Archive

Cleanup & Remediation

Coverage of DOE-EM’s multi-billion-dollar effort to address Cold War and Manhattan Project nuclear legacy waste, including tank waste treatment, site remediation, and decommissioning at Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge, and other major sites.

  • Navarro Scores Well on Award Fee Document

    Navarro Research and Engineering earned 90% of its available fee – not including any incentive fee — for its environmental work at the Energy Department’s Nevada National Nuclear Site (NNSS) over a 16-month period ended Jan. 31. That’s the crux of a recently published fee performance scorecard from the DOE Office of Environmental Management. Oak-Ridge, […]

  • Energy Dept. to Extend Paducah Support Contract by 6 Months

    The Energy Department intends to retain Swift & Staley for up to six more months as the infrastructure support services provider at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. Paducah-based Swift & Staley’s $192 million contract dates to December 2015 and is set to expire in September 2020. As the firm’s initial three-year base period was expiring […]

  • Companies Big and Small Eye FUSRAP Contract

    Representatives of more than 40 companies attended the June 24 industry pre-proposal conference for the upcoming contract for cleanup of the Luckey Site in Ohio under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The Army Corps on June 26 posted the attendance list, along with the first tranche of […]

  • South Carolina Congressman Seeks More Funding for Savannah River Site

    Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said last week he favors increasing funding for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina by more than $51 million above the Donald Trump administration’s fiscal 2021 budget request, mostly to finance improvements at the H Canyon complex. Wilson noted that H Canyon as the only hardened nuclear […]

  • House Armed Services Chairman Would Restore Hanford Funding in NDAA

    The chairman’s mark for the House of Representatives’ fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would add about $700 million to the top line for the Trump administration’s $5 billion request for defense environmental cleanup operations managed by the Department of Energy. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) released his mark over the […]

  • Half of Fluor Idaho Workforce Back On-Site

    Half of the 1,800-person cleanup workforce at the Idaho National Laboratory is back on-site after months of reduced operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to contractor Fluor Idaho. An additional 30% are still teleworking, a company spokesperson said by email Thursday. The Fluor Idaho representative did not immediately say if the rest are collecting paid […]

  • Isotek Inks $254-Million Deal for Continued U-233 Work at Oak Ridge

    Oak Ridge-Tenn.-based Isotek Systems has inked a $254 million contract modification with the Energy Department to continue disposing of uranium-233 (U-233) through 2024 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Isotek has overseen the inventory of U-233 since October 2003, removing the material from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Building 3019. The 1940’s era building is […]

  • All DOE Nuclear Cleanup Sites Now in Phase 1 or Phase 2 of Restart

    All 16 nuclear cleanup sites overseen by the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management have at least initiated Phase 1 remobilization operations, after on-site work was drastically scaled back this spring in an effort to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 among the workforce. In addition, Phase 2 is now underway at the Idaho National […]

  • New Mexico Cites ‘Widespread’ Contamination Problem at Road Near Los Alamos Lab

    Radioactive contamination is more widespread than first thought along a road outside the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). The area is part of a tract of land, which includes the site of a planned housing development, transferred from LANL to Los Alamos County […]

  • Lack of Notice About Off-Site Waste Shipments Costs Los Alamos Lab $300k

    The Los Alamos National Laboratory got whacked with some $300,000 in fines this month for failing to notify the New Mexico state government about eight off-site waste shipments in 2017 and 2018. The eight shipments, comprising 18 containers, happened while contractor Los Alamos National Security was still in charge of the northern New Mexico nuclear-weapon lab. […]

  • Centerra Yanks GAO Protest Stemming From SRS Procurement

    Centerra Group, the incumbent provider of paramilitary security at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, has withdrawn a Government Accountability Office (GAO) protest over procurement of a follow-on contract. Centerra filed the protest May 8, but then withdrew it on June 9, according to a notice posted on the GAO website. The […]

  • Wrap Up: NRC Issues Plan for Review of Hanford Waste Disposal

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has formally accepted for review an Energy Department proposal to dispose of vitrified low-activity waste inside the fence at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The Energy Department on April 23 filed its draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR) evaluation with the NRC, which in this case is serving as […]

  • Energy Dept. to Issue Nationwide Waste Treatment RFP by August

    The Energy Department expects by mid-August to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for treatment of low-level and mixed-level radioactive wastes, according to procurement documents published June 18. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said an RFP should be issued within 15 to 60 days of publication of the notice. The agency plans to issue […]

  • New Mexico Cites ‘Widespread’ Contamination Problem at Road Near Los Alamos Lab

    Radioactive contamination is more widespread than first thought along a road outside the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). The area is part of a tract of land, which includes the site of a planned housing development, transferred from LANL to Los Alamos County a few years […]

  • Inspector General Finds DOE Pace Lagging for Key Paducah Cleanup Job

    The Energy Department is lagging behind schedule for deactivation and demolition of the C-400 complex at the Paducah Site in Kentucky, the DOE Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Tuesday. The 134,000-square-foot C-400 building was chiefly employed to clean equipment used in uranium enrichment at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. A […]

  • Senate NDAA Would Authorize More Defense Nuclear Cleanup Funds for Los Alamos

    The Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act would allow $100 million more in the primary funding tranche for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management than requested by the Donald Trump administration. The legislation would authorize $5.1 billion for defense environmental cleanup for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 […]

  • Los Alamos Fined Over Waste Shipments

    The Los Alamos National Laboratory got whacked with some $300,000 in fines this month for failing to notify the New Mexico state government about eight off-site waste shipments in 2017 and 2018. The eight shipments, comprising 18 containers, happened while contractor Los Alamos National Security was still in charge of the northern New Mexico nuclear-weapon lab. […]

  • Publication Notice

    The next issue of Weapons Complex Monitor will be published on Thursday, July 2, in observance of the Independence Day holiday.

  • Army Corps Taking Bids on FUSRAP Project

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking bids for cleanup of the radioactively contaminated Luckey Site in Ohio under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The small business set-aside award would have a five-year base term and an option for another five years, according to the request for proposals issued on June […]

  • Centerra Withdraws Protest Stemming From SRS Security Procurement

    Centerra Group, the incumbent provider of paramilitary security at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, has withdrawn a Government Accountability Office (GAO) protest over procurement of a follow-on contract. Centerra filed the protest May 8, but then withdrew it on June 9, according to a notice posted on the GAO website. The […]

  • Another Hanford Site Employee Tests Positive for Virus

    Another worker at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state tested posted for COVID-19 this week, bringing the total number of cases to 17 at the former plutonium production complex. The individual works at the Waste Treatment Plant being built by Bechtel, according to the Energy Department website that provides updates on COVID-19. Access […]

  • NRC Provides Schedule for Review of DOE Vitrified Waste Plan

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has formally accepted for review an Energy Department proposal to dispose of vitrified low-activity waste inside the fence at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The Energy Department on April 23 filed its draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR) evaluation with the NRC, which in this case is serving as […]

  • Senate NDAA Would Authorize More Defense Nuclear Cleanup Money for DOE

    The Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act would allow $100 million more in the primary funding tranche for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management than requested by the Donald Trump administration. The legislation would authorize $5.1 billion for defense environmental cleanup for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 […]

  • Lack of Notice About Off-Site Waste Shipments Costs Los Alamos Lab $300k

    The Los Alamos National Laboratory got whacked with some $300,000 in fines this month for failing to notify the New Mexico state government about eight off-site waste shipments in 2017 and 2018. The eight shipments, comprising 18 containers, happened while contractor Los Alamos National Security was still in charge of the northern New Mexico nuclear-weapons […]

  • Inspector General Finds DOE Not on Pace for Key Paducah Cleanup Job

    The Energy Department is lagging behind schedule for deactivation and demolition of the C-400 complex at the Paducah Site in Kentucky, the DOE Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Tuesday. The 134,000-square-foot C-400 building was chiefly employed to clean equipment used in uranium enrichment at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. A […]

  • Perma-Fix Scores Another Cleanup Contract at Lawrence Berkeley Lab

    Perma-Fix Environmental Services said Friday it has secured a $7 million contract for cleanup operations at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. The award covers “remediation, demolition and waste management services,” according to a press release from the Atlanta-based waste management company. The release did not offer additional details. Perma-Fix referred questions seeking specifics […]

  • More COVID-19 Cases Reported at Hanford, Savannah River

    The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has confirmed six more cases of COVID-19 since Thursday, while the Hanford Site in Washington state on Sunday reported another case among its workforce. The Savannah River Site operations office website now lists a total of 42 cases of COVID-19 among roughly 11,000 personnel. Twenty-eight of […]

  • New Mexico Cites ‘Widespread’ Contamination Problem at Road Near Los Alamos Lab

    Radioactive contamination is more widespread than first thought along a road outside the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). The area is part of a tract of land, which includes the site of a planned housing development, transferred from LANL to Los Alamos County […]

  • Army Corps Taking Bids on FUSRAP Cleanup Project

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking bids for cleanup of the radioactively contaminated Luckey Site in Ohio under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The small business set-aside award would have a five-year base term and an option for another five years, according to the request for proposals issued on June […]

  • House Armed Services Panel Seeks Study on DOE Nuclear Cleanup Leadership Turnover

    A House Armed Services Committee panel is worried the top executive post at the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management is becoming too much of a revolving door. The strategic forces subcommittee on Sunday released its 56-page mark for the House’s 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The document calls for the Government Accountability Office […]