Cleanup & Remediation

White House Issues Veto Threat Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/1/2015 In the face of a veto threat from the White House, House lawmakers late this week approved the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which funds the Department of Energy’s cleanup efforts. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) was unsuccessful in an attempt to amend […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/1/2015 The ongoing suspension of work at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s Pretreatment Facility appears to be taking a toll on the project’s various suppliers of components and materials, which pose “significant risks” to the entire project, according to an internal report by WTP contractor Bechtel National made public this week. […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/1/2015 After months in the dispute resolution process, South Carolina, the Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have reached an agreement extending by eight months the closure date for a Savannah River Site high-level waste tank. Under the agreement, the parties agreed to prepare Tank 12H for grouting […]

Schedule Recovery Expected Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/1/2015 While remote-handled transuranic waste processing at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site ran into  delays late last year, including a worker contamination incident and a system blockage, site officials still hope to complete processing of the waste on schedule by the end of 2015. The contamination incident […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/1/2015 The Department of Energy issued late last week its implementation plan for last year’s Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recommendation calling for strengthened emergency preparedness and response capabilities. The DNFSB recommendation was prompted in part by DOE’s response to the 2014 truck fire and radioactive material release at the Waste […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/1/2015 The Department of Energy this week exercised a two-year option in Savannah River Remediation, LLC’s contract to provide liquid waste services at the Savannah River Site, keeping the contractor in place from July 1 through June 30, 2017. The extension, which is valued at $797 million, comes as AECOM-led SRR […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/1/2015 The House Armed Services Committee voted 60-2 late this week to approve its version of the Fiscal Year 2016 defense authorization bill, which sets authorized funding levels for defense environmental cleanup sites. During a lengthy markup hearing on the bill April 29, lawmakers rejected an amendment proposed by Rep. John […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/1/2015 The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has appointed as its new director former president of Duke Energy South Carolina Catherine Heigel, currently the General Counsel for accounting firm Elliot Davis Decosimo, LLC. Before taking the post, Heigel must be cleared by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) […]

More Sentences Come Down in Hanford Time Card Fraud Case WC Monitor 5/1/2015 Four more defendants were sentenced on felony charges related to timecard fraud at Hanford late this week, receiving fines of up to $165,744 but no incarceration. All were paid hourly wages as radiological control technicians for CH2M Hill Hanford Group, the former […]

DOE Exercises UCOR Contract Options Worth Approx. $104 Million WC Monitor 5/1/2015 The Department of Energy this week exercised a set of options worth $104 million in URS-CH2M Oak Ridge’s (UCOR) cleanup contract at Oak Ridge. The options cover work including D&D activities at a number of facilities at the East Tennessee Technology Park, such […]

WC Monitor 5/1/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY Sellafield Limited has won eight awards in this year’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Occupational Health and Safety Awards, the Sellafield site license company announced this week. The five gold and three silver awards will be presented in a June ceremony. “It makes me very proud […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/1/2015 Navajo Nation President Ben Shell called on the prompt completion of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license amendment that would enable the cleanup of the Church Rock uranium mine site near Gallup, N.M. to begin, according to a statement released late last week. The NRC staff issued last week in […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/1/2015 US Ecology reported a $5.9 million net income for the first quarter of 2015, down from its $9.4 million net income from the first quarter of 2014, but within the company’s expectations, US Ecology said this week. The company experienced an exceptionally strong first quarter of 2014, so a […]

Industry Takes Issue With DOE Revisions to Market Report Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 5/1/2015 Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is calling for more transparency and oversight by the Department of Energy on uranium transfers to the metal commodities firm Traxys that are used to fund cleanup work at the Portsmouth site after the recent appointment of […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 The Department of Energy issued late last week its implementation plan for last year’s Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recommendation calling for strengthened emergency preparedness and response capabilities. The DNFSB recommendation was prompted in part by DOE’s response to the 2014 truck fire and radioactive material release at the Waste […]

In an effort to increase Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board oversight following the 2014 incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, yesterday in Carlsbad, N.M., the Board approved a proposal that would increase DNFSB staff reviews at several Department of Energy sites. The Board does not have on-site representatives at the WIPP, Idaho, Nevada, Lawrence […]

The Department of Energy has awarded liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation a $797 million two-year extension from this July 1 through June 30, 2017, the full option period under its contract, DOE announced yesterday. The extension comes as SRR makes progress on its mission to empty, close and grout high-level waste tanks at the […]

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is calling for more transparency and oversight from the Department of Energy on uranium transfers to the metal commodities firm Traxys that are used to fund Portsmouth cleanup work. Traxys recently appointed former Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman to its Board, which Barrasso called “deeply troubling” in an April 23 letter […]

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is calling for the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office to launch an investigation into what he has alleged are “questionable procurement practices” at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Yesterday, Wyden publicly released a report prepared by WTP contractor Bechtel National warning of the potential cost impacts of the 56 active […]

Navajo Nation President Ben Shell called on the prompt completion of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license amendment that would enable the cleanup of the Church Rock uranium mine site, according to a statement released late last week. The NRC Staff issued last week in the Federal Register a finding of no significant impact for amendments […]

The House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Defense Authorization bill would reject the Department of Energy’s request for a contribution to a federal fund used to help cover cleanup costs at the Paducah, Portsmouth and Oak Ridge sites, according to additional details about the bill released yesterday. The bill would not authorize any of […]

House lawmakers are expected to advance work on two key bills that impact the Department of Energy’s cleanup program and the National Nuclear Security Administration this week. The House Armed Services Committee will mark up the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Room 2118 of the Rayburn House […]

With debate about the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility being built at the Savannah River Site heating up, CB&I AREVA MOX Services President David Del Vecchio urged employees to remain focused and promised that the facility would be built in a message Friday obtained by NS&D Monitor. “I have faith that the MOX Project will […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will hold a hearing April 29 in Carlsbad, N.M., on last year’s incidents at WIPP. Operations at WIPP have been shut down since a Feb. 5, 2014, truck fire and the Feb. 14 radiological release, impacting waste programs across the Department of Energy complex. In the all-day meeting, the […]

Bechtel National Earns ‘Good’ Ratings for WTP Work in Second Half of 2014 WC Monitor 4/24/2015 Bechtel National received ratings of “good” for its work at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in the second half of 2014, according to an award fee scorecard the Department of Energy issued late last week. The scorecard provides a more […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/24/2015 Review and design work for a long-term storage facility for elemental mercury would move ahead with $1.3 million in funding included in the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water spending bill that cleared the Appropriations Committee this week.  In September 2013, DOE released a final Environmental […]

Two Workers ‘Splashed’ With Dangerous Chemical Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/24/2015 Operations at the Portsmouth depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion plant remain suspended in the wake of an accident that occurred at the plant late last month, and it remains unclear when work will resume. The accident involved two workers being exposed to potassium hydroxide […]

Bill Proposes Less Funding for ORP, But Would Boost Richland Funding Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/24/2015 House appropriators may be putting at risk the Department of Energy’s current goal to begin processing liquid radioactive waste at Hanford by the end of 2022 with their version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/24/2015 Most Department of Energy cleanup sites, including Portsmouth and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, would see funding increases in the Fiscal Year 2016 House Energy and Water Appropriations bill when compared to DOE’s budget request, according to legislation that cleared the full committee this week. In order to support recovery […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/24/2015 House lawmakers are asking the Department of Energy for a plan to transfer excess facilities held by the National Nuclear Security Administration to the Office of Environmental Management for cleanup. Both House authorizers and appropriators have asked for reports from DOE for moving NNSA buildings to the cleanup program. The […]