Cleanup & Remediation

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 Chris Wright Wednesday. “The Hanford Site is on the brink of having to lay off subcontractors and restart an entire […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: May:  21: Subcommittee hearing: The proposed fiscal 2026 budget for the Department of Energy is the subject of a hearing starting at 2:30 p.m. E.T. by the Senate Appropriations  Energy & Water Subcommittee.  22:  Spent Fuel Solutions webinar with Energy Communities Alliance […]

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 […]

EnergySolutions, Salt Lake City, said Tuesday it is planning to seek an Early Site Permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the shuttered Kewaunee nuclear power plant in Wisconsin. The company is collaborating with WEC Energy Group (WEC) to explore new nuclear generation in Wisconsin, EnergySolutions said in a press release. WEC is a Milwaukee-based […]

Work crews at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio have started removing asbestos-laden outer panels from the mammoth X-333 Process Building at the old uranium enrichment complex. Workers are removing 16,000 transite panels from the X-333 Process Building over the next year and a half, the DOE Office of Environmental Management said in […]

Two former federal prosecutors central to many U.S. Justice Department legal cases involving the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, have joined San Diego-based plaintiffs’ law firm with offices across the Western United States. Singleton Schreiber announced in an April 28 press release that former U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref and former Assistant U.S. […]

Work crews at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio have started removing asbestos-laden outer panels from the mammoth X-333 Process Building at the old uranium enrichment complex. Workers are removing 16,000 transite panels from the X-333 Process Building over the next year and a half, the DOE Office of Environmental Management said in […]

A center for processing and storing transuranic waste could start up at the Hanford Site in 2033, Department of Energy and Washington state officials said during a public meeting last week. DOE and Washington state Department of Ecology managers on May 7 summarized plans to build and run a proposed Contact-Handled Waste Processing Treatment and […]

The Washington state Department of Ecology has promoted John Temple to a waste management section manager position. The job opened up when a prior section manager, Eddie Holbrook was promoted to deputy program manager, according to an Ecology spokesperson. Temple’s new post was announced May 7 by Program Manager Stephanie Schleif during a meeting of […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on April 30 favorably reported out two of President Donald Trump’s Department of Energy nominees. The committee endorsed Preston Wells Griffith to be undersecretary of energy and Dario Gil to be undersecretary of energy for science. Both nominations are being placed on the Senate executive calendar, one of […]

The Energy Communities Alliance has given its qualified support to a Department of Energy initiative to encourage development of data centers, used for artificial intelligence, on weapons complex installations. “ECA supports the AI infrastructure initiative and DOE’s commitment to engage with local public officials as a channel for DOE to create private sector deployment opportunities,” […]

Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions, which recently completed its long run as tank farm contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, is looking for a subcontractor to help audit the books. Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), a joint venture of Amentum and Atkins, said in a federal procurement notice it is […]

The Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee has deactivated the above-ground floors of a contaminated building at the Y-12 National Security Complex and is filling up the basement at the facility, DOE said last week. The DOE Office of Environmental Management contractor, United Cleanup Oak Ridge, is pouring more […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is putting liquid waste operations on hold due to a planned maintenance outage that started April 28. The annual break in operations is expected to last until July and should help increase liquid waste processing at the 310-square-mile site in South Carolina, a Savannah River Site (SRS) spokesperson […]

AtkinsRealis US Nuclear has added three industry veterans —Chris Kirchoff, Thomas Roddey, and Kirk Brower—to its business development management team, the company said recently. Kirchoff has been appointed vice president of business development and chief growth officer for the AtkinsRealis affiliate based in Oak Ridge, Tenn. He has more than 35 years of experience working […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said despite proposed budget cuts, there should be no slowdown in remediation at Department of Energy nuclear cleanup sites. “Through doing things smarter, there won’t be any slowdown” in nuclear cleanup at Cold War and Manhattan Project sites, Wright told Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) during a Congressional hearing Wednesday. The […]

The Department of Energy is in no rush to transfer operation of the new Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant to the new liquid waste contractor from the builder of the multi-billion facility, the Hanford Site Advisory Board heard Wednesday. Bechtel National, which in December 2000 acquired the contract to build the plant to convert  liquid […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said despite proposed budget cuts, there should be no slowdown in remediation at Department of Energy nuclear cleanup sites. “Through doing things smarter, there won’t be any slowdown” in nuclear cleanup at Cold War and Manhattan Project sites, Wright told Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) during a Congressional hearing Wednesday. The […]

The Department of Energy has appointed Alicia Stetin as the new chief of staff for the Office of Environmental Management, an agency representative confirmed this week. The new chief of staff, Stetin, joined Environmental Management (EM) this month, according to her LinkedIn page. The chief of staff position was vacant as recently as a month […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is putting liquid waste operations on hold due to a planned maintenance outage that started April 28. The annual break in operations is expected to last until July and should help increase liquid waste processing at the 310-square-mile site in South Carolina, a Savannah River Site (SRS) spokesperson […]

The Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee has deactivated the above-ground floors of a contaminated building at the Y-12 National Security Complex and is filling up the basement at the facility, DOE said last week. The DOE Office of Environmental Management contractor, United Cleanup Oak Ridge, is pouring more […]

Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions, which recently completed its long run as tank farm contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, is looking for a subcontractor to help audit the books. Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), a joint venture of Amentum and Atkins, said in a federal procurement notice it is […]

President Donald Trump’s administration signaled Friday it envisions moderate belt-tightening at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management during fiscal 2026. “The Budget maintains the Hanford site in Washington at the 2025 enacted level but reduces funding for various cleanup activities at other sites,” according to a topline or skinny budget request document rolled […]

During the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term he has moved aggressively to reduce the federal workforce and the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex has not been immune. Trump’s second term, which started Jan. 20, hit the 100-day mark this week on April 30.  A document shared with Exchange Monitor in […]

The Department of Energy said Thursday it has completed its 2,000-gallon demonstration of the so-called Test Bed Initiative at the Hanford Site in Washington state. In a press release, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said it has sent two shipments of treated, low-level radioactive tank waste to commercial disposal sites in Texas and Utah. The […]

Earnings fell at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the first quarter, which the engineering and construction company that serves the Department of Energy and other federal clients attributed mostly to its non-government work. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31 reflected a loss of $241 million, or $1.42 a share, down from earnings of […]

During the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term he has moved aggressively to reduce the federal workforce and the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex has not been immune. Trump’s second term, which started Jan. 20, hit the 100-day mark this week on April 30.  A document shared with Exchange Monitor in […]