Cleanup & Remediation

The Government Accountability Office would like federal agencies to increase their collaboration on research into low-dose radiation, and it has recommended the Energy Department lead such an effort. But DOE hasn’t been eager to assume such a role, the GAO said in a Nov. 1 report. People who work at nuclear power plants, defense waste […]

The Savannah River Site’s management and operations contractor faces a $320,000 penalty after being cited by the Department of Energy for retaliating against an employee who reported a safety issue. The Energy Department issued a preliminary notice of violation (PNOV) to Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) on Wednesday. The violation, according to the department, occurred when […]

The Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state has for the first time shipped tank waste off-site for treatment and disposal. Three gallons of low-activity radioactive waste were sent in October to a nearby Perma-Fix Environmental Services facility to be grouted. It is then expected to be sent for disposal at the Waste Control Specialists […]

Jay Mullis, the acting manager of the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) in Tennessee since October 2016, is now the permanent manager. A 30-year federal employee, Mullis had since February 2015 been deputy manager for the DOE office that oversees cleanup of former uranium enrichment activities at the Oak Ridge Reservation. […]

Ralph Holland, deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and project management for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), plans to retire at the end of December. Holland, who assumed responsibility for the EM Consolidated Business Center in Cincinnati in August 2015, has served in a number of management posts within DOE over the past […]

The federal government this week doubled down on its request that the Court of Federal Claims dismiss South Carolina’s lawsuit over disposal of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. The filing arrived just days after the prime contractor on the Department of Energy facility designed to convert that plutonium into […]

The Savannah River Site’s management and operations contractor faces a $320,000 penalty after being cited by the Department of Energy for retaliating against an employee who reported a safety issue. The Energy Department issued a preliminary notice of violation (PNOV) to Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) on Wednesday. The violation, according to the department, occurred when […]

Jay Mullis, the acting manager of the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) in Tennessee since October 2016, is now the permanent manager. A 30-year federal employee, Mullis had since February 2015 been deputy manager for the DOE office that oversees cleanup of former uranium enrichment activities at the Oak Ridge Reservation. […]

The federal government this week doubled down on its request that the Court of Federal Claims (CFC) dismiss South Carolina’s lawsuit over disposal of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. In a Tuesday court filing, lawyers representing DOE wrote that Judge Margaret Sweeney’s court has no jurisdiction over the matter, despite South […]

Ralph Holland, deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and project management for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), plans to retire at the end of December. Holland, who assumed responsibility for the EM Consolidated Business Center in Cincinnati in August 2015, has served in a number of management posts within DOE over the past […]

If it holds up under protest, the $4.7 billion contract for liquid waste management at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina will provide BWX Technologies with one of its bigger wins as a prime contractor in recent years, executives said during a quarterly call on Tuesday. But management said it would […]

The U.S. Energy Department confirmed Tuesday that the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has finished treating 60 potentially combustible containers of radioactive waste, ending ahead of the latest targeted date and setting the stage for the next phase of nitrate salt processing. The drums contained a mix of remediated nitrate salts and organic […]

Dennis Wilson has been elected as the new chairman of the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB) in Tennessee for fiscal 2018. The panel of up to 22 members makes recommendations to DOE regarding operations at the Oak Ridge Reservation, home to a large-scale cleanup of former uranium enrichment operations. ORSSAB held […]

The prime contractor on a Department of Energy facility designed to turn surplus nuclear-weapon plutonium into commercial reactor fuel said government meddling on the project made it impossible for the company to fulfill its contractual obligations and earn its fees, according to federal court papers dated Friday. The claim is part of an amended complaint […]

The Hanford Advisory Board will meet Wednesday and Thursday for the first time since June. The meeting, previously scheduled for September, was delayed until Department of Energy officials in Washington, D.C., approved letters of appointment and reappointment for about half of the board’s members. Without the approval, the board did not have a quorum to […]

The Department of Energy has picked Delmar Noyes as the assistant manager for Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant startup, commissioning, and integration, effective Nov. 12. He will support integration of the waste storage tank farm and the Waste Treatment Plant to assure close coordination during startup and commissioning of Hanford’s tank waste treatment facilities and […]

The Washington River Protection Solutions’ (WRPS) project to empty a Hanford Site double-shell waste tank with an interior leak has been named the 2017 Project of the Year by the Project Management Institute. “Washington River Protection Solutions was able to establish and follow sound project management practices that allowed its challenging and potentially dangerous project […]

The Department of Energy and its Central Plateau cleanup contractor at the Hanford Site have appealed a fine and order by the Washington state Department of Ecology over an unidentified white powder found on the floor and equipment of the PUREX processing plant. The plutonium extraction plant was closed in the 1980s, with periodic walkthroughs […]

The Washington state Department of Ecology has opened an investigation after being notified by the contractor for the Hanford Site’s waste tank farm that some liquid had been poured into the soil in central Hanford in August. The liquid was in four used containers that had sat out in the weather for a couple years […]

Recently obtained email messages indicate the Department of Justice might be investigating time-card issues involving the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) project at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The investigation follows two settlements in recent years for alleged time-card fraud at the Hanford waste tank farms. An email sent on July 27 […]

The Santa Fe City Council is urging the U.S. Energy Department and New Mexico Environment Department to “strengthen” a 2016 consent order governing cleanup at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and also suspend any expanded plutonium pit production at the site “until safety issues are resolved.” The resolution, passed Oct. 25, calls for additional characterization […]

Three workers and two rooms were radioactively contaminated after a botched maintenance job on a glove box at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility, the Department of Energy and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said. It was the latest in a series of safety snafus at Los Alamos to come to light during […]

Processing of potentially combustible waste containers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory could be finished by Thanksgiving, a source in New Mexico said this week. That would be ahead of the latest official schedule for completion in December. An official with the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management told the Northern New Mexico Citizens’ Advisory […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency anticipates issuing its final remedy plan for cleanup of radiologically contaminated material at the West Lake Landfill in Missouri within a period of months, according to an agency spokesman. The EPA was responding to a query from RadWaste Monitor regarding language added to Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) Yucca Mountain legislation […]

The Department of Energy and its Central Plateau cleanup contractor at the Hanford Site have appealed a fine and order by the Washington state Department of Ecology over an unidentified white powder found on the floor and equipment of the PUREX processing plant. The plutonium extraction plant was closed down in the 1980s, with periodic […]

Processing of potentially combustible waste containers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory could be finished by Thanksgiving, a source in New Mexico said this week. That would be ahead of the latest official schedule for completion in December. The source said an official with the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management told the Northern New […]

The Washington River Protection Solutions’ (WRPS) project to empty a Hanford Site double-shell waste tank with an interior leak has been named the 2017 Project of the Year by the Project Management Institute. “Washington River Protection Solutions was able to establish and follow sound project management practices that allowed its challenging and potentially dangerous project […]

The Department of Energy has acknowledged that contractor Bechtel National has met all of the criteria required to resume construction on parts of the Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant’s High-Level Waste Facility that have been on hold since 2012. However, DOE also pointed out in a statement Friday that its focus is on preparing to […]

Dayton, Ohio-based Ardent Technologies has been awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) support services contract from the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) that could be worth up to $4 million. The contract, which is for three years, calls for Ardent to provide support services – such as information technology, server management, and cybersecurity […]

The Santa Fe City Council is urging the U.S. Energy Department and New Mexico Environment Department to “strengthen” a 2016 consent order governing cleanup at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and also suspend any expanded plutonium pit production at the site “until safety issues are resolved.” The resolution, passed Oct. 25, calls for additional characterization […]