Cleanup & Remediation

Two sources in New Mexico said Thursday the Los Alamos National Laboratory is slightly more than two-thirds through treatment of potentially combustible waste containers. At a late September meeting of the Northern New Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board, an Energy Department official reported that 20 drums of inappropriately remediated nitrate salts remained to be treated, one […]

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is urging the state’s congressional delegation to continue advocating for the MOX project at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site, which is again in danger of being defunded. In a Sept. 14 letter, McMaster provided all lawmakers from the state with a recent report from the governor’s South Carolina Nuclear […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site downblended 16 kilograms of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium in fiscal 2017, and is expected to nearly double amount in the current budget year. Officials from the South Carolina facility reported the figure last week during a bimonthly meeting of the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB). Downblending began in September 2016, […]

The ExchangeMonitor’s Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published Monday in observance of Columbus Day. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

Crews at the Hanford Site in Washington state on Tuesday night started injecting grout to stabilize the Hanford PUREX Plant waste storage tunnel discovered last spring to be partially collapsed, but halted work as some dirt began to subside into the tunnel, the Department of Energy said Wednesday. After the breach in the top of […]

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control expects cleanup work to begin at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) site in 2019 and possibly be finished in 2034, according to the timeline laid out in the agency’s latest monthly report on the radioactively contaminated 2,850-acre property in Ventura County. The Santa Susana project has been […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday finalized the membership package to reconstitute the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB), which has been unable to establish a quorum to conduct business for three months. Membership for about half the members of the board expired at the end of June. Half of the members and their alternates for 32 […]

Weeks before it was awarded a six-month extension for legacy nuclear cleanup operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, contractor Los Alamos National Security was slightly more than halfway through processing canisters of problem waste. As of early September, the lab’s Waste Characterization, Reduction, and Repackaging Facility (WCRRF) was treating the 34th […]

Piketon, Ohio, Mayor Billy Spencer did not get a meeting with Energy Secretary Rick Perry last week, but still hopes to persuade the Energy Department to drop plans for an on-site disposal cell for waste from decommissioning of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Perry visited DOE’s Portsmouth Site on Friday, but “time constraints” during his […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) on Thursday announced the award of two contracts for support services at its sites. Trinity Engineering Associates, of Cincinnati, took home a four-year, $4 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for professional support services. The small-business vendor will provide professional support in areas including records management, administrative support, and financial […]

Plaintiffs and defendants on Friday asked a federal judge for a fifth delay in the scheduled trial for a lawsuit demanding better worker protection from chemical vapors at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The delay would give the parties further time to pursue a settlement. When parties to the lawsuit announced in […]

The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky lost power for several hours Tuesday, which prompted plant managers to declare an “operational emergency,” according to documents posted on the Energy Department’s Daily Occurrence Reports website. The site experienced a loss of power to different switchyards because of a problem with a Tennessee Valley Authority electric line […]

Jacobs Engineering will be required to mitigate an apparent conflict of interest at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in its planned acquisition of CH2M Hill. Jacobs announced in June that it planned to purchase its fellow DOE contractor for $2.85 billion, with the deal set to close by the end of the year. Jacobs […]

The Department of Energy expects to begin transferring cesium and strontium capsules from underwater storage at the Hanford Site in Washington state to dry storage in 2022. The latest step toward that goal has been identifying a proposed location at Hanford for dry storage and completing a conceptual design of a new concrete pad storage […]

The House of Representatives is calling for a “full overhaul” of the federal program that provides money to local communities near large Energy Department sites that cannot be taxed. That would include terminating all existing agreements, according to legislation passed in the House earlier this month. Given that localities cannot tax property owned by the […]

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has dismissed a 2016 class action lawsuit demanding that the Department of Energy reinstate pension benefits for up to 500 people for work performed at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Chief Judge Susan G. Braden ruled Sept. 22 that plaintiffs who worked for Lockheed Martin Services Inc. had […]

WASHINGTON — The federal government’s independent watchdog for defense nuclear sites backed off a formal safety recommendation to the Energy Department here Tuesday, citing a lack of confidence that the measure would better prepare DOE facilities for emergencies. In an open meeting at its headquarters, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) voted 4-1 to […]

The Energy Department has as of this week been penalized more than $2.37 million by the state of Idaho over the ongoing failure to start operating a liquid waste treatment facility at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) was built to process 900,000 gallons of liquid sodium-bearing waste produced during […]

As has been expected, the Energy Department on Tuesday issued a six-month extension for the current contract for legacy nuclear cleanup operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The department said Tuesday that Los Alamos National Security, the lab’s management and operations contractor, would also remain its environmental management provider through March […]

As has been expected, the Energy Department on Tuesday issued a six-month extension for the current contract for legacy nuclear cleanup operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The department said Tuesday that Los Alamos National Security, the lab’s management and operations contractor, would also remain its environmental management provider through March […]

WASHINGTON — The federal government’s independent watchdog for defense nuclear sites backed off a formal safety recommendation to the Energy Department here Tuesday, citing a lack of confidence that the measure would better prepare DOE facilities for emergencies. In an open meeting at its headquarters, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) voted 4-1 to […]

In response to requests for more time, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control has extended by 45 days the public comment period on two draft documents for the planned cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) site. Stakeholders now have until Dec. 7 to provide input on DTSC’s draft program environmental impact report […]

Almost $27 million will be earmarked for road improvements around the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) as an outgrowth of a 2016 settlement between the Energy Department and the state of New Mexico, Gov. Susana Martinez said this week. The funding should shore up New Mexico routes used for transporting Energy Department transuranic waste to […]

The Department of Energy expects to begin transferring cesium and strontium capsules from underwater storage at the Hanford Site in Washington state to dry storage in 2022. The latest step toward that goal has been identifying a proposed location at Hanford for dry storage and completing a conceptual design of a new concrete pad storage […]

After an August visit fell through, Energy Secretary Rick Perry is expected to visit the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant cleanup site on Friday, several members of the Ohio congressional delegation announced Wednesday. Sen. Rob Portman (R), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), Rep. Bill Johnson (R) and Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R) issued a joint statement praising Perry […]

Jacobs Engineering will be required to mitigate an apparent conflict of interest at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in its planned acquisition of CH2M Hill. Jacobs announced in June that it planned to purchase its fellow DOE contractor for $2.85 billion, with the deal set to close by the end of the year. Jacobs […]

As has been expected, the Energy Department on Tuesday issued a six-month extension for the current contract for legacy nuclear cleanup operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The department said Tuesday that Los Alamos National Security, the lab’s management and operations contractor, would also remain its environmental management provider through March […]

The Energy Department has as of Tuesday been penalized more than $2.37 million by the state of Idaho over the ongoing failure to start operating a liquid waste treatment facility at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) was built to process 900,000 gallons of liquid sodium-bearing waste produced during Cold […]

WASHINGTON — The federal government’s independent watchdog for defense nuclear sites backed off a formal safety recommendation to the Energy Department here Tuesday, citing a lack of confidence that the measure would better prepare DOE facilities for emergencies. In an open meeting at its headquarters, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) voted 4-1 to […]

The House of Representatives is calling for a “full overhaul” of the federal program that provides money to local communities near large Energy Department sites that cannot be taxed. Given that localities cannot tax property owned by the U.S. government, Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) programs have served as a means to provide federal funding […]