Cleanup & Remediation

Kurion and AREVA announced yesterday a joint partnership to provide decommissioning and remediation services that focus on serving the Department of Energy cleanup complex. The companies said that the initial emphasis of the alliance will center on cleanup and closure work at the Hanford site in Washington, but they indicated that it could expand to […]

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) initiated the final phase of the Maxey Flats Disposal Site cleanup project yesterday in a symbolic ceremony meant to kick off the construction of a $35.2 million permanent protective cap over the site. Maxey Flats previously served as a disposal site for the nation’s low-level radioactive waste, but due to poor […]

Portsmouth cleanup contractor Fluor B&W Portsmouth, LLC, is placing a renewed priorty on deactivation of the X-326 facility after pushing to project’s completion date from Match 2016 to June 2017. The contractor yesterday instituted an organizational change for X-326 work that includes a dedicated project team to focus on accelerated deactivation and schedule recovery of […]

Saltstone Operations Shut Down After Elevated Mercury Levels Found WC Monitor 5/29/2015 Operations at Savannah River’s Saltstone facilities remain shut down after the site’s liquid waste contractor, Savannah River Remediation, found elevated mercury levels in tank waste salt streams. Saltstone receives lower activity waste from Savannah River’s tank farms, mixing it with grout and disposing […]

FBP Undergoes Safety ‘Stand-Down’ After String of Incidents WC Monitor 5/29/2015 After a series of minor recordable safety incidents this month at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, the site undertook a “safety stand-down” this week to review and focus on safety tenets. The May 28 stand down came when, after two months without a recordable […]

The following exit interview with Department of Energy Savannah River Operations Office Manager Dave Moody, who is retiring this week after nearly five years as site manager, was conducted May 27 by ExchangeMonitor Senior Editor Kenneth Fletcher. WC Monitor 5/29/2015 What would you like to be seen as Savannah River’s major achievements during your five-year […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/29/2015 Wastren Advantage won late this week the Department of Energy’s new $44.6 million contract for operation of Hanford’s 222-S Laboratory. The small business set-aside contract received four bids, and includes a two-year base period and three one-year option periods that would cover an estimated 15,000 to 25,000 laboratory analyses each […]

Company Alleges FE&C Was Unable to Perform Work Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/29/2015 Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. (CHPRC) had a strong response this week to a subcontractor that has filed a lawsuit seeking damages for work on the K West Basin Annex construction project, accusing Federal Engineers and Constructors (FE&C) of […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/29/2015 Members of Ohio’s Congressional delegation are asking the Department of Energy how it plans to avoid layoffs at the Portsmouth site in 2016 given planned funding levels and cuts in the uranium transfers used to help pay for cleanup at the site. DOE recently announced plans to reduce the uranium […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 5/29/2015 Washington Closure Hanford has received a one-year extension to its contract for the River Corridor Cleanup project at Hanford, stretching it through September 2016, the Department of Energy announced this week. The final year of the extended contract would focus mostly on two challenging projects, cleanup of the trenches at […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/29/2015 The Department of Energy has taken steps to improve controls and accountability of nuclear materials at the Portsmouth site after a DOE Office of Inspector General inspection found weaknesses there, according to an IG report released this week. The site uses the Portsmouth Materials Accountability System to track the location […]

DOE, EPA Agree to Extend K Basin Sludge Cleanup Milestones WC Monitor 5/29/2015 The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency have reached an agreement to extend Tri-Party Agreement milestones for getting sludge out of the K West Basin near the Columbia River. The agreement brings to an end a fine that had been […]

WC Monitor 5/29/2015 IN CONGRESS The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a hearing for June 16 to again consider the nomination of Monica Regalbuto to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management. The White House earlier this year nominated Regalbuto for a second time to head up the Department of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/29/2015 Studsvik AB has acquired patents and other intellectual property and equipment for a freezing technology that can be used in remediation projects, the company announced this week. The technology comes from FriGeo AB, a partner that Studsvik has been working with to apply the technology across radioactive waste platforms. […]

The Department of Energy is discussing an alternative approach with regulators for Savannah River Site tank closure that would involve emptying an entire tank farm before grouting begins, DOE Savannah River Operations Office Manager David Moody said yesterday in an exit interview with WC Monitor. The current agreement with regulators has milestone dates for closing […]

The Department of Energy has taken steps to improve controls and accountability of nuclear materials at the Portsmouth site after a DOE Office of Inspector General report found weaknesses there, according to an IG report released yesterday. The site uses the Portsmouth Materials Accountability System to track to location and makeup of nuclear material, but […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a hearing for June 16 to again consider the nomination of Monica Regalbuto to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management. The White House earlier this year nominated Regalbuto for a second time to head up the Department of Energy’s cleanup program; she was […]

Studsvik AB has acquired patents and other intellectual property and equipment for a freezing technology that can be used in remediation projects, the company announced yesterday. The technology comes from FriGeo AB, a partner that Studsvik has been working with to apply the technology. “Studsvik and FriGeo have been working together for several years to […]

Members of Ohio’s Congressional delegation asked the Department of Energy how it plans to avoid layoffs at the Portsmouth site in 2016 given planned funding levels and cuts in the uranium transfers used to help pay for cleanup at the site. The Department recently released a new Secretarial Determination governing those transfers, cutting them from […]

AREVA Wins Subcontract to Help Address Leaking ORNL Reactor Pool WC Monitor 5/22/2015 AREVA has received a $2.8 million subcontract from URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) to support efforts to resolve a leaking reactor pool at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and retrieve and dispose of highly radioactive components stored in the pool at the old research […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/22/2015 Cleanup funding for the Department of Energy’s Richland Operations Office at Hanford as well as Oak Ridge would see the biggest increases from DOE’s FY 2016 budget request in the Senate version of the FY 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill that cleared the full committee this week. Overall, DOE’s […]

Final Hanford Time Card Fraud Defendant to Pay $7,500 Fine WC Monitor 5/22/2015 The final defendant in a multiyear investigation of timecard fraud at Hanford was sentenced in Eastern Washington District U.S. Court to pay a fine of $7,500. Like most of the other defendants in the related cases, Glenda Davis will not serve jail […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/22/2015 Senate appropriators this week matched the Department of Energy’s proposed funding cut for D&D activities at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant next year, raising concerns of major layoffs at the site. The Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, reported out of committee, would provide […]

‘Critical’ to Resolve ‘Bark’ Issue Before Waste Processing Can Begin Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/22/2015 While several technical issues remain to be fully resolved, at least one of which has been dubbed “critical,” the Department of Energy is now looking to begin waste processing at the Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit this fall, according to […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/22/2015 AECOM is now projecting completion of physical work at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) D&D project by the end of next year—ahead of the Department of Energy’s previously stated schedule for the project. “Safe progress continues at the SPRU project,” AECOM spokesman Keith Wood said in a written response […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/22/2015 Contractors at the Savannah River Site are making progress in reducing significant corrective maintenance backlogs that have raised concerns in recent years. M&O contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions reached a 40 percent reduction in its corrective maintenance backlog over the last year, while liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation reduced […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/22/2015 The Department of Energy will look to ramp up funding starting in fiscal year 2016 for developing new technologies to address cleanup challenges, according to DOE’s recently released response to recommendations by a Secretary of Energy Advisory Board task force. Advances in science and technology will be key to successfully […]

WC Monitor 5/22/2015 IN DOE Erik Olds has been named Chief of Staff of the Department of Energy’s Richland Operations Office, effective June 1. He last served as acting Chief of Staff for the DOE Office of Environmental Management, and previously served as Chief of Staff of the DOE Office of River Protection. Candice Trummell […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/22/2015 Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden will not sign off on the Department of Energy sending more spent nuclear fuel to the Idaho National Laboratory for research until DOE begins processing the remaining liquid waste at the site, a Wasden spokesman said this week. Controversy erupted earlier this year when […]

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden will not sign off on the Department of Energy sending more spent nuclear fuel to the Idaho National Laboratory for research until DOE begins processing the liquid waste as outlined under the 1995 Settlement Agreement, a Wasden spokesman said yesterday. Controversy erupted earlier this year when DOE sought a waiver […]