Cleanup & Remediation

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Friday visited the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory to assess challenges associated with cleanup of the site. The Energy Department said in a Friday press release that Perry was keeping a promise he made in June to visit the facility. The Energy Department […]

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Friday visited the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory to assess challenges associated with cleanup of the site. The Energy Department said in a Friday press release that Perry was keeping a promise he made in June to visit the facility. The Energy Department […]

After three days of bracing for impact from Hurricane Dorian, officials at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site determined Friday that the storm was no longer a local threat as it moved up the North Carolina coast. According to the emergency status page for the 310-square-mile site near Aiken, S.C., “there are currently no Operational Emergencies or scheduled delays for […]

It will take at least “the next several months” to clean up a cesium-137 spill from May at a University of Washington medical research building in Seattle, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Thursday. The public has been barred from the seven-floor Research and Training Building near the Harborview Medical […]

It will take at least “the next several months” to clean up a cesium-137 spill from May at a University of Washington medical research building in Seattle, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Thursday. The public has been barred from the seven-floor Research and Training Building near the Harborview Medical […]

The U.S. Department of Energy now plans to issue its draft record of decision for a proposed 2.2-million-cubic yard landfill for the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee on Sept. 30. Officials with DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the state of Tennessee agreed to delay publication of the ROD from […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management and the vendors that provide it with nuclear remediation services are reasonably satisfied with the “end state” approach to contracting — although some lingering issues remain. That was the message shared Tuesday by the No. 2 official at the nuclear cleanup office, Todd Shrader, […]

Removal of radioactive waste from a major single-shell tank, AX-102, is getting underway at the U.S. Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. AECOM-led tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions announced via social media Aug. 29 its workers would start waste retrieval over the weekend. It is the latest effort to relocate waste from […]

The city of Broomfield, Colo., said this week no contractor will likely be selected to build a new stretch of bypass near the old Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant until questions are addressed over a soil sample showing the presence of plutonium in the right of way for the road. The Broomfield City Council posted […]

After three days of bracing for impact from Hurricane Dorian, officials at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site determined Friday that the storm was no longer a local threat as it moved up the North Carolina coast. According to the emergency status page for the 310-square-mile site near Aiken, S.C., “there are currently no Operational Emergencies or scheduled delays for […]

As a discrimination case filed against Savannah River Site’s liquid waste contractor approaches trial next month, the company is petitioning a federal judge to bar evidence from being presented regarding four white employees on the basis that their jobs are irrelevant to the case. Adrienne Saulsberry, an African-American woman who was terminated by Savannah River […]

The U.S. Department of Energy now plans to issue its draft record of decision for a proposed 2.2-million-cubic yard landfill for the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee on Sept. 30. Officials with DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the state of Tennessee agreed to delay publication of the ROD from […]

With uncertainty still surrounding the path of Hurricane Dorian, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site as of Tuesday was monitoring the storm but otherwise proceeding with normal operations. Dorian reached Category 5 status earlier this week, devastating the Bahamas. It was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane as of Tuesday, with winds still […]

The city of Broomfield, Colo., said this week no contractor will likely be selected to build a new stretch of bypass near the old Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant until questions are addressed over a soil sample showing the presence of plutonium in the right of way for the road. The Broomfield City Council posted […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management and the vendors that provide it with nuclear remediation services are reasonably satisfied with the “end state” approach to contracting — although some lingering issues remain. That was the message shared Tuesday by the No. 2 official at the nuclear cleanup office, Todd Shrader, along […]

As a discrimination case filed against Savannah River Site’s liquid waste contractor approaches trial next month, the company is petitioning a federal judge to bar evidence from being presented regarding four white employees on the basis that their jobs are irrelevant to the case. Adrienne Saulsberry, an African-American woman who was terminated by Savannah River […]

The Canadian Nuclear Laboratories on Friday announced the full transfer of radioactively contaminated soil from three locations in Port Hope, Ontario, into a long-term storage facility. The project – covering the Pine Street North Extension, the Municipal Sewage Treatment Plant, and Center Pier – is one part of a much broader environmental remediation of low-level radioactive […]

Removal of radioactive waste from a major single-shell tank, AX-102, is getting underway at the U.S. Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. AECOM-led tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions announced via social media Thursday its workers would start waste retrieval over the weekend. It is the latest effort to relocate waste from leak-prone […]

The Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) is again telling the U.S. Energy Department to pay a former cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory more than $33 million in fees. In an Aug. 8 ruling, a three-judge panel for the CBCA said the federal agency’s reasoning for failing to pay CH2M-WG Idaho (CWI) the […]

The contractor that operates the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has mismanaged security incident reports over the past two years, with problems ranging from late submission of documents to the federal agency to providing incomplete information when they are delivered. In one instance, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) was supposed […]

A U.S. Department of Energy nuclear cleanup manager at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has been placed on administration leave, though the cause has not been made clear. The Los Alamos Reporter reported Wednesday that DOE Office of Environmental Management employee David Rhodes is on leave pending an unspecified investigation. “The New […]

The security provider at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is expected to receive a four-month contract extension ahead of the end of its current deal on Oct. 7. Florida-based Centerra could also secure another eight months on the job. That would come via two more four-month extensions, keeping the […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management has received 117 questions from prospective bidders on the next remediation contract for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The office posted the latest tranche of questions Monday on the potential 10-year, $350 million successor award to the business held through January 2020 by Navarro Research and […]

While there are alternatives to vitrifying all low-activity radioactive waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the U.S. Energy Department should do more vetting before committing to one or more of those options, according to a new assessment from a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine panel. The fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization […]

Bechtel National has settled litigation brought by a former worker at the Waste Treatment Plant the company is building at the U.S. Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. “The parties have arrived at a mutually satisfactory resolution of the case,” Bechtel spokeswoman Staci West said by email on Aug. 25. She declined to say […]

Boston Government Services disclosed Tuesday it is partnering with Cincinnati-based Trinity Engineering Associates in the BTP Services joint venture that on July 31 won a potential $49.5 million technical support services contract from the Energy Department. Oak Ridge-based Boston Government Services previously said it is majority owner of the partnership. Headed by founder and President […]

The security provider at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is expected to receive a four-month contract extension ahead of the end of its current deal on Oct. 7.  Florida-based Centerra could also secure another eight months on the job. That would come via two more four-month extensions, keeping the […]

International Isotopes on Aug. 14 reported a net loss of nearly $1.2 million for the second quarter of 2019, primarily due to expenses for ongoing remediation of a May radioactive contamination incident in Seattle. The $1.16 million net loss was close to four times the $332,279 loss reported in the same period of 2018, the […]

By John Stang The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is still reviewing a US Ecology report on the cause of a fatal explosion at its Grand View waste treatment and disposal facility. It is unknown when that review will be finished, said Albert Crawshaw, DEQ waste and remediation manager. Submitted in midsummer, the report blames […]

International Isotopes on Aug. 14 reported a net loss of nearly $1.2 million for the second quarter of 2019, primarily due to expenses for ongoing remediation of a May radioactive contamination incident in Seattle. The $1.16 million net loss was close to four times the $332,279 loss reported in the same period of 2018, the […]