Cleanup & Remediation

Bechtel National of San Francisco earned $8.3 million in award fees from the Energy Department for its work last year on the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash. — two-thirds of the total possible award, according to a document DOE’s Office of River Protection (ORP) published Monday. Most of the money […]

The Department of Energy is considering appealing U.S. Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson’s order amending the Hanford Site consent decree, according to court documents requesting a transcript of Malouf Peterson’s closed-door discussions with a panel of three technical advisers. The federal agency is analyzing the court order and amended consent decree and believes the record of […]

Parsons said April 8 the Salt Waste Processing Facility it is building at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., received a Secretarial Department of Energy Award for Project Management Improvement on March 23. The award cites the project team’s innovative practices, which “positioned the project for the completion of construction activities ahead of the target date […]

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson wants a faster resolution and no trial in the state’s pursuit of $100 million and the removal of plutonium from the Savannah River Site – both of which are stipulations dating to 2003 when South Carolina agreed to house the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Department […]

House and Senate energy and water appropriations bills for fiscal 2017, released this week, both propose to fund the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Site Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) at $103 million, which is in line with the Obama administration’s request. The House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee approved the $37.4 billion spending legislation on […]

Environmental solutions provider Veolia on Thursday said it had completed the $350 million acquisition of nuclear waste cleanup technology developer Kurion. The buyout is part of Veolia’s plan to carve out a chunk of a massive global nuclear remediation market, management said in February when it announced the deal. By 2020, the Paris-based multinational intends to […]

Despite lawmakers’ request that appropriators fund the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Site Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) at $150 million or more in fiscal 2017, the House Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, released Tuesday, calls for $103 million in funding for the program. House lawmakers from Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland in a […]

A draft spending bill released Tuesday afternoon would keep the Department of Energy’s legacy nuclear cleanup budget about even with current levels and quash the White House’s plan to change the way DOE pays for cleanup of former uranium enrichment sites. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management would get about $6.15 billion in fiscal 2017 under the […]

The Department of Energy is considering appealing U.S. Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson’s order amending the Hanford Site consent decree, according to court documents requesting a transcript of Malouf Peterson’s closed-door discussions with a panel of three technical advisers. The federal agency is analyzing the court order and amended consent decree and believes the record of […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) on Monday officially exited a reduced work phase, or deliberate operations, that was implemented after the company wrapped up an operational safety pause last fall. Now, the Savannah River Site management and operations contractor is fully in enhanced operations. Work in enhanced operations is closer to normal operations, but contingencies […]

Hanford Site support services contractor Mission Support Alliance has earned almost $18.8 million in fees for fiscal 2015, but will not be paid until a dispute over past payments is resolved. The award fee earned is 89 percent of the $21 million available, according to a Department of Energy scorecard released this week. Mission Support […]

Bechtel National of San Francisco earned $8.3 million in award fees from the Energy Department for its work last year on the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash. — two-thirds of the total possible award, according to a document DOE’s Office of River Protection (ORP) published Monday. Most of the money […]

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson wants a faster resolution and no trial in the state’s pursuit of $100 million and the removal of plutonium from the Savannah River Site – both of which are stipulations dating to 2003 when South Carolina agreed to house the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Department […]

Parsons said Friday the Salt Waste Processing Facility it is building at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., received a Secretarial Department of Energy Award for Project Management Improvement on March 23. The award cites the project team’s innovative practices, which “positioned the project for the completion of construction activities ahead of the target date […]

The Environmental Protection Agency has scheduled a public meeting for 5:30 p.m. April 18 to discuss the West Lake Landfill in Missouri. EPA and partner agencies will discuss the site and answer questions at the Bridgeton Recreation Center, located at 4201 Fee Fee Road in Bridgeton, Mo. The EPA is working to prevent an underground […]

The environmental cleanup of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee has taken place over more than three decades, with much of the progress measured by improved water quality in a series of creeks and waterways – including White Oak Creek, which is the main drainage system for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. […]

Washington Closure Hanford has begun removing waste from vertically buried pipes at Hanford for the first time. Just two Hanford burial grounds, 618-10 and 618-11, used the disposal method for the pipes, called vertical pipe units. The two were saved as the last burial grounds in the river corridor for remediation because they were expected […]

Washington River Protection Solutions had removed well over a third of the sludge in the Hanford Site double-shell tank with an interior leak by midday Thursday. About 61,000 gallons of radioactive sludge had been retrieved, with an estimated 90,000 gallons remaining. Sludge retrieval got off to a slow start last month, with the Department of […]

A story in the March 17 issue of Weapons Complex Morning Briefing [“Hanford Master Procurement Plan Coming This Year”] should have said the Energy Department’s Office of Hanford Acquisitions oversees acquisitions for the department’s Richland Operations Office only. A story in the April 1 issue of Weapons Complex Monitor [“With Little Fanfare, Six Tons of […]

Discussions over missed deadlines and penalties at the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) have been held since November, even though the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) said in December that talks were expected to wrap up in January. Construction of the facility is expected to be completed next […]

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Tuesday she still expects the Department of Energy to pony up $100 million for missing a plutonium disposition milestone at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). South Carolina sued the federal government on Feb. 9 because DOE had failed for more than a month to […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday said it would this year offer another 10 bus tours of cleanup operations at the Hanford Site in Washington state, after the originally planned 15 tours were filled. The added tour dates at the former plutonium production site are Aug. 2, 3, 10, 16, 17, 24, 30, and 31, […]

One Lockheed Martin affiliate reaped more than $60 million in unallowable profits over four years under a dubiously permissible information technology subcontract with another Lockheed affiliate at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, the DOE Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Wednesday. The internal DOE watchdog also warned the […]

Though none would commit outright to making a run at the work, most of the major partners on the Energy Department’s main liquid-waste cleanup contract at the Savannah River Site signaled interest in bidding on billions of dollars’ worth of follow-on work at the Aiken, S.C. facility. About a week after DOE released a draft request […]

The Department of Energy has likely exceeded its expense estimate for building an Idaho Cleanup Project facility by $181 million, breaching the cost cap of $571 million in the wake of a mishap that shut down the plant during testing in 2012, the DOE Inspector General’s Office said Monday. The Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility (SBWTF) was built […]

It remains unclear if there are human health concerns associated with radioactive material the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has identified on private property near the West Lake Landfill. In its final report on the matter, issued April 1, the department said additional investigation is needed on at least two soil samples that recorded radioactivity […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), the contractor that manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is seeking expressions of interest for the replacement of body armor used at the site, according to a recent solicitation posted. Vendors must demonstrate good past performance within the last seven years on similar supply contracts […]

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Tuesday she still expects the Department of Energy to pony up $100 million for missing a plutonium disposition milestone at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). South Carolina sued the federal government on Feb. 9 because DOE had failed for more than a month to […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has approved Critical Decision-1 for a new emergency operations center at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The CD-1 confirmation was contained in a March 4 weekly activity report by Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board staff assigned to Y-12. CD-1 is approval of the selection of alternatives […]

One Lockheed Martin affiliate reaped more than $60 million in unallowable profits over four years under a dubiously permissible information technology subcontract with another Lockheed affiliate at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, the DOE Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Wednesday. The IG said Lockheed-led Mission Support Alliance, prime support-services […]