Cleanup & Remediation

AT SAVANNAH RIVER On Thursday afternoon, S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s Nuclear Advisory Council played host to U.S. Energy Department official Pete Hanlon, the assistant deputy administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Material Management and Minimization, according to the Aiken Standard. Hanlon spoke about a recent study that priced the nation’s plutonium disposition […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 7/10/2015 The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have come to an agreement on the Record of Decision for the planned Portsmouth on-site disposal cell, the two agencies announced this week. The ROD paves the way for the disposal of more than two million cubic yards of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 7/10/2015 The Government Accountability Office released this week its protest denial decision in the Department of Energy’s most recent decision to award the support services contract for the Office of Legacy Management to Navarro Research and Engineering. Portage and a team of Wastren Advantage-Stoller had each filed challenges over DOE’s […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 7/10/2015 The Department of Energy estimates it will cost about $292 million to complete the demolition of K-27 – the last of five gaseous diffusion plants still standing at the Oak Ridge site that once was the world’s largest uranium-enrichment complex. Ben Williams, a spokesman for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 7/10/2015 Improvements have been made in the safety culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant project, according to a follow up assessment conducted by the Department of Energy’s independent Office of Enterprise Assessments. Staff and management on the project said “things are better and going in a good direction,” although there […]

WC Monitor 7/10/2015 DOE Extends Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility Management Contract Washington Closure Hanford has awarded a two-year contract extension for the daily operation of the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility in central Hanford. The joint venture team of Stoller Newport News Nuclear and Wastren Advantage will continue to operate ERDF through September 2017. “Based on […]

WC Monitor 7/10/2015 A special exposure cohort that would cover some Hanford workers as recently as 1990 has been finalized under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Program. Previous special exposure cohorts cover most Hanford workers from Oct. 1, 1943, through 1983. The new special exposure cohort will ease compensation rules for the workers of construction […]

WC Monitor 7/10/2015 DOE Announces Paducah Cleanup Milestone The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) successfully completed further demolition of at least 32 inactive uranium enrichment sites associated with the Feed Plant and buildings complex of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP). Demolition included removal of 2,600 panels of cement asbestos siding and […]

WC Monitor 7/10/2015 SRNL Selected to Lead National Analytical Management Program The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has assumed leadership of the National Analytical Management Program (NAMP) and will serve as head of the Department of Energy’s Environmental Response Laboratory Network Coordination Office. The office will act as a central point of contact for organizations […]

WC Monitor 7/10/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY AREVA plans to sell off its subsidiary Canberra as part of its restructuring plan, the company announced this week. AREVA suffered heavy losses last year, and in an attempt to right the ship, the company plans to refocus on nuclear fuel cycle activities, which would leave Canberra as disposable. […]

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has assumed leadership of the National Analytical Management Program (NAMP) and will serve as head of the Department of Energy’s Environmental Response Laboratory Network Coordination Office. The office will act as a central point of contact for organizations looking to access highly-specialized analytical abilities in case of a large-scale […]

The Government Accountability Office released yesterday its protest denial decision in the Department of Energy’s most recent decision to award the support services contract for the Office of Legacy Management to Navarro Research and Engineering. Portage and a team of Wastren Advantage-Stoller had each filed challenges over DOE’s decision in late January to name Navarro […]

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have come to an agreement on the Record of Decision for the planned Portsmouth on-site disposal cell, the two agencies announced yesterday. The ROD paves the way for the disposal of more than two million cubic yards of waste that would be generated from the […]

Advanced Technologies and Laboratories has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office after not winning a contract to continue performing work at Hanford’s 222-S Laboratory. The contract, valued at $44.6 million, was awarded in late May to Wastren Advantage. It includes a two-year base period with options for three additional one-year periods. ATL has […]

The German waste that the Department of Energy proposed sending to the Savannah River Site’s H-Canyon facility “is not of a proliferation concern” where it currently resides in Germany, according to a DOE internal memo from Aug. 1, 2013, obtained by Savannah River Site Watch under the Freedom of Information Act. The 900 kilograms of […]

AREVA announced yesterday the successful delivery of its new generation of robots to the French Atomic Energy Commission. The robot, named RIANA (Robot for Investigations and Assessments of Nuclear Areas) has the ability to operate in radioactive areas to map, take samples or to measure radioactivity, the company said. It features 3D and thermal cameras […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) successfully completed further demolition of at least 32 inactive uranium enrichment sites associated with the Feed Plant and buildings complex of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP). Demolition included removal of 2,600 panels of cement asbestos siding and 9,000 feet of pipe. The siding panels are […]

The Department of Energy and its cleanup manager in Oak Ridge, UCOR, staged another milestone Friday with the final demolition of the former K-31 uranium-enrichment facility, and officials – during sideline interviews at the ceremony – confirmed that DOE had exercised the option that extends the UCOR management contract until mid-2020.“It demonstrates our confidence in […]

Washington Closure Hanford has awarded the team of Stoller Newport News Nuclear and Wastren Advantage a two-year contract extension to continue daily operation of the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility in central Hanford. The team was awarded the initial contract in early 2013 with a pair of two-year options. The option award announced Friday will bring […]

Lance Moore WC Monitor 6/26/2015 Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) denounced the Department of Energy for its recent attempt to delay cleanup of tank waste at the Hanford site by an additional year to 2022. Washington filed a motion late last week to strike further proposed delays by the DOE in the consent […]

The following interview with Ken Rueter, president and project manager of Oak Ridge cleanup contractor UCOR, was conducted by Weapons Complex Monitor Senior Editor Kenneth Fletcher on June 17. It came just before this week UCOR wrapped up demolition of the K-31 former gaseous diffusion plant, a milestone in the cleanup of the East Tennessee […]

Lance Moore WC Monitor 6/26/2015 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted a request for information (RFI) on behalf of the Office of Environmental Management (EM) to aid in the acquisition of qualified contract support services. These support services will ultimately serve to provide Assistance Developing Policy and Guidance on Regulatory Compliance and Assistance […]

WC Monitor 6/26/2015 The transition of contractors at the Department of Energy’s Transuranic Waste Processing Center is scheduled to take place by September, according to a DOE spokeswoman. As reported earlier, DOE awarded the management contract, valued up to $123.9M, to North Wind Solutions LLC. Lynette Chafin of DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said […]

IN THE INDUSTRY Roger Petrie, a mainstay in the state of Tennessee’s oversight of Department of Energy cleanup programs for many years, has taken a job with UCOR — DOE’s cleanup manager in Oak Ridge. Petrie served as the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s project manager for the Federal Facility Agreement in Oak Ridge. […]

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson leveled criticism on Monday at the Department of Energy for its recent attempt to delay the cleanup of tank waste at the Hanford site. Washington filed a motion late last week to strike further proposed delays by the DOE in the consent decree, which establishes the cleanup milestones at […]

Nominee Grilled on EM Issues at Senate Hearing Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/19/2015 Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) plans to block a Senate vote on the nomination of Monica Regulbuto to be the next Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Assistant Secretary, he said at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to consider […]

Alissa Tabirian WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration have agreed to perform a joint review requested by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board on safety issues at DOE nuclear facilities, according to a letter sent to the DNFSB last week by NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz. The DNFSB proposed in […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The Department of Energy this week awarded the contract for infrastructure support services at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant to incumbent Swift & Staley. The largely firm-fixed-price contract has a three month base period with a 22-month option period. The follow-on contract was set-aside for small businesses, with a size […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 6/19/2015 Studsvik and AECOM have separated their partnership in the THOR Treatment Technologies joint venture, the company announced this week. The two companies had worked together for 13 years, but Studsvik President Howard Stevens said it believes the technology and the company can stand on its own. “There are several […]

Hanford Advisory Board Concerned About Future Budgets for Richland WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The Hanford Advisory Board is concerned that the Department of Energy is planning to significantly underfund Hanford cleanup in budgets currently under development, the Board said in advice to DOE and Hanford regulators. The board acknowledged that after years of budgets that failed […]