Cleanup & Remediation

Work crews using heavy equipment have torn down a 1960s era train shed at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, DOE announced last week. “We are pleased to get this structure to the ground as part of our long term cleanup mission,” DOE Office of Environmental Management Nevada Program Manager Robert Boehlecke said […]

SAVANNAH, GA — Here are a few takeaways from this week’s 19th Radwaste Summit held here this week. The mood conveyed by most speakers and many attendees was generally upbeat. There seems to be news of a proposed new small modular reactor or revival of a mothballed nuclear plant, such as Palisades in Michigan, every […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in testimony at Congress Tuesday that there should be “clarity” soon on the reorganization and workforce shrinking at the Department of Energy. “The Department of Energy is filled with a bunch of tremendous, hardworking, committed men and women trying to better the direction for our country,” Wright said at […]

SAVANNAH, GA.—With interest in nuclear energy the highest it has been in years, attaining public trust is vital to development of new reactors and waste disposal projects. That was a recurring theme here during Exchange Monitor’s 19th Radwaste Summit. Only a few years ago, state legislatures across the country would propose a handful of nuclear-related […]

SAVANNAH, GA. — The Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina should receive a certificate of completion for the offsite Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative this summer, Edwin Deshong said Wednesday. During the Radwaste Summit, Deshong gave a brief update on the status of the new research and meeting facility being built a few […]

The Department of Energy’s prime contractor at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has turned to a former DOE executive with more than 35 years in nuclear management to succeed its retiring CEO. Flour-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) Friday June 6 announced Jeff Griffin, a senior vice president, has been picked to succeed […]

The Department of Energy said Tuesday workers at its sprawling nuclear cleanup site in Washington state have installed one last piece of piping needed for the plant that will vitrify liquid radioactive waste into a solid glass form. Crews have finished the final connection between underground tanks storing radioactive waste and the multi-billion-dollar Waste Treatment […]

SAVANNAH, GA. –The Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Paducah Project Office will have three new contractor teams by early October, the deputy manager of the field office said here this week. Reinhard Knerr, who is deputy manager of the field office for the DOE Office of Environmental Management, discussed the contractor transition here on the sidelines […]

SAVANNAH, GA. –The Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Paducah Project Office will have three new contractor teams by early October, the deputy manager of the field office said here this week. Reinhard Knerr, who is deputy manager of the field office for the DOE Office of Environmental Management, discussed the contractor transition here on the sidelines […]

The Department of Energy said Tuesday workers at its sprawling nuclear cleanup site in Washington state have installed one last piece of piping needed for the plant that will vitrify liquid radioactive waste into a solid glass form. Crews have finished the final connection between underground tanks storing radioactive waste and the multi-billion-dollar Waste Treatment […]

SAVANNAH, GA.— Exchange Monitor’s 19th annual Radwaste Summit kicks off here Tuesday with discussions on expanding nuclear energy generation, a priority with the White House, while addressing spent fuel issues. This year’s conference starts at 2 p.m. Eastern Time with an introduction by senior nuclear safety consultant Larry Camper followed by a panel discussion on […]

The Department of Energy’s prime contractor at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has turned to a former DOE executive with more than 35 years in nuclear management to succeed its retiring CEO. Flour-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) Friday announced Jeff Griffin, a senior vice president, has been picked to succeed Dennis Carr […]

The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico, which oversees the nation’s disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste, would undergo one of the larger Environmental Management spending cuts in fiscal 2026, according to recent administration data. Carlsbad, in charge of the Office of Environmental Management (EM) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), would receive […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear remediation office announced this week that demolition is complete for the Submarine 1st Generation Westinghouse (S1W) naval reactor prototype plant at the Idaho National Laboratory. In a Tuesday announcement, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and Jacobs-led contract Idaho Environmental Coalition finished taking down the structure at the Naval Reactors Facility […]

The acting heads of two major Department of Energy nuclear cleanup offices, one in Tennessee and the other in South Carolina, are “acting” managers no longer.  After acting as the DOE’s top remediation boss at the Savannah River Site since February, longtime DOE hand Edwin Deshong, III was promoted June 1 to head of the […]

After acting as the Department of Energy’s top remediation boss at the Savannah River Site since February, longtime DOE hand Edwin Deshong, III was promoted June 1 to head of the Environmental Management field office. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) announced Tuesday Deshong is getting the Savannah River field office job permanently. Deshong, who […]

The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico, which oversees the nation’s disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste, would undergo one of the larger Environmental Management spending cuts in fiscal 2026, according to recent administration data. Carlsbad, in charge of the Office of Environmental Management (EM) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), would receive […]

In addition to trimming its budget, the Department of Energy’s cleanup program for Cold War and Manhattan Project sites could have roughly a quarter fewer federal employees in fiscal 2026 than it did two years earlier. That is one of the takeaways from the White House Office of Management and Budget’s 1,220-page technical supplement to […]

The BWX Technologies-led joint venture doing liquid waste cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina said Wednesday its president is retiring and will be succeeded by the vice president. Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) President and Program Manager Dave Olson, who has held the top job since SRMC won the […]

North Augusta, S.C., a city near the Savannah River Site, recently opened its $2 million waste transfer station, a facility paid for with money from a $600 million settlement in South Carolina’s case against the Department of Energy.  The settlement stemmed from DOE cancelling of the SRS Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication (MOX) Facility, one that […]

North Augusta, S.C., a city near the Savannah River Site, recently opened its $2 million waste transfer station, a facility paid for with money from a $600 million settlement in South Carolina’s case against the Department of Energy.  The settlement stemmed from DOE cancelling of the SRS Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication (MOX) Facility, one that […]

The BWX Technologies-led joint venture doing liquid waste cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina said Wednesday its president is retiring and will be succeeded by the vice president. Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) President and Program Manager Dave Olson, who has held the top job since SRMC won the […]

Amentum and a joint venture partner have been awarded a contract by Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning to deliver safety case management for the nation’s nuclear cleanup program. The contract awarded to Amentum and partner Multiconsult Norge AS is focused on delivering a new approach for safety cases for new design and existing legacy nuclear facilities. Existing […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:   May 27: Online meeting on National Nuclear Security Administration environmental review for plutonium pit production. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. 28:  Online meeting on National Nuclear Security Administration environmental review for plutonium pit production. The meeting starts at […]

Dae Chung, head of corporate services for the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management, plans to retire at the end of the month. “Please join me in congratulating Dae Chung on 32+ years of distinguished federal service as he prepares to retire at the end of this month,” Roger Jarrell, principal deputy assistant […]

There is good news and bad news to report on staffing, the head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup field office at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico told a federal advisory panel last week. “I am happy to report that no federal employees within the EMLA [Environmental Management Los Alamos] field […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has formally made longtime DOE hand Brian Harkins the acting manager of its costliest nuclear cleanup site. DOE’s Environmental Management headquarters in Washington, D.C, Monday appointed Harkins its acting manager for the Hanford Site in Washington state. The move is no surprise, given Harkins has been the […]

The current head of the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management told a Senate Armed Services Committee panel this week progress is being made toward solidifying liquid radioactive waste left over from the Cold War and Manhattan Project. Roger Jarrell II, DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary for Environmental Management (EM) also told the […]

Uncertainty over Department of Energy funding and guidance at the Hanford Site in Washington state threatens to bog down work at the nation’s largest nuclear cleanup site, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash) told Secretary of Energy Chirs Wright Wednesday. “The Hanford Site is on the brink of having to lay off subcontractors and restart an entire […]

The Department of Energy received hundreds of responses to a request for information, which closed earlier this month, seeking stakeholder input on placing data centers on DOE nuclear sites, officials said this week. The request for information that went out in April closed May 7, not only drew hundreds of responses, but the comments were […]