Cleanup & Remediation

After receiving approval from the Energy Department, the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state is starting Phase 1 of the return to normal operations as concern over COVID-19 subsides. The “safe and deliberate approach to the phased restart of operations” began Monday, a DOE spokesman said by email Wednesday. Decommissioning and demolition has […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commissioning said Wednesday it will conduct a technical review of an Energy Department proposal to dispose of certain vitrified low-activity radioactive waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Speaking at an online public meeting, NRC Senior Risk Analyst David Esh said the agency is acting in a consulting role as the Energy […]

Many employees of the facilities overseen by the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office (PPPO) are receiving notices this week to report back to their worksites after months away due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first wave of homebound federal and contract personnel on June 15 will begin reporting back to the three locations overseen […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management plans to forge a closer working relationship with the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB), according to a recent document. “We look forward to future opportunities for regular interactions and discussions,” DOE Senior Adviser for Environmental Management William (Ike) White said in a May 29 letter to Nuclear […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management will cut contractors some slack when it comes to work deadlines missed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a policy that became official last week. The Energy Department “will continue to evaluate COVID-19 impacts on the ability of contractors to perform required work,” according to the formal […]

Mission Support Alliance has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a subcontractor to build a new water treatment facility on the Central Plateau at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. In a June 2 notice posted on a federal procurement website, the Leidos-led site support services vendor said bids are due by […]

A weekend wildfire on Gable Mountain within the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state was brought under control within a day, officials said this week The fire was ignited Saturday night by a lightning strike and burned roughly 5,500 acres before being contained by 8 p.m. local time Sunday night, said Reneé Brooks, spokeswoman […]

Some of the Energy Department’s largest nuclear cleanup sites are calling more employees back to the jobsite, but asking them to travel solo to help limit the potential spread of COVID-19. Officials for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, along with the company building the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington […]

Waste disposal sites in up to three states could be the final destination for the Energy Department’s depleted uranium oxide from retired gaseous diffusion plants in Piketon, Ohio, and Paducah, Ky. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said Friday it has published the record of decision (ROD) for disposal of material generated from conversion of […]

A federal judge in South Carolina has dismissed the $3.5 million racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee of the security provider at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site. U.S. District Judge Sherri Lydon ruled May 28 that plaintiff Marcialena Tremble Brown missed the deadline to file her case against her former employer, Centerra-SRS. […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina as of Friday has confirmed 23 cases of COVID-19 among its workforce. That is up from 22 reported at the end of last week. Sixteen of those employees have recovered and returned to work, a spokeswoman for the DOE’s SRS operations said by email. Savannah […]

Bechtel National earned $5 million of the potential $7.87 million 2019 fee for ongoing construction on the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Energy Department said Tuesday. By claiming an overall score of “good” and winning roughly 64% of the maximum available fee for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, […]

The fire chief for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has died, contractor Mission Support Alliance announced this week. Norbert Kuhman died May 29 at age 63, according to an obituary published Wednesday in the Tri-City Herald newspaper. Kuhman had served in the position since February 2014. Management of the 145-person Hanford Fire […]

Mission Support Alliance has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a subcontractor to build a new water treatment facility on the Central Plateau at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. In a June 2 notice posted on a federal procurement website, the Leidos-led site support services vendor said bids are due by […]

The fire chief for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has died, contractor Mission Support Alliance announced this week. Norbert Kuhman had served in the position since February 2014. Management of the 145-person Hanford Fire Department is part of Leidos-led MSA’s contract to provide support services at Hanford. Kuhman spent more than […]

A federal judge in South Carolina has dismissed the $3.5 million racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee of the security provider at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site. U.S. District Judge Sherri Lydon ruled May 28 that plaintiff Marcialena Tremble Brown missed the deadline to file her case against her former employer, Centerra-SRS. […]

Bechtel National earned $5 million of the potential $7.87 million 2019 fee for ongoing construction on the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Energy Department said Tuesday. By claiming an overall score of “good” and winning roughly 64% of the maximum available fee for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, […]

A weekend wildfire on Gable Mountain in Washington state, near the Energy Department’s Hanford Site , been brought under control, officials said Monday. The fire was ignited Saturday night by a lightning strike and burned about 9,000 acres before being contained by 8 p.m. local time Sunday night, said Reneé Brooks, spokeswoman for contractor Mission […]

Energy Department documents addressing issues from research needs to employee benefits at the Savannah River National Laboratory have been added to a federal procurement website. The DOE Office of Environmental Management in April published a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the potential 10-year, $3.8 billion stand-alone lab contract. Comments on that draft RFP were […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina as of Tuesday had confirmed 23 cases of COVID-19 among its workforce. That is up from 22 reported at the end of last week. Sixteen of those employees have recovered and returned to work, a spokeswoman for the DOE’s SRS operations said by email. Savannah River […]

Some of the Energy Department’s largest nuclear cleanup sites are calling more employees back to the jobsite, but asking them to travel solo to help limit the potential spread of COVID-19. Officials for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, along with the company building the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina continued to do 22 “essential supporting activities” during a period of dramatically reduced operations forced by the COVID-19 pandemic during April and May, according to information provided to a local watchdog group. Savannah River Site Watch Director Tom Clements said he received the list from a […]

A worker at the Savannah River Site this month settled his federal personal injury lawsuit against the Energy Department’s operations contractor for the South Carolina facility. Henry Bradley, who was employed by another contractor at Savannah River, in November 2018 filed the $75,000 suit in U.S. District Court in South Carolina against site manager Savannah […]

The Department of Energy confirmed this week that the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, as well as the cleanup vendor at the Nevada National Security Site, are gradually restarting operations scaled back two months ago to curb the spread of COVID-19 among workers. At press time Friday, there have been 32 confirmed cases of […]

The Energy Department intends to keep security contractor Centerra Group on the job at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina into 2021, according to a Tuesday procurement notice. The update landed on the same day the company seemingly objected to the procurement for the follow-on contract for paramilitary security services at the 310-square-mile complex […]

There is about one month left on the temporary indemnity determination the Department of Energy allowed nuclear-weapon sites to add to their management and operations contracts after the COVID-19 pandemic forced mass telework in mid-March. The determination, which Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette issued on March 26, will lapse on June 30. The decision specified […]

The Energy Department intends to keep security contractor Centerra Group on the job at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina into 2021, according to a Tuesday procurement notice. The update landed on the same day the company seemingly objected to the procurement for the follow-on contract for paramilitary security services at the 310-square-mile complex […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management on Wednesday released the final request for proposals for the potential $6.4 billion Idaho Cleanup Project contract. The solicitation covers environmental remediation at the Idaho National Laboratory, as well as spent fuel management there and at the retired Fort Saint Vrain nuclear power plant near Platteville, Colo. The […]

The Department of Energy indicated in a draft report issued Tuesday that vitrified low-activity waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state can be disposed of at the facility, rather than requiring transfer to another location. Conversion of low-activity waste from Hanford’s 177 underground storage tanks into a glass form for disposal is expected to […]

Remediation of radioactively contaminated municipalities in Ontario, Canada, has been knocked off schedule by the COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers hope to claw back time as work ramps up in coming months. In March, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories halted nearly all field operations under the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI), just ahead of the program’s annual construction […]