Cleanup & Remediation

The Department of Energy has issued Waste Control Specialists (WCS) a “request for task proposal” for long-term storage and management of elemental mercury. In a Jan. 17 notice, DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said the Dallas-based operator of a waste disposal complex in West Texas is the only vendor capable of providing the required, […]

The Department of Energy schedule for demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state has slipped again. The long-retired plant could be down to slab on grade by mid-September, according to the latest projection. In December, Hanford officials said staff turnover had slowed work but that as employees become familiar […]

Despite delays in startup, the Savannah River Site’s $2.3 billion Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) is meeting all of its safety and functionality requirements, with no suggested areas of improvement, according to a new review from the U.S. Department of Energy. The DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) on Tuesday released five reports on safety […]

Mission Support Alliance (MSA) has been awarded its largest fee since it began providing site-wide services at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in 2009. The DOE scorecard for fiscal 2018, released Thursday, showed Mission Support Alliance took home almost $21 million of the potential $22.2 million for its work at the DOE cleanup site […]

The Department of Energy last week completed cleanup of the 618-10 Burial Ground, one of the most hazardous radioactive waste dumps in the Columbia River Corridor at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The last step involved replanting vegetation across about 120 acres. “It’s nice to see the area match the surrounding terrain and get […]

The U.S. Energy Department on Jan. 17 issued an updated draft request for proposals for the Hanford Site Central Plateau Cleanup Contract, which serves as a model for the agency’s end-state procurement approach for environmental remediation. The DOE Office of Environmental Management issued the revision to better align the document with a special notice issued […]

The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management on Jan. 18 released the key sections of a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the next Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state. In particular, the agency is looking for industry feedback on its master indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract option, which it has suggested for […]

New Mexico-based Strategic Management Solutions is expected to receive a contract extension of up to nine months to provide technical support for conversion of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio and Paducah Site in Kentucky. The Energy Department Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) in Lexington, Ky., announced the prospective sole-source […]

Fluor Idaho has told local officials in eastern Idaho it could in June or July start paring the workforce for the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. Roughly 200 workers could be let go at that point at the facility, which employs about 650 people, Dana Kirkham, […]

Despite delays in startup, the Savannah River Site’s $2.3 billion Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) is meeting all of its safety and functionality requirements, with no suggested areas of improvement, according to a new review from the U.S. Department of Energy. The DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) on Tuesday released five reports on safety […]

The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management on Friday released the key sections of a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the next Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state. In particular, the agency is looking for industry feedback on its master indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract option, which it has suggested for the […]

The Department of Energy has issued Waste Control Specialists (WCS) a “request for task proposal” for long-term storage and management of elemental mercury. In a Jan. 17 notice, DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said the Dallas-based operator of a waste disposal complex in West Texas is the only vendor capable of providing the required, […]

New Mexico-based Strategic Management Solutions is expected to receive a contract extension of up to nine months to provide technical support for conversion of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio and Paducah Site in Kentucky. The Energy Department Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) in Lexington, Ky., announced the prospective sole-source […]

The safeguards and security branch of Hanford Site support services contractor Mission Support Alliance has accumulated 1.1 million safe work hours without a lost workday injury, the Department of Energy announced Tuesday. The safeguards and security team includes the Hanford Patrol and other security operations, security analysis, and safeguards across the Hanford Site. Employees participate […]

The Department of Energy last week completed cleanup of the 618-10 Burial Ground, one of the most hazardous radioactive waste dumps in the Columbia River Corridor at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The last step involved replanting about 120 acres. The burial ground was used from 1954 to 1963 for waste from the 300 […]

Fluor Idaho has told local officials in eastern Idaho it could in June or July start paring the workforce for the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. Roughly 200 workers could be let go at that point at the facility, which employs about 650 people, Dana Kirkham, […]

The U.S. Energy Department on Thursday issued an updated draft request for proposals for the Hanford Site Central Plateau Cleanup Contract, which serves as a model for the agency’s end-state procurement approach for environmental remediation. The DOE Office of Environmental Management issued the updated draft RFP to better align the document with a special notice […]

The GeoMelt vitrification system installed at Perma-Fix Northwest in Richland, Wash., has wrapped up its initial demonstration melt of sodium-contaminated radioactive waste from the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Veolia Nuclear Services Federal Services, which owns the technology, in September received the INL contract to “demonstrate at full-scale” the system’s capabilities to process the reactive […]

Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), the tank management contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state, is seeking expressions of interest from potential subcontractors willing to manage secondary process waste from the Effluent Treatment Facility. The facility, located in the 200 Area at Hanford, currently treats 28,000 gallons of wastewater each year from processing activities […]

The U.S. Justice Department has asked for a stay in its lawsuit against the state of Washington over a new law that eases state workers’ compensation requirements for claims from employees of the Energy Department’s Hanford Site. The partial shutdown of the U.S. government has prohibited federal attorneys from working, even on a voluntary basis, […]

Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership, comprised of Jacobs, Fluor, and BWX Technologies, got off to a “satisfactory” start in its first year as cleanup contractor at the Energy Department’s Paducah Site in Kentucky, earning 60 percent of its potential fee, according to a recent scorecard. The DOE’s Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office (PPPO) this week rolled out fee […]

The Department of Energy is not caught directly in the partial federal government shutdown, but the Hanford Site in Washington state is still feeling some effects indirectly. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is a Hanford regulator and one of the three signatories to the Tri-Party Agreement that governs cleanup at the former plutonium production complex. […]

Several advocacy groups have filed a petition asking a U.S. District Court to make public certain grand jury records from a long-closed investigation into the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant site in Colorado. In June 1989, the Justice Department, the FBI, and the Environmental Protection Agency jointly conducted a raid at Rocky Flats, seizing 135 […]

Lynchburg, Va., -based BWX Technologies said Thursday it has named Suzy Sterner as its vice president for government relations. Sterner started work in the newly created position on Monday and will report to Regina Carter, senior vice president for government affairs and communications. The Energy Department vendor said Sterner will direct BWXT’s interaction with the […]

WASHINGTON — The leadership of the federal government’s independent health-and-safety watchdog for Department of Energy defense-nuclear sites is plagued by mistrust, one member said in an open meeting here Wednesday. “There’s a good deal of mistrust still among board members and, to put in bluntly, hurt feelings,” according to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) member […]

Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), the tank management contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state, is seeking expressions of interest from potential subcontractors willing to manage secondary process waste from the Effluent Treatment Facility. The facility, located in the 200 Area at Hanford, currently treats 28,000 gallons of wastewater each year from processing activities […]

The U.S. Justice Department has asked for a stay in its lawsuit against the state of Washington over a new law that eases state workers’ compensation requirements for claims from employees of the Energy Department’s Hanford Site. The partial shutdown of the U.S. government has prohibited federal attorneys from working, even on a voluntary basis, […]

As of early January, an Energy Department contractor has converted more than 70,500 metric tons of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) at two former gaseous diffusion plant sites. The material is being converted into uranium oxide, a more stable chemical form for storage, reuse, or disposal. Conversion operations at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the […]

Several advocacy groups have filed a petition asking a U.S. District Court to make public certain grand jury records from a long-closed investigation into the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant site in Colorado. In June 1989, the Justice Department, the FBI, and the Environmental Protection Agency jointly conducted a raid at Rocky Flats, seizing 135 […]

The Department of Energy’s this week inked a new contract with S&K Logistics to continue providing technical support services for the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. The deal is is worth up to $21.7 million, which includes about $9 million for the base year and an additional $12 million if an option is exercised […]