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.

  • Tennessee Signs Off on DOE Demolition of Y-12 Buildings

    The Department of Energy has received approval from the state of Tennessee to proceed with demolition of two Manhattan Project-era buildings at the Biology Complex within the Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Reservation. Representatives from DOE and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) confirmed this week the state has given […]

  • Comments Sought on Environmental Report on Disposal of DUF6 Waste

    The U.S. Energy Department is seeking comments on options for disposal of material generated from conversion of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said in a Dec. 28 Federal Register notice it has issued a draft supplemental environmental impact statement on disposal […]

  • DOE Inks New Deal With Savannah River Site Tech Support Contractor

    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 […]

  • Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Hanford Pension Lawsuit

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a class action lawsuit against the Department of Energy asking that full pension benefits be reinstated for up to 500 people who worked at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The ruling addressed a case filed in 2016 by plaintiffs […]

  • Tennessee Endorses DOE Demolition of Y-12 Buildings

    The Department of Energy has received approval from the state of Tennessee to proceed with demolition of two Manhattan Project-era buildings at the Biology Complex within the Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Reservation. Representatives from DOE and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) confirmed this week the state has given […]

  • DNFSB Agrees to Hearing on Idaho National Lab Drum Breach

    The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board plans to hold a public hearing by May to discuss an April 2018 accident at the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory in which four drums of radioactive sludge blew off their lids. Three of the four DNFSB members voted on Dec. 12 to hold a hearing in Washington, D.C., […]

  • DOE to Issue Hanford Tank Solicitation Before March

    The Department of Energy said Monday it plans to release a final request for proposals (RFP) for the Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state within 45 days. The final RFP, for a full and open competition, will be posted at www.fedconnect.net. The closure contract that results from the solicitation will replace […]

  • Westinghouse Reorganization Targets Nuclear Services

    Westinghouse Electric intends to create a business unit covering services for the full nuclear power life cycle as part of a broader reorganization announced Tuesday. The Plant Solutions business will encompass delivery of new power facilities; government services; and deconstruction, decommissioning, and remediation resources, according to a press release. it will be led by David […]

  • Tennessee Signs Off on DOE Demolition of Y-12 Buildings

    The Department of Energy has received approval from the state of Tennessee to proceed with demolition of two Manhattan Project-era buildings at the Biology Complex within the Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Reservation. Representatives from DOE and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) confirmed this week the state has given […]

  • DOE to Issue Hanford Tank Solicitation by February

    The Department of Energy said Monday it plans to release a final request for proposals (RFP) for the Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state within 45 days. The final RFP will be posted at www.fedconnect.net As DOE said last week, the closure contract that results from the solicitation will replace the […]

  • DNFSB Plans Hearing on Idaho National Lab Drum Breach

    The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board plans to hold a public hearing by May to discuss an April 2018 accident at the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory in which four drums of radioactive sludge overheated and blew off their lids. Three of the four DNFSB members voted on Dec. 12 to hold a hearing in […]

  • Hanford Lab Contractor Earns 98 Percent of Fee

    The company previously known as Wastren Advantage took home about 98 percent of its potential fee in its latest reporting period for providing analysis and testing services at the 222-S Laboratory at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The contractor earned almost $212,000 of a potential $217,000 from Sept. 21, 2017, to Sept. 20, 2018, […]

  • Incumbent Contractor Keeps Hanford Medical Services Business

    The Energy Department has awarded a potential seven-year, $152 million contract for occupational medical services at the Hanford Site in Washington state to incumbent vendor HPM Corp. of Kennewick, Wash. The contract includes a three-year base, followed by a pair of two-year option periods, DOE said in a Monday press release. The release did not […]

  • Energy Dept. Divides Hanford Tank Work, Accelerates Closure Solicitation

    The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management announced Monday it would split the previously single Tank Waste Cleanup Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state into two solicitations in the follow-on procurement. Priority will be given to a contract emphasizing closure of radioactive-waste storage tanks and “feed delivery” to the Waste Treatment Plant that […]

  • DOE Cleanup Boss Enters 2019 With Leadership Team in Place, Challenges Ahead

    Energy Department Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White enters her first full year on the job with both her leadership team largely in place and a strategy to reinvigorate the agency’s $7 billion-plus nuclear cleanup program. Including White, sworn into office late last March, four of the five top jobs at Environmental Management […]

  • Fluor Idaho Plans to Trim Workforce By 50

    Fluor Idaho said Thursday it is offering a “targeted voluntary separation program” for up to 50 employees at the Idaho National Laboratory cleanup project. Workers who exercise this option by Jan. 14 would leave the company on Feb. 18. The Department of Energy contractor said personnel at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) “are […]

  • AECOM Exec Promoted to Business Development Post

    Los Angeles-based AECOM has promoted longtime manager Ron Hahn to the newly created job of executive vice president of business development for the company’s Management Services group. Hahn, who most recently served as executive vice president for critical infrastructure protection strategies, is now responsible for generating growth in AECOM’s federal government business line, including the […]

  • AECOM Promotes Executive to Business Development Post

    Los Angeles-based AECOM has promoted longtime manager Ron Hahn to the newly created job of executive vice president of business development for the company’s Management Services group. Hahn, who most recently served as executive vice president for critical infrastructure protection strategies, is now responsible for generating growth in AECOM’s federal government business line, including the […]

  • Energy Dept. Splits Up Hanford Tank Work, Moves Ahead Closure Solicitation

    The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management announced Monday it would split the previously single Tank Waste Cleanup Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state into two solicitations. Priority will be given to a contract emphasizing closure of radioactive-waste storage tanks and “feed delivery” to the Waste Treatment Plant that Bechtel is building at […]

  • Incumbent Contractor Keeps Hanford Medical Services Business

    The Energy Department has awarded a potential seven-year, $152 million contract for occupational medical services at the Hanford Site in Washington state to incumbent vendor HPM Corp. of Kennewick, Wash. The contract includes a three-year base, followed by a pair of two-year option periods, DOE said in a Monday press release. The release did not […]

  • Fluor-BWXT Plans to Trim Portsmouth Headcount by 75

    Contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP) said Monday it plans a voluntary separation program for up to 75 of its estimated 1,500 employees at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The voluntary separation package is being offered to a mix of union and salaried workers, said Fluor-BWXT spokesman Jack Williams. Workers who exercise this option will […]

  • Three Contractors Roll Up Impressive Fees at DOE Sites

    A trio of contractors enjoyed significant fees in their latest performance scorecards from the Department of Energy. The AECOM-led URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) earned 96 percent of its potential fee from April 1 through Sept. 30 of this year for its remediation at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) […]

  • Energy Department Issues Environmental Study for Santa Susana

    The Energy Department on Tuesday issued its final environmental impact statement (EIS) for tearing down buildings and cleaning up soil and groundwater on its portion of the 2,850-acre Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) in Ventura County, Calif. The EIS for Area IV and the Northern Buffer Zone is one of the last steps prior to […]

  • Wrap Up: Oak Ridge Cleanup Office Gets New Deputy Manager

    The Energy Department has chosen agency veteran Laura Wilkerson as deputy manager at the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) in Tennessee. Wilkerson has been at DOE for 25 years and was previously director of OREM’s Planning and Execution Division, which helps coordinate remediation at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the Y-12 National Security […]

  • DNFSB Voices Concerns About H Canyon at SRS

    The federal government’s nuclear health-and-safety watchdog has raised concerns about whether an exhaust tunnel at the Savannah River Site’s nuclear materials processing facility can withstand the impact of an earthquake. The concern is related to two ongoing issues at the facility that have not yet been remedied, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said […]

  • Comment Deadline on New Oak Ridge Landfill Extends Into New Year

    Stakeholders now have through Jan. 9 to weigh in on the proposed new 2.2-million-cubic yard-landfill to eventually replace the existing facility at the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. An Energy Department spokesman confirmed by email the public comment deadline has been extended from Dec. 10. This marks the second extension — DOE had […]

  • For 2018 DOE Procurements, Waiting is the Hardest Part

    Barring a last-minute announcement from the Department of Energy, 2018 will end much like it started: With many major contractors waiting to see who will win a multibillion-dollar, 10-year contract for liquid waste management at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The most recent procurement schedule for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, from Nov. […]

  • DNFSB Questions Durability of Savannah River’s H Canyon Facility

    The federal government’s nuclear health-and-safety watchdog has raised concerns about whether an exhaust tunnel at the Savannah River Site’s nuclear materials processing facility can withstand the impact of an earthquake. The concern is related to two ongoing issues at the facility that have not yet been remedied, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said […]

  • Stakeholders Optimistic About Savannah River Jobs, Economy Despite MOX Termination

    As employees at the Savannah River Site’s MOX project continue to receive termination notices, local stakeholders in the Aiken, S.C., area are optimistic that more jobs are on the way and that the local economy will remain stable. That is because other contractors have been making necessary hires for various missions at the 310-square-mile Department of Energy […]

  • Publication Notice

    Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published from Dec. 24 to Jan. 1. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019.