Cleanup & Remediation

The Department of Energy on Tuesday gave Bechtel National a rating of “satisfactory,” and 47.9% of the maximum performance fee available for 2018, for its work on the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. That performance evaluation was good for $3.77 million out of a total available $7.87 million in the […]

The Energy Department’s growing environmental liability will be the subject of a May 1 hearing before the House Energy and Commerce oversight and investigations subcommittee. “The Department of Energy faces nearly $500 billion in environmental liabilities related to cleaning up nuclear and hazardous waste left over from Cold War weapons production and federal energy research,” […]

WASHINGTON — While more than three months have passed since the public comment period closed, the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is “trying to keep this conversation going” on reinterpreting what material should be deemed high-level radioactive waste (HLW) by the Department of Energy. That was the word Wednesday from the ECA’s director of nuclear energy […]

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. […]

CB&I AREVA MOX Services and a former subcontractor say they should not have to pay the $19.2 million the United States is seeking in a fraud lawsuit. In separate documents filed over the last week in federal court, the companies said they had no knowledge of alleged schemes to defraud the government during construction of […]

The State Department has kept the moribund U.S.-Russian Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) in a congressionally mandated annual report of arms-control compliance concerns. The agency expended some 80 words of the roughly 5,000-word Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments report to warn that Moscow’s 2016 supension of adherence to […]

A key figure in federal lawsuits involving weapon-usable plutonium moved last year to the Nevada National Security Sitehas retired from the Department of Energy, the agency confirmed this week. Henry Allen Gunter left DOE after a long federal career, a spokesperson for DOE’s Environmental Management Office at Savannah River confirmed in an email Tuesday. The […]

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. […]

WASHINGTON — While more than three months passed since the public comment period closed, the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is “trying to keep this conversation going” on reinterpreting what material should be deemed high-level radioactive waste (HLW) by the Department of Energy. That was the word Wednesday from the ECA’s director of nuclear energy policy, […]

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 […]

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 […]

CB&I AREVA MOX Services and a former subcontractor say they should not have to pay the $19.2 million the United States is seeking in a lawsuit. In separate documents filed in federal court, the companies said they had no knowledge of alleged schemes to defraud the government while working at the now-canceled plutonium recycling facility […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday gave Bechtel National a rating of “satisfactory,” and 47.9% of the maximum performance fee available for 2018, for its work on the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. That performance evaluation was good for $3.77 million out of a total available $7.87 million in the […]

A key figure in multiple federal lawsuits involving weapon-usable plutonium moved last year to the Nevada National Security Site from the Savannah River Site in South carolina has retired from the Department of Energy, the agency confirmed Tuesday. Henry Allen Gunter left DOE after a long federal career, a spokesperson for DOE’s Environmental Management Office […]

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 […]

The Department of Energy says it is on schedule to award three prime contracts at the Hanford Site in Washington state in late July and August. “We’re actively in the source selection process now for all of the major contracts at the site other than Bechtel, (which) as you know has a completion contract,” Brian […]

Registration is open for the annual Bridging Partnerships Small Business Symposium, scheduled for May 15-16 near the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Eastern Washington state. The event starts with an optional bus tour of Hanford the morning of May 15. On May 16, talks at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick will address […]

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 […]

The Department of Energy communication functions at the Hanford Site in Washington state have been combined into a single office as the Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office look for additional opportunities to collaborate more effectively. In February, Brian Vance was named to head both DOE Hanford offices, although they will continue to […]

The State Department has kept the moribund U.S.-Russian Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) in a congressionally mandated annual report of arms-control compliance concerns. The agency expended some 80 words of the roughly 5,000-word Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments report to warn that Moscow’s 2016 supension of […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) expects in October to solicit bids for design and construction of a facility to treat liquid transuranic waste generated by future production of fissile nuclear-weapon cores, called plutonium pits, according to a recent procurement note. Triad National Security, which since November has managed the New Mexico facility for the National Nuclear […]

The prime contractor for the canceled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) sought and received a federal judge’s help Tuesday in ensuring that the rapidly downsizing company retains control of proprietary information at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. MOX Services has been shedding jobs since the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in October […]

Michael Graham, a principal vice president at Bechtel and general manager of its environmental, nuclear, security and environmental business line, is retiring this month. “After a distinguished, 40-year career, 23 of them with Bechtel, Michael Graham is retiring,” company spokesman Fred deSousa said by email Tuesday. “Michael has held senior environmental leadership roles at many […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) this week revealed new details about its proposed dilute-and-dispose plan to eliminate 34 metric tons of weapon-usable plutonium — including that the agency is close to beginning a yearlong environmental review of its new approach. The agency will release its draft dilute-and-dispose supplemental environmental impact statement “in the very […]

A two-time employee at CH2M is the new chief of staff for Energy Department Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White. Darcey Bolin took the job in March, according to her LinkedIn profile and a new organizational chart posted April 1 on the Office of Environmental Management website. She has been with the Energy […]

Michael Graham, a principal vice president at Bechtel and general manager of its environmental, nuclear, security and environmental business line, is retiring this month. “After a distinguished, 40-year career, 23 of them with Bechtel, Michael Graham is retiring,” company spokesman Fred deSousa said by email Tuesday. “Michael has held senior environmental leadership roles at many […]

Watchers of the Department of Energy’s defense nuclear waste and weapons budgets will endure two more weeks of added uncertainty about those programs after Congress blew town for an extended spring break without making progress on a deal to avert automatic spending cuts that will kick in on Oct. 1. The House did make an […]

Mission Support Alliance (MSA) has asked a federal judge to dismiss on summary judgment a lawsuit brought by 13 current and former fire captains or platoon sergeants at Hanford who are seeking overtime pay for time routinely worked beyond 40 hours a week. The case was filed against the Hanford support services contractor in April […]

Idaho-based Energy Department contractor North Wind Group has appointed Jim Furr as its chief information officer. Furr will remain president of subsidiary North Wind Services, the company said in a March press release. North Wind said it is revamping information technology to support growth, data management, and cybersecurity. Furr has been with North Wind for […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General would not confirm or deny this week whether it is investigating a regional organization in New Mexico that advocates for local governments around the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The office does not comment on the existence of any “investigative matters,” the DOE IG’s Felicia Jones said by telephone […]