Cleanup & Remediation

Nearly 120 people tuned in to a recent online presolicitation conference to learn more about a planned stand-alone contract for management of the Energy Department’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in South Carolina. Representatives for universities, consultants, and DOE contractors ranging from small shops to major corporations participated in the April 28 event on the […]

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state rose to four as of Wednesday, one more than a week ago. Most of the four infected individuals have “not been on site for several weeks,” DOE Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance said in a post on Facebook. No further […]

The environmental liability of the Energy Department’s Office of Legacy Management is sure to increase from its recent $7.35 billion as it assumes responsibility for more remediated properties, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office. Legacy Management conducts maintenance and surveillance following cleanup of radioactively contaminated sites by DOE’s Office of […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) plans talks this summer with the Department of Energy on potential modifications to a 2016 legal agreement over nuclear cleanup at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The 2016 consent decree revamped a prior 2005 deal between NMED and the federal agency on cleanup of contamination left from Manhattan […]

The Government Accountability Office was not convinced by the argument from a Bechtel-led joint venture that it should have been issued a long-term contract for remediation at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state because its proposed price tag for performing the first set of tasks was lower than that from the rival group that […]

Hanford Communities Executive Director Pamela Larsen is retiring after a quarter-century of advocating for localities around the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Larsen is the only executive director in the history of the intergovernmental organization established under Washington state law in 1994. Hanford Communities represents two counties, four cities, and a Port District […]

Top executives for contractors at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state don’t know when staffing will return to normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but said last week changes are being made to protect employee health. The combined federal and contractor workforce at the nuclear cleanup complex is roughly 11,000, but only 20% to […]

An article in Monday’s Weapons Complex Morning Briefing incorrectly indicated a new Department of Energy procurement on mixed and low-level waste treatment services would replace existing providers of disposal for such material. The contracts are separate.

With most of the ballots counted in Tuesday’s special election in California’s 25th Congressional District, it appears businessman and former Navy fighter pilot Mike Garcia is in position to retake the seat for the Republican Party. Wednesday morning news reports gave Garcia a double-digit lead, 56% to 44%, over Democrat Christy Smith, a member of […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is set today to begin testing its own employees for COVID-19, a spokesperson for the Department of Energy facility in northern New Mexico confirmed Monday. The local Los Alamos Reporter broke the news Monday. Los Alamos is the second National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) nuclear weapons lab to begin testing. […]

The North Access Road Bypass at the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico opened to traffic on Friday. The $9 million, 3-mile bypass connects north and south access roads for the DOE site and directs other traffic away from the underground disposal facility, particularly the construction area on the surface for […]

Voters decide today in California’s 25th Congressional District who will serve out the remainder of a term that came open when Rep. Katie Hill (D) resigned last November. Democrat Christy Smith, a member of the California State Assembly, and Republican Mike Garcia, a businessman and former Navy fighter pilot, are facing off in the election […]

Nearly 120 people tuned in to a recent online presolicitation conference to learn more about a planned stand-alone contract for management of the Energy Department’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in South Carolina. Representatives for universities, consultants, and DOE contractors ranging from small shops to major corporations participated in the April 28 event on the […]

Fluor on April 30 received a Justice Department subpoena seeking various documents relating to charges reported by the company during the second quarter of 2019, according to a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC in February launched an investigation into Fluor’s financial reporting and accounting during 2019. The Justice Department now […]

The White House this week shoveled more than 30 nominations to the newly returned Senate, including two for positions on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.  Former Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chair Joyce Connery was nominated to serve a term ending Oct. 18, 2024, while Thomas Summers, former vice commander of the 91st […]

Even as the Energy Department stays mum on the schedule for staffing up operations that have been depopulated during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are increasing indicators that nuclear remediation sites will gradually start bring more workers back inside the fence before the end of June. This is based on comments from sources around the DOE […]

The COVID-19 health crisis is so far having only a marginal impact on BWX Technologies, including delay of certain Energy Department contract awards, President and CEO Rex Geveden said Tuesday, . A potential 10-year deal for management of radioactive waste at the DOE Hanford Site in Washington state probably won’t be issued until late summer, […]

While a team led by Huntington Ingalls Industries offered a slightly lower price to provide support services at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Energy Department awarded the contract to a Leidos-led venture because it submitted a better overall package, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Congress’ auditing agency on Tuesday posted a […]

Engineering giant Jacobs said Wednesday it took in $3.4 billion in revenue during its fiscal 2020 second quarter, up from the $3.1 billion generated during the same period of 2019, despite moving most of its worldwide workforce to telework. Thanks to rapid action since the beginning of the crisis, Jacobs expedited the shift of its […]

There are now three confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, the latest involving an employee of cleanup contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation, according to an online bulletin. The individual, whose last day at work was April 14, recently received a positive diagnosis for novel coronavirus 2019, CH2M HILL […]

The Government Accountability Office has recently rejected protests against two multibillion-dollar contracts at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state – and that’s not unusual. During fiscal 2019, the government watchdog sustained only 13% of the 2,071 bid protests resolved during the 12-month period, according to a November GAO report to Congress. In […]

The COVID-19 health crisis is so far having only marginal impact on BWX Technologies, President and CEO Rex Geveden said Tuesday. That is largely thanks to the Lynchburg, Va.-based nuclear company’s “essential” role in energy, military, and medical sectors, Geveden said during the quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts. As an example, Geveden noted […]

While a team led by Huntington Ingalls Industries offered a slightly lower price to provide support services at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Energy Department awarded the contract to a Leidos-led venture because it submitted a better overall package, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Congress’ auditing agency on Tuesday posted a […]

BWX Technologies brought in $542 million in first-quarter 2020 revenue, 30% more than the $416 million generated during the first three months of 2019. Net income for the period ended March 31 amounted to $75.5 million, $0.79 per diluted share, a significant year-over-year jump from $49 million, $0.51 per diluted share, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company […]

Two major engineering and infrastructure companies, one a central player in the Energy Department nuclear cleanup business and another having just exited it, report earnings this week for the first three months of 2020. AECOM, the former parent company of Energy Department contractor Amentum, has scheduled its earnings conference for noon Eastern time Tuesday. Jacobs […]

The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management intends to issue a sole-source business deal to a firm to provide employee training on end-state contracting. In a Monday procurement notice, the agency announced plans to hire Management Concepts Inc. (MCI) to provide the training as the nuclear cleanup office continues to overhaul its management of environmental […]

Mission Support Alliance is shopping around for a subcontractor to build a new water treatment facility at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The Hanford support services contractor said in an April 25 procurement notice it is accepting expressions of interest from vendors to build a new 10,000-square-foot microfiltration membrane water treatment plant. […]

While it has made progress, the Department of Energy still needs to more fully address priority recommendations to improve performance in its nuclear security and cleanup missions, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Wednesday. In an annual update, the congressional auditor said it has 20 priority recommendations across the Energy Department, including eight recommendations new […]

Vice presidents at Department of Energy contractor Bechtel are taking pay cuts of up to 25% over 90 days during the COVID-19 crisis The one-quarter reduction applies to senior vice presidents, while principal vice presidents at the Reston, Va.-based company are receiving a 10% reduction, management told employees on April 6. The measure is a […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Thursday denied a protest of the Energy Department’s award of a multibillion-dollar contract for remediation of the Central Plateau at the Hanford Site in Washington state to a group led by Amentum. The Project W Restoration partnership, comprised of Bechtel National, Tetra Tech, and EnergySolutions, filed a protest Jan. […]