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.
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: Paducah Services Bids Delayed 2 Weeks
The Energy Department has again extended the deadline for bids on a potential five-year, $250 million support services contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. In a notice published last week, DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said proposals are now due by 4 p.m. EDT on April 16. Originally, proposals were due March 19 […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Centerra Parent Company Reworks Its Debt
Constellis, owner of Energy Department contractor Centerra Group, said Monday its lenders have approved an overhaul of the company’s debt package that should strengthen its balance sheet. The debt for equity exchanges received consent from 100% of term loan and revolving lenders, according to a Constellis press release. As a result, Constellis is cutting its […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
One Savannah River Vendor Settles Case; Another Targeted in Suit
One major contractor at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina settled an age discrimination suit in the past week, while another is the target of newly-filed case, according to court records. Amenetum-led Savannah River Remediation has agreed to settle the age discrimination case against it. Meanwhile, a longtime employee has filed a […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Tennessee Vendor Assumes Tech Support Contract for Portsmouth/Paducah
A subsidiary of Pro2Serve, Enterprise Technical Assistance Services, (E-TAS), on Wednesday started work as the new technical services vendor for the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office cleanup complex, which is comprised of the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the Paducah Site in Kentucky, and the Lexington, Ky., headquarters. The small-business set-aside has a potential term […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE Says No Review Ongoing on Respirators at Hanford Site
The Energy Department has said it is not currently looking into the findings of a recent report in the Seattle Times that leaky respirators used by cleanup workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state might have contributed to serious health problems. A DOE spokesperson said by email last week that the alleged respirator problems […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford Central Plateau Contractor Earns 79% Fee for Fiscal 2019
CH2M Plateau Remediation, the outgoing cleanup contractor for the Central Plateau of the Hanford Site in Washington state, earned $7.8 million of a potential $9.9 million in fees for fiscal 2019, according to a recently released scorecard from the Department of Energy. The fee award of almost 79% for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DNFSB Wants Staff to Delve Deeper Into Nuke Sites
The Defense Nuclear Safety Facilities Board (DNFSB) is urging its inspectors and staff to press their newly bolstered authority to inspect Department of Energy defense-nuclear sites, as codified by Congress last year. Congress, at least in the board’s interpretation, used the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 to short-circuit DOE Order 140.1, which was written by […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
COVID-19 Relief Could Help DOE Contract Workers Who Cannot Telework
Energy Department contractors are eager to tap into a portion of the $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill signed into law a week ago to provide paid leave to employees who cannot telecommute. The federal contractor authority provision of the “CARES Act” empowers the energy secretary to ensure that contract employees whose work requires them to […]
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Commercial Low-Level Waste
US Ecology to Cut Costs to Counter Economic Uncertainty
Radioactive waste management provider US Ecology said Tuesday it would cut tens of millions of dollars in costs this year to offset the economic uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Boise, Idaho-based company said in a press release that unspecified “cost control initiatives” should save $15 million to $20 million annually. A 30% cut […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Tennessee Vendor Assumes Tech Support Contract for Portsmouth/Paducah
A subsidiary of Pro2Serve, Enterprise Technical Assistance Services, (E-TAS), on Wednesday started work as the new technical services vendor for the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office cleanup complex, which is comprised of the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the Paducah Site in Kentucky, and the Lexington, Ky., headquarters. The small-business set-aside has a potential term […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Centrus Centrifuges Among First Projected DOE Work Delays Due to COVID-19
Nearly a month after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, production of Centrus Energy Corp.’s new all-domestic enrichment cascade in Ohio is one of the first projects for the Department of Energy fearing delays from the viral outbreak. “We are continuing to make progress but we anticipate that there could be impacts on the project […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Savannah River Site Tests 24 Workers for COVID-19
The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina on Wednesday said ongoing testing of its workforce for COVID-19 had not turned up any new cases. A total of 24 employees had been tested, with two cases confirmed as of this week for infection by the novel coronavirus 2019. Of the remaining workers, 14 have […]
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Commercial Low-Level Waste
US Ecology to Cut Costs to Counter Economic Uncertainty
Radioactive waste management provider US Ecology said Tuesday it would cut tens of millions of dollars in costs this year to offset the economic uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Boise, Idaho-based company said in a press release that unspecified “cost control initiatives” should save $15 million to $20 million annually. A 30% cut […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Savannah River Contractor Settles Age Discrimination Lawsuit
An employee who alleged age discrimination by the Energy Department’s liquid waste contractor at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has settled his federal lawsuit. In an order dated March 27, U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis said she has learned from the attorneys that Jeffrey Risher’s litigation against Savannah River Remediation has been […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Subcontractor at Los Alamos Tests Positive for Virus
A subcontractor for the legacy environmental remediation vendor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has tested positive for COVID-19. The subcontractor for Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) is self-isolating at home and will not return to work until cleared by a medical provider, laboratory Director Thom Mason said in a […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Energy Secretary Authorizes Contractor Indemnity for COVID-19 Testing, Research
Department of Energy contractors and subcontractors, including those in the National Nuclear Security Administration, can be indemnified from damages arising because of testing for COVID-19, under a determination published Tuesday by Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette. The order also indemnifies contractors that plan to offer DOE computing facilities to scientists who want to model the […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Earthquake Rattles Idaho; No Damage Detected at INL So Far
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake shook Idaho at around 6 p.m. local time Tuesday, with the epicenter about 120 miles from the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. “While ground shaking was felt, there was no damage to any INL facilities,” INL spokesperson Sarah Neumann said in a Wednesday email. It was […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Portsmouth Contractor Confirms Case of COVID-19
The Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Pike County, Ohio, has a confirmed case of COVID-19, contractor Fluor-BWXT said on its website Friday afternoon. The environmental remediation vendor said it is following guidelines on controlling spread of the virus from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Ohio Department of Health. It is […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Centerra Parent Company Reworks Its Debt
Constellis, owner of Energy Department contractor Centerra Group, said Monday its lenders have approved an overhaul of the company’s debt package that should strengthen its balance sheet. The deal received consent from 100% of term loan and revolving lenders, according to a Constellis press release. As a result, Constellis is cutting its debt by about […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Correction
An article in the March 26 Weapons Complex Morning Briefing should have said that Centrus Energy sells natural uranium to short-term traders and utilities, and that it returns uranium feed components to the Russian refining company TENEX.
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Cleanup & Remediation
Employee Files Discrimination Suit Against Savannah River Operator
A longtime employee of the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has filed a lawsuit under the Americans With Disabilities Act against facility management and operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS). The case was filed Wednesday in the Second Judicial Circuit of the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas by Richard Lusby, […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Energy Secretary, Governors Laud COVID-19 Relief Package
President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law the $2 trillion relief bill to support national recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to nearly $100 million for the Energy Department’s Office of Science and semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to support research and development to help contain the fallout of COVID-19, at national […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Paducah Services Contract Bids Extended Until April 16
The Energy Department has again extended the deadline for bids on a potential five-year, $250 million support services contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. In a notice published last week, DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said proposals are now due by 4 p.m. EDT on April 16. Originally, proposals were due March 19 […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Nuke Waste Conference Goers Negative for COVID-19
The Waste Management Symposia on Tuesday said both attendees at this year’s event who showed signs of possible COVID-19 infection had tested negative. Test results for “Attendee #1” were received Tuesday, one day after the results for “Attendee #2,” according to a statement from James Gallagher, chairman of the board for the annual nuclear cleanup […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Fluor Girds Against Possible Takeover During COVID-19 Stock Plunge
Having already taken its financial lumps during the past year, Energy Department contractor Fluor announced a measure Wednesday meant to ensure its shareholders get a fair shake “in the event of any proposed takeover.” The limited-duration stockholder rights agreement will also shield against “abusive tactics to gain control of the Company without paying all Fluor […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford Hiring Consultant to Help With Hot Startup of Waste Plant
The Department of Energy plans to issue a potential four-year, $1 million contract for consultant Jeffrey Trent to assist in “hot commissioning” of the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The notice for the planned no-bid contract was posted earlier this month by the Hanford Office of River Protection on a […]
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Decommissioning
West Valley Shifts to Mission-Critical Work Due to Pandemic
CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley in New York state is, like other nuclear remediation vendors for the Energy Department, decreasing its work to “mission-essential” tasks for the near future due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Daily on-site staffing at the West Valley Demonstration Project was decreased effective Monday, and many employees will “telework to the extent […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Fluor Girds Against Possible Takeover During COVID-19 Stock Plunge
Having already taken its financial lumps during the past year, Energy Department contractor Fluor announced a measure Wednesday meant to ensure its shareholders get a fair shake “in the event of any proposed takeover.” The limited-duration stockholder rights agreement will also shield against “abusive tactics to gain control of the Company without paying all Fluor […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford’s Mission Support Alliance Gets Contract Extension During Bid Protest
The Energy Department said Thursday it plans to extend through Nov. 25 its landlord services contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state with Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance. The current contract would otherwise expire on May 25. The agency will also retain the right to extend the site support services contract for a second six-month […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Nuclear Waste Conference Goers Test Negative for Virus
The Waste Management Symposia on Tuesday said both attendees at this year’s event who showed signs of possible COVID-19 infection had tested negative. Test results for “Attendee #1” were received Tuesday, one day after the results for “Attendee #2,” according to a statement from James Gallagher, chairman of the board for the annual nuclear cleanup […]






