Cleanup & Remediation

Energy Department contractor Fluor Idaho has resumed treatment of the remaining sludge waste at the site of an April 11, 2018, accident at the Idaho National Laboratory in which four storage drums overheated and blew off their lids. Work at the Accelerated Retrieval Project 5 (ARP-5) facility at the Idaho Cleanup Project “has progressed safely […]

Whistleblower proceedings afforded workers at Energy Department contractors and subcontractors would be revised under a rulemaking proposal announced in a Federal Register notice Tuesday Contractor employees usually far outnumber federal workers at most DOE facilities and the agency started its own contractor protection program in 1992. This is part of an effort by DOE’s Office […]

The Energy Department has extended the deadline for responses to its small business sources-sought notice for Idaho National Laboratory remediation work by one week, until May 8. The extension is one of several modifications posted on the FedBizOps website since the initial market research notice was posted on April 10. The Energy Department is researching […]

By Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Huntington Ingalls Industries on Thursday posted a big drop in net income in its first quarter due to less favorable pension adjustments, but the company’s top line growth was strong and the outlook for further growth in the coming years was buoyed by strong orders and a record backlog. Net income […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is giving the Energy Department and the state of Tennessee a chance to file more information in a dispute over water discharge standards for radionuclides at the Oak Ridge Site. EPA Region 4 is seeking a much more stringent standard on water discharges at Oak Ridge than those now used […]

Department of Energy contractor Fluor moved up its quarterly earnings call by several hours Thursday to announce that David Seaton had stepped down as CEO and board member effective May 1. Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Carlos Hernandez is stepping in as “interim” CEO, although there is no leadership search planned, Alan Boeckmann, […]

The Omaha, Neb., Public Power District (OPPD) on Monday announced it had hired nuclear services firm EnergySolutions to support decommissioning of the retired Fort Calhoun Station power plant. EnergySolutions will provide “technical and specialized project expertise,” while OPPD personnel will manage the overall decommissioning, according to a press release from the utility. “ES brings a […]

The state of South Carolina is implementing stricter environmental safety guidelines for the operator of a rural radioactive waste disposal facility, but has not released details while the license review continues. The move comes after the state Supreme Court in March strongly suggested changes be made at the facility. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control […]

The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) this week confirmed a 2018 finding that exposure to contaminants from former radioactive waste storage near St. Louis, Mo., could have heightened the risk for various cancers among residents of the area. The ATSDR on Tuesday issued its final report on cancer risks near Coldwater […]

Texas-based Fluor moved up its quarterly earnings call by several hours Thursday to announce that David Seaton has stepped down as CEO and board member effective May 1. Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Carlos Hernandez is stepping in as “interim” CEO, although there is no leadership search planned, Alan Boeckmann, now executive chairman […]

The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) this week confirmed a 2018 finding that exposure to contaminants from former radioactive waste storage near St. Louis, Mo., could have heightened the risk for various cancers among residents of the area. The ATSDR on Tuesday issued its final report on cancer risks near Coldwater […]

Lynchburg, Va., -based BWX Technologies on Wednesday reported a drop in both revenue and profit during the first quarter of 2019. The company recorded revenue of $416 million, down 9% from $457 million in the first three months of 2018, according to a press release. Meanwhile, net income dropped from $66.4 million, or $0.66 per […]

The head of the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup office assured a congressional panel Wednesday she will get to the bottom of its mushrooming environmental liability. “We are going to find out,” Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Anne Marie White said when asked about the cause of escalating liability, by Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), during a […]

A small business that worked at the Hanford Site in Washington state, i-3 Global, has been accused of failing to pay $446,618 to another small business two years after being named Department of Energy Protege of the Year. Kennewick, Wash.-based I-3 Global, a provider of information technology and other services, was named in a civil […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday gave prospective vendors a few days more to bid on the contract for a nuclear cleanup project around St. Louis, Mo. The deadline for proposals for the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) project has been pushed back from May 9 to 2 p.m. Central time […]

The Energy Department has extended the deadline for responses to its small business sources-sought notice for Idaho National Laboratory remediation work by one week, until May 8. The extension is one of several modifications posted on the FedBizOps website since the initial market research notice was posted on April 10. The Energy Department is researching […]

Las Vegas-based Longenecker & Associates has hired Brian Bielecki, a longtime manager with experience at Department of Energy sites and the nuclear power industry, as its group vice president for mission assurance. The Energy Department subcontractor announced the addition Monday, the same day Bielecki joined the company. Bielecki, who reports to Senior Vice President for […]

Whistleblower proceedings afforded workers at Energy Department contractors and subcontractors would be revised under a rulemaking proposal announced in a Federal Register notice today. Contractor employees usually far outnumber federal workers at most DOE facilities and the agency started its own contractor protection program in 1992. This is part of an effort by DOE’s Office […]

An amendment to Washington state workers’ compensation law for employees of contractors at the Hanford Site takes effect July 28. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed the bill last week to further ease requirements for approval of state workers’ compensation claims, even as the Department of Justice sues to have the underlying bill declared unconstitutional. […]

An article in the April 25 Weapons Complex Morning Briefing should have said the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requires an Energy Department report to Congress on reinterpretation of high-level radioactive waste. Also, the article should have said the Energy Communities Alliance represents local governments near federal nuclear facilities.

The second of two storage tunnels for radioactive waste from the PUREX Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state has been stabilized. Contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. completed work on Friday. “The tunnel has been filled with grout, and we’ve significantly reduced the risk of contaminating Hanford workers, the public, or the environment,” […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is giving the Energy Department and the state of Tennessee a chance to file more information in a dispute over water discharge standards for radionuclides at the Oak Ridge Site. EPA Region 4 is seeking a much more stringent standard on water discharges at Oak Ridge than those now used […]

The Energy Department’s Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project in Utah recently marked 10 years of uranium mill tailings shipments to off-site disposal. On April 20, 2009, the first load of mill tailings left the Moab site by rail. Today, more than 9.5 million tons of the estimated 16 million tons of tailings […]

The winner of the anticipated 10-year, $1 billion paramilitary security contract at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina must pay for much of its own ammunition and all the dog food. That is among the tidbits in in a third round of questions and answers posted Wednesday on the DOE procurement website. […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management is picking up North Wind-led Portsmouth Mission Alliance’s (PMA) 22-month contract option for infrastructure support services at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The department on Tuesday announced the extension, valued at an estimated $67 million, one day before the three-year base contract with the North Wind-Swift & Staley […]

Cleanup plans for the Hanford Site in Washington state, along with remediation milestones established under the Tri-Party Agreement, are in “serious jeopardy,” the Hanford Advisory Board said Wednesday in its annual budget advice letter to the Department of Energy. “The HAB views the combined lack of compliant budget appropriations, the unanticipated problems at Hanford, and […]

With the addition of Darcey Bolin as her chief of staff, Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White filled one of the few remaining openings in her organizational brain trust. Now five of the top six management posts under White are filled with permanent rather than “acting” officials, according to the April 1 […]

By the end of April, the state of Idaho will have assessed $5.86 million in total penalties against the Department of Energy for failure to start operating the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Idaho National Laboratory years ago. But DOE and contractor Fluor Idaho are doing their third extended test run of the […]

A Department of Justice civil lawsuit alleging past fraud and kickbacks under the Mission Support Alliance contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state should be dismissed, plaintiffs said in motions filed Wednesday with a federal court. A hearing on their motions is set for Oct. 3 in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington. The […]

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said Wednesday she will ask for a briefing on the Department of Energy’s new end-state contracting model for nuclear cleanup projects, which will be used for the first time at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Cantwell announced her intention after hearing concerns following a tour of the Hanford Site. The […]