Cleanup & Remediation

The U.S. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Spain to help the country clean up plutonium, uranium, and americium that was spread across at least 24 acres along its southern coast after a B-52 carrying nuclear cargo for U.S. Strategic Air Command crashed in the Mediterranean city of Palomares in 1966. U.S. Secretary of […]

Frazer Lockhart, vice president for waste operations at Stoller Newport News Nuclear, has been appointed to the Energy Department’s Environmental Management Advisory Board, SN3 parent company Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Friday. "I hope to use my experience in project management and acquisition to provide meaningful assistance to the Department of Energy leadership toward addressing their […]

A federal judge has named her panel of technical advisers for the Hanford Site consent decree case and announced that her meetings with them will be closed. She plans to discuss issues in the case with all three advisers present in person or by telephone, outside the presence of counsel, the public, or the parties […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/16/2015 A federal judge has declined to dismiss a complaint filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Washington Closure Hanford and other businesses over subcontracting practices at the Hanford Site. U.S. Judge Edward Shea ruled against defendants’ request for summary judgment on the complaint brought by the federal government, but […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 10/16/2015 The state of New Mexico is losing patience with the failure to yet finalize settlements with the Department of Energy over high-profile incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and waste management problems at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, state Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn told WC Monitor. DOE in April […]

Alissa Tabirian WC Monitor 10/16/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) have approved a memorandum of understanding that dictates the responsibilities of each entity in the transition of legacy environmental cleanup work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), according to a Defense Nuclear […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/16/2015 DOE EM Prepares for New Hanford Site Contracts The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is taking steps to issue new contracts for cleanup and infrastructure and services work at the Hanford Site in Washington state, according to a press release issued on Thursday. The Environmental Management Consolidated Business […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/16/2015 Hanford Contractor Formalizes New President Mark Lindholm’s job as president and project manager of Washington River Protection Solutions, the Hanford tank farm contractor, became official this week.  WRPS announced a month ago that Lindholm was its choice to replace Dave Olson, who was retiring. Lindholm was acting president starting Oct. […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/16/2015 Fluor Issues RFP for Paducah Refrigerant Disposal Fluor on Thursday issued a request for proposals for companies interested in managing disposal of 8.5 million pounds of refrigerant left over from uranium enrichment operations at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Fluor is leading the deactivation of the facility, […]

A story in the Oct. 9 edition of Weapons Complex Monitor incorrectly stated that River Corridor Cleanup contractor Washington Closure Hanford was set this week to start conventional outdoor demolition of 324 Building at the Hanford Site. Neither Washington Closure Hanford, nor any other contractor, is starting or authorized to begin demolition of the 324 […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/16/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) have approved a memorandum of understanding that dictates the responsibilities of each entity in the transition of legacy environmental cleanup work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), according to a Defense Nuclear […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/16/2015 The Army Corps of Engineers anticipates issuing the request for proposals for the cleanup of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) site in Armstrong County, Pa., no later than Dec. 3, 2015, according to a notice posted on FedBizOpps late last week. Army Corps National FUSRAP Program Manager Nicki […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/16/2015 Researchers with the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) have made a “breakthrough discovery” in the packaging and disposal of intermediate-level waste (ILW) that could save millions and advance the timeline of the cleanup at the Sellafield site, the NDA announced this week. The research centered on ILW stored […]

Mark Lindholm’s job as president and project manager of Washington River Protection Solutions, the Hanford tank farm contractor, became official this week.  WRPS announced a month ago that Lindholm was its choice to replace Dave Olson, who was retiring. Lindholm was acting president starting Oct. 1, pending Department of Energy approval to be named president. […]

The Army Corps of Engineers anticipates issuing the Request for Proposal for the cleanup of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) site in Armstrong County, Pa. no later than December 3, 2015, according to a notice on FedBizOpps late last week. National FUSRAP Program Manager Nicki Fatherly had said last month at the RadWaste Summit […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/9/2015 The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management on Wednesday announced the demolition of a building at the Los Alamos National Laboratory as part of the ongoing remediation of the New Mexico site’s Technical Area 21. This demolition is the latest of several TA-21 dismantlement projects. The American Recovery and […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/9/2015 Officials are seeking a $27 million plus-up over President Barack Obama’s original fiscal 2016 request for nuclear materials funding within the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), according to an Oct. 5 internal email obtained by WC Monitor that was sent from Savannah River Site (SRS) Office of Integration […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/9/2015 The Senate on Wednesday voted 70-27 to pass the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2016, following an Oct. 1 House vote of 270-156 to pass the bill. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the bill because of language that pluses up his fiscal 2016 […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/9/2015 The last claims in the Hanford Site downwinder lawsuit filed in 1991 have been settled or withdrawn, according to documents filed this week in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington. As many as 5,000 people, according to defense attorneys, had joined the case, claiming their health was damaged by radiation […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/9/2015 Washington Closure Hanford is scheduled next week to start leveling the last standing facility marked for demolition as part of the company’s River Corridor Cleanup project, specifically in the Hanford Site’s 300 Area, WCH President Scott Sax said last week during the Energy Department’s first National Cleanup Workshop in Arlington, […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/9/2015 A report on risk-based management of Department of Energy defense cleanup sites fails to recognize the role of local communities in defining risk and their critical place in making decisions on remediation, according to the Energy Communities Alliance. The organization, which represents communities near DOE cleanup sites across the nation, […]

WC Monitor 10/9/2015 Bechtel Awards Quality Control Services Subcontract at Hanford Bechtel National has awarded NV5 Holdings an estimated $1.5 million contract to support nuclear cleanup at the Hanford Site, NV5 announced on Monday. The company provides professional and technical engineering and consulting services, and will perform quality control field and laboratory testing and construction […]

NS&D Monitor 10/9/2015 EM Commits to Competing LANL Cleanup Contract The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management on Oct. 2 officially announced that it intends to open for competition the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s post-fiscal 2016 nuclear cleanup contract, after Los Alamos National Security’s $309.8 million “bridge” contract will expire sometime between October 2016 […]

NS&D Monitor 10/9/2015 EM Commits to Competing LANL Cleanup Contract The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management on Oct. 2 officially announced that it intends to open for competition the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s post-fiscal 2016 nuclear cleanup contract, after Los Alamos National Security’s $309.8 million “bridge” contract will expire sometime between October 2016 […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/9/2015 Local officials are preparing for “a catastrophic event” should the smoldering fire at the Bridgeton Landfill reach the radioactive contamination at the adjacent West Lake Landfill near St. Louis, according to an emergency plan released this week. The plan, originally prepared in October 2014, outlines the steps local officials […]

The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board postponed its meetings of the Nuclear Materials Committee (NMC) and Waste Management Committee (WMC), originally scheduled for yesterday, to Oct. 14, according to an SRS CAB press release. The New Ellenton (S.C.) Community Center will host the WMC meeting at 4:30 p.m., and the NMC meeting at 6:30 […]

WC Monitor 10/2/2015   DOE Conducts Aerial Radiological Survey at Hanford The Department of Energy has completed an aerial radiological survey of the 37 square miles at the center of the Hanford Site in Washington. A National Security Technologies helicopter equipped with sensors flew low over the area, collecting information on 100-foot-wide sections of land […]

Bechtel National, Inc., has awarded NV5 Holdings, Inc., an estimated $1.5 million contract to support nuclear cleanup at the Hanford Site, NV5 announced yesterday. The company provides professional and technical engineering and consulting services, and will, specifically, perform quality control field and laboratory testing and construction materials inspection at Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant, according to […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management on Friday officially announced that it intends to compete Los Alamos National Laboratory’s post-fiscal 2016 nuclear cleanup contract, after Los Alamos National Security’s $309.8 million “bridge” contract expires between October 2016 and October 2017. DOE oversight for LANL cleanup work is shifting from the National Nuclear Security […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/2/2015 Work began this week to demolish the vertical pipe units at Hanford’s high-hazard 618-10 Burial Ground. Remediation of the burial ground and the similar 618-11 Burial Ground have been left for last in Hanford’s river corridor to let workers gain experience with other burial grounds that were expected to be […]