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.

  • Trump Administration Considering DOE Cleanup Leadership Options, Sources Say

    The Donald Trump administration could already be planning for a new permanent head for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office. While Energy Department senior adviser William (Ike) White is apt to stay in charge of the Office of Environmental Management for a number months, names of potential successors to Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Anne […]

  • Nevada Environmental Contract Bids Due to DOE on Aug. 21

    The Department of Energy on Monday issued a request for proposals for the next Nevada Environmental Program Services contract, which could be worth up to $350 million over 10 years. Navarro Research and Engineering holds the current $80 million contract, which began in March 2015 and runs through January 2020. The RFP for the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity […]

  • Sheep Fire at INL Now Largely Under Control

    The Sheep Fire at the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is contained enough to allow the emergency response to be scaled back, officials said Thursday afternoon. Firefighting crews will continue to keep an eye on the blaze there are no remaining hot spots, according to an update posted on the INL website. Fire officials expect […]

  • City of Oak Ridge Wants to Talk to Energy Department About Landfill

    City officials from Oak Ridge, Tenn., want to meet with Energy Department representatives before the federal agency issues a draft record of decision in August for a new 2.2-million-cubic yard landfill planned for the Oak Ridge Site. City Manager Mark Watson made the request in a July 12 letter to Jay Mullis, manager of DOE’s […]

  • Energy Department Assesses Vendor Interest in SPRU Waste

    The Department of Energy is assessing potential vendor interest in processing, shipping, and disposing of radioactive waste from the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) in New York state. In a request for information (RFI)/sources sought notice Wednesday, the DOE Office of Environmental Management requested capability statements from interested parties with the expertise to do the […]

  • Energy Dept. Review Backs Resumption of High-Hazard Work on Hanford Plutonium Plant

    Jacobs subsidiary CH2M appears prepared to resume the higher-risk work involved in demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an Energy Department report. “Overall, changes and improvements necessary for safely resuming higher risk demolition work have been effectively established and implemented,” the department’s Office of Enterprise […]

  • City of Oak Ridge Wants to Talk to Energy Department About Landfill

    City officials from Oak Ridge, Tenn., want to meet with Energy Department representatives before the federal agency issues a draft record of decision in August for a new 2.2-million-cubic yard landfill planned for the Oak Ridge Site. City Manager Mark Watson made the request in a July 12 letter to Jay Mullis, manager of DOE’s […]

  • DOE Finds No Red Flags on Resumption of High-Hazard Work on Hanford PFP Demo

    Jacobs subsidiary CH2M appears prepared to resume the higher-risk work involved in demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an Energy Department report. “Overall, changes and improvements necessary for safely resuming higher risk demolition work have been effectively established and implemented,” the department’s Office of Enterprise […]

  • Army Corps to Procure FUSRAP, Other Cleanup Jobs

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on Monday issued a presolicitation notice for a contract covering environmental remediation under its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) and other federal cleanup programs. The pre-placed remedial action contract, with multiple indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity task orders, would be conducted under the Army Corps’ Multiple Environmental Government Acquisition (MEGA) […]

  • Energy Dept. Accepting Bids on Nevada Environmental Contract

    The Department of Energy on Monday issued a request for proposals for the Nevada Environmental Program Services contract, which could be worth up to $350 million over 10 years. Navarro Research and Engineering holds the current $80 million contract, which began in March 2015 and runs through January 2020. The RFP for the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) […]

  • New Org Chart Issued for DOE Environmental Management

    The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office on Friday posted its first new organizational chart since April 1, before the June departure of Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White. Following Anne White’s May resignation, reportedly due to strained relations with her boss, Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar, the Office of Environmental Management is […]

  • DOE Seeks Tweaks to State Permit for Waste Treatment Plant at Hanford

    The U.S. Department of Energy and the Washington state Department of Ecology are taking public comments through Sept. 16 on a proposed change to the dangerous waste permit for the Hanford Site. If approved, the state permit modification would allow DOE to connect a backup waste transfer line from the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant’s […]

  • Appeals Court Rejects Bechtel Request for Legal Fees

    A federal appeals court ruled this week Bechtel National is not due reimbursement from the U.S. government for $500,000 in legal fees the company incurred prior to settling discrimination litigation brought by two former employees at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. In an opinion issued Tuesday, a three-judge panel for the U.S. […]

  • DNFSB Points to Gaps in Hanford Plant Electric Infrastructure

    The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is concerned about the age and reliability of the electrical system in a historic building still used for interim storage of radioactive sludge at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The board, in a July 2 report submitted to Energy Secretary Rick Perry, suggested installation of […]

  • Wildfire Skirts Edge of Hanford Site

    A 14,000- acre wildlife in Benton County, Wash., briefly burned some land on the outskirts of the Energy Department’s 586-square mile Hanford Site, but was moving away from the nuclear cleanup complex early Friday. At press time there were no specifics available on actual damage at the Hanford Site. “It did cross over very briefly […]

  • Acting Head of Corporate Services Named for DOE Cleanup Office

    The head of corporate services for the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), Paul Bosco, has returned to his old job at the agency. Bosco, EM associate principal deputy assistant secretary for corporate services for less than a year, has rejoined DOE’s Office of Project Management as director. The move apparently was in […]

  • DOE Balks at Some State Proposals for Hanford Waste

    The U.S. Department of Energy wants negotiations to start soon with Washington state and the Environmental Protection Agency over updated plans for radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state. At the same time, the Energy Department said in a July 11 letter to Washington state Department of Ecology […]

  • Energy Dept. Issues 14-Month, $1.5B Contract Extension for Savannah River Site Management

    Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SNRS) will continue managing the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina for the next 14 months, and possibly another two years after that, according to an announcement Thursday. The $1.5 billion contract extension will keep SRNS on the job at least from Aug. 1 through Sept. 30, […]

  • SRNS Gets at Least 14 More Months at Savannah River

    The Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SNRS) will continue managing the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina for up to three more years, the agency announced Thursday. The contract extension includes a 14-month base worth $1.5 billion, plus a pair of one-year options, the value of which DOE did not disclose. That […]

  • Appeals Court Rules Against Bechtel Request for Legal Fees

    A federal appeals court ruled this week that Bechtel National is not due reimbursement from the U.S. government for $500,000 in legal fees the company incurred prior to settling discrimination litigation brought by two former employees at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. In an opinion issued Tuesday, a three-judge panel for the […]

  • DNFSB Identifies Gaps in Hanford Plant Electric Infrastructure

    The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is concerned about the age and reliability of the electrical system in a historic building still used for interim storage of radioactive sludge at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The board, in a July 2 report submitted to Energy Secretary Rick Perry, suggested installation of […]

  • DOE Welcomes Tri-Party Talks But Balks at Certain State Proposals

    The U.S. Department of Energy wants negotiations to start soon with Washington state and the Environmental Protection Agency over updated plans for radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state. At the same time, the Energy Department said in a July 11 letter to Washington state Department of Ecology […]

  • Acting Head of Corporate Services Named for DOE Cleanup Office

    The head of corporate services for the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), Paul Bosco, is as of today back at his old job at the agency. Bosco, EM associate principal deputy assistant secretary for corporate services for less than a year, has rejoined DOE’s Office of Project Management as director. The move […]

  • Preparations Begin for H Canyon Roof Repair at Savannah River

    Preparations began this week for repairing the roof on the H Canyon facility at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina, with the physical repairs due to start later this summer. In January, the Energy Department announced plans to spend an estimated $1 million from the SRS fiscal 2019 maintenance and […]

  • Wrap Up: Hanford Survey Participation Drops

    Participation in the 2018 public survey on issues at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state was less than half the count from the prior year. Only 55 people took part in the latest online survey, with 51 completing all the questions, far below the 119 responses a year earlier. Of those responding to […]

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  • Energy Dept. Seeks Comments on PUREX Plant Fixes

    The Department of Energy is taking public comment through Aug. 2 on a $218 million proposal, along with less-costly options, for minimizing health and environmental risks at the Plutonium Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The preferred option focuses on a key building and annexes at the plant – not […]

  • Preparations Begin for H Canyon Roof Repair at Savannah River

    Preparations began this week for repairing the roof on the H Canyon facility at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina, with the physical repairs due to start later this summer. In January, the Energy Department announced plans to spend an estimated $1 million from the SRS fiscal 2019 maintenance and […]

  • Draft RFP for Oak Ridge Cleanup Expected by Labor Day

    In less than two months, the U.S. Department of Energy expects to issue a draft request for proposals for remediation at the 33,000-acre Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee. The agency posted its plans for the solicitation July 2 on a federal procurement website. Vendors should expect a 100% full and open competition with a pre-solicitation […]

  • Justice Dept. Won’t Intervene in Fraud Case Against Hanford Vendor

    The U.S. Justice Department has elected not to intervene in a fraud case filed by an ex-employee against an Energy Department contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the advocacy group Hanford Challenge said Tuesday. The Justice Department declined comment Thursday afternoon, and Hanford Challenge could not immediately be reached for further comment. Kevin […]