work at a former beryllium manufacturing plant in Ohio, a company spokesperson said Tuesday. North Wind, which was awarded the $82 million contract for the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) Luckey site on August 18, has received […]

The Justice Department last week asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a 2020 ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a state law making it easier for workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site to win compensation for work-related health problems. The move has prompted swift rebukes from the Washington […]

Construction of a plant to treat mercury-laden water stemming from building demolition at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee is more than a third complete, an agency spokesperson said Tuesday. Construction of the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility by a joint venture of Louisiana-based APTIM and Idaho-based North Wind is about 35% […]

The Department of Energy last week defended a 2020 update to a key nuclear safety management regulation but said the agency will work with a federal nuclear watchdog over its “technical concerns” with the final rule — including as it relates to aging nuclear facilities. The DOE “continues to conclude that its current regulatory framework, […]

A second draft of the Department of Energy’s Record of Decision to build a new on-site landfill for low-level radioactive waste at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee is now expected in mid-October, the agency said late last week. Originally slated to appear this week, publication of the updated draft has been pushed back until […]

Preliminary figures show the liquid waste cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has roughly two-thirds of its workforce vaccinated against COVID-19, a spokesman said Friday. The numbers are not final because DOE certification of vaccination forms were not due until Friday, a spokesman for Amentum-led Savannah River Remediation […]

Six weeks after telling unvaccinated feds and contractors to wear masks and be tested regularly for COVID-19, President Joe Biden Thursday took things a step further and said such workers must either take the vaccine or find another job.   “If you want to work with the federal government, do business with us, get vaccinated,” Biden […]

Mike Nartker, a former communications director at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is now chief of staff, according to a new organizational chart posted online last Wednesday. In the post, Nartker reports to DOE’s acting assistant secretary for environmental management (EM) William (Ike) White.  In addition to supporting White and principal deputy […]

The Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor at a uranium mill tailings pile near Moab, Utah has moved about 74% of the radioactive material to a disposal site 30 miles away, according to an update posted online this week. In August, North Wind Portage shipped 73,923 tons of tailings and debris from the former Atlas Minerals […]

Given the shrinking chances of Congress agreeing on fiscal year 2022 appropriations by the end of the month, the Joe Biden administration on Tuesday requested that any continuing resolution Congress passes to extend 2021 budgets protect the short-term operations of the Department of Energy’s uranium enrichment cleanups. As Weapons Complex Monitor has reported, the government […]

A federal court mediation deadline of Sept. 16 has been set for a long time worker at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina who sued operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions last year under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Attorneys for Richard Lusby, who initially filed his case in a South […]

The Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor at a uranium mill tailings pile near Moab, Utah has moved about 74% of the radioactive material to a disposal site 30 miles away, according to an update posted online this week. In August, North Wind Portage shipped 73,923 tons of tailings and debris from the former Atlas Minerals […]

Given the shrinking chances of Congress agreeing on fiscal year 2022 appropriations by the end of the month, the Joe Biden administration on Tuesday requested that any continuing resolution Congress passes to extend 2021 budgets protect the short-term operations of the Department of Energy’s uranium enrichment cleanups. As Weapons Complex Morning Briefing has reported, the […]

The Amentum-Jacobs joint venture in charge of remediating the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee said Tuesday it will make vaccination against COVID-19 a condition of employment for its 2,000 workers. That makes the team the third DOE nuclear-site contract to mandate the vaccine, after contractors at the Savannah River Site in South […]

With two major Department of Energy nuclear site contractors having already announced plans to mandate worker vaccination against COVID-19, don’t be surprised to see others follow in coming days, sources told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. One industry source said Friday there is a good chance at least one more major limited liability corporation at a […]

Mike Nartker, a former communications director at the Department of Energy’s Office’s Office of Environmental Management is now chief of staff, according to a new organizational chart posted online last Wednesday. In the post, Nartker reports to DOE’s acting assistant secretary for environmental management (EM) William (Ike) White.  In addition to supporting White and principal […]

The Exchange Monitor’s RadWaste Summit has been rescheduled to Nov. 3-5 at the J.W. Marriott Las Vegas Resort and Spa in Summerlin, Nev. For more information, please contact Beth Wagner, associate brand director for the RadWaste Summit.

The House Armed Services Committee’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2022 would authorize the full $6.84 billion sought by the Joe Biden administration for Defense Environmental Cleanup at Department of Energy nuclear sites, according to the chairman’s mark. The House Armed Services Committee early Thursday approved its version of the 2022 […]

Overall, Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth claimed $30 million, or 85% of a potential $35.3 million in total available fee, for its work at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site for an 18-month period ending March 31. The Fluor-led contractor earned $7.4 million or 70% out a potential $10.6 million in subjective fee, according to the scorecard from […]

There have been 29 deaths from COVID-19 across the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup enterprise, 6,141 confirmed cases since the pandemic began and at least two prime contractors at major federal sites that say they will order employees to get vaccinated. Those are a few of the pre-Labor Day developments confirmed by Weapons Complex Monitor […]

Veolia earned about 89% of its potential fee from the Department of Energy during its last seven months of analytic work at the Department of Energy’s 222 S Laboratory at the Hanford Site in Washington state. That is according to a fee scorecard published by DOE earlier this month. A Veolia unit took home $148,707 […]

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 […]

An appeals panel within the Small Business Administration erred in May when it found Swift & Staley was too big to qualify for a $160-million Department of Energy set-aside contract for services at the Paducah Site in Kentucky, a U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge ruled. The ruling turned on whether a Swift & Staley […]