Cleanup & Remediation

The Savannah River Site expects to complete its coal ash remediation project in early 2019, according to the Department of Energy. The $74 million cleanup project involves burying 1.3 million cubic yards of ash now stored on 90 acres of land at the Department of Energy facility in South Carolina. The ash was generated by coal-fueled facilities used […]

Been there, heard that, was the reaction from Washington state’s two U.S. senators as Energy Secretary Rick Perry defended budget cuts proposed in the administration’s fiscal 2018 request for the Hanford Site. Perry was in the hot seat for three days in succession this week, answering questions about proposed funding levels for cleanup at the […]

It could take the Department of Energy four to six months to select its candidate to lead the Office of Environmental Management and move the nominee through the Senate confirmation process, an informed source said this week. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has not yet put any of his management team in place since his Senate […]

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Wednesday she has heard the same message from new energy secretaries for 25 years – that they will find a new and better way to address environmental cleanup at the Hanford Site. The latest was Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who testified on his agency’s fiscal 2018 budget request before the […]

Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Professional Project Services Inc. edged out five other bidders to sustain its position as provider of technical support services for the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. The new indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has a value of $20,000 to $49 million over five years. It covers firm-fixed-price and time-and-materials task […]

The Savannah River Site should be rid of coal ash in early 2019, according to the Department of Energy. The $74 million cleanup project involves burying 1.3 million cubic yards of ash now stored on 90 acres of land at the Department of Energy facility in South Carolina. The ash was generated by coal-fueled facilities used to power […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory faced a number of challenges early in its treatment of dozens of containers of potentially explosive nitrate-salt waste, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Workers treated a second barrel of inappropriately remediated nitrate salt waste during the week of May 26, the DNFSB said in its latest inspection […]

The Department of Energy has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in new penalties from the state of Idaho over the failure to begin operation of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Idaho National Laboratory. The IWTU is intended to process 900,000 gallons of liquid sodium-bearing waste stored in underground tanks at the […]

Trial in the lawsuit over worker protection from vapors at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has been reset for June 11, 2018, at the request of all parties in the case. This is the third time plaintiffs and defendants have jointly requested a delay in the federal trial to allow for […]

A committee of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) this week urged the Energy Department to step up efforts to regulate drone flights over the facility in South Carolina. Tuesday’s vote came two months after the CAB’s Strategic and Legacy Management Committee tabled the recommendation. At the time, members determined it was best to […]

Plaintiffs and defendants in the lawsuit over chemical vapors protection for workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state have asked for another delay in the trial as they try to reach a settlement agreement. The trial already has been postponed twice to allow the parties to pursue mediation. Now, the sides have asked U.S. […]

The liquid waste contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina wants a federal judge to throw out a discrimination lawsuit, saying the former employee and plaintiff “has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” The lawsuit, filed April 24, is one of two open discrimination suits against Savannah […]

The last of the 94 vertically buried pipes filled with radioactive waste have been removed from the Hanford Site’s 618-10 Burial Ground, and other cleanup work there is nearing completion, according to the Department of Energy and cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. Former river corridor remediation contractor Washington Closure Hanford developed a plan […]

A committee of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) this week urged the Energy Department to step up efforts to regulate drone flights over the facility in South Carolina. Tuesday’s vote came two months after the CAB’s Strategic and Legacy Management Committee tabled the recommendation. At the time, members determined it was best to […]

A committee of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) this week urged the Energy Department to step up efforts to regulate drone flights over the facility in South Carolina. Tuesday’s vote came two months after the CAB’s Strategic and Legacy Management Committee tabled the recommendation. At the time, members determined it was best to […]

Albuquerque, N.M.-based STC Environmental Services has secured a five-year contract worth up to $4 million to provide support services for the headquarters of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM). The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract covers technical, regulatory, environmental, and planning support services, according to an EM press release Tuesday. It will encompass firm-fixed-price […]

Eight workers reported smelling suspicious odors outside the A Tank Farm in the center of the Hanford Site in Washington state on Tuesday morning, a possible indication of chemical vapors associated with radioactive waste stored in underground tanks. One of the workers was an industrial hygienist who took immediate air samples. Evaluation of the samples […]

The liquid waste contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina wants a federal judge to throw out a discrimination lawsuit, saying the former employee and plaintiff “has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” The lawsuit, filed on April 24, is one of two open discrimination suits against Savannah […]

Plaintiffs and defendants in the lawsuit over chemical vapors protection for workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state have asked for another delay in the trial as they try to reach a settlement agreement. The trial already has been postponed twice to allow the parties to pursue mediation. Now, the sides have asked U.S. […]

Workers who were ordered to take cover June 8 at the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant are being offered bioassay testing for radioactive contamination. “We have seen no preliminary data to suggest potential exposures exceed levels requiring a bioassay,” according to a memo distributed Friday to employees working on the plant cleanup. But rather than […]

A local advisory committee on Tuesday urged the Energy Department not to accept shipments of spent nuclear fuel from Germany at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The recommendation was one of three approved during the meeting of the SRS Citizens Advisory Board’s (CAB) Nuclear Materials Committee. The three recommendations all complement positions widely […]

The Donald Trump administration’s fiscal 2018 budget request for the Hanford Site’s Richland Operations Office is inadequate, regulators for the Department of Energy facility in Washington state said Wednesday during discussions at a Hanford Advisory Board meeting and a public budget meeting. The proposed $800 million for the office – which includes security and cybersecurity […]

WASHINGTON — In a mostly symbolic milestone that nevertheless carries measurable cost savings, the Energy Department could close out Washington Closure Hanford’s contract by the end of 2017, a senior DOE official said here Wednesday. “I think we may be at the end of this year able to say we have everything done to close […]

WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers from Ohio are prodding Energy Secretary Rick Perry to visit the Portsmouth Site their state: one of the legacy nuclear cleanup sites Perry has yet to see since taking the reins at the Energy Department in March. “We think it would be important [for Perry] to be there and have some […]

Workers at the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant were ordered to take cover indoors for more than three hours Thursday morning as a precaution after an air monitor detected low levels of airborne contamination, according to the Department of Energy. A survey subsequently found spots of radioactive contamination had spread outside the demolition zone established […]

WASHINGTON — Acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Sue Cange would not comment Wednesday about rumors that she will be replaced as the temporary head of DOE’s Cold War nuclear-cleanup program. Politico Pro first reported Wednesday that DOE will replace Cange, an agency veteran who came to DOE headquarters after managing cleanup at the […]

A local advisory committee on Tuesday urged the Energy Department not to accept shipments of spent nuclear fuel from Germany at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The recommendation was one of three approved during the meeting of the SRS Citizens Advisory Board’s (CAB) Nuclear Materials Committee. The three recommendations all complement positions widely […]

WASHINGTON — Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management Sue Cange would not comment Wednesday about rumors that she will be replaced as the temporary head of DOE’s Cold War nuclear-cleanup program. Politico Pro first reported Wednesday that DOE will replace Cange, an agency veteran who used to run the DOE’s Oak Ridge cleanup, as acting head […]

Hanford’s annual cleanup budget priority meeting will be held Wednesday June 7 at the Richland Public Library. To register to watch via webinar go to June 7th on the Hanford event calendar. Public comment on fiscal 2019 needs will be accepted at HanfordPriorities2019@rl.gov from June 7 to July 7. The meeting traditionally covers the next two […]

Three industry groups will sponsor a panel discussion and reception with officials from the Energy Department’s Environmental Management (EM) office Wednesday on Capitol Hill as part of the next meeting of the House Nuclear Clean Up Caucus. The topic of the evening panel discussion, which begins at 5 p.m. Eastern time, is: “EM’s Cost Reduction […]