Cleanup & Remediation

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/24/2015 House lawmakers are pushing for all of the members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board to have a greater say in senior staffing decisions. Language in the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, reported out of subcommittee this week, would require the DNFSB Chairman […]

Sellafield Workers Vote to Back Strike Action   Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/24/2015 More than 1,000 Sellafield workers may strike after workers represented by the Unite union late last week voted to back industrial action. At issue is the Sellafield Contractor Group’s “refusal to allow a full time union shop steward and a more proactive […]

Pencil Tanks Gone from PFP WC Monitor 4/24/2015 CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. workers have removed all the highly contaminated pencil tanks from the Plutonium Finishing Plant, a key step toward having the plant torn down to slab on grade in 2016. “This was really a significant achievement,” said Mike Swartz, vice president in charge […]

UCOR Moving Forward K-31, K-27 Demolition Efforts WC Monitor 4/24/2015 URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) has made significant progress in demolishing the K-31 Building and expects to complete the job – including the removal of the big building’s concrete pad – by November, several months ahead of schedule. More and more of the Department of Energy […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 4/24/2015 House lawmakers are pushing for all of the members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board to have a greater say in senior staffing decisions. Language in the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, reported out of subcommittee this week, would require the DNFSB Chairman […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D 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 […]

Former OST Supervisor Indicted on Fraud Charges NS&D Monitor 4/24/2015 A former program manager at the Department of Energy’s Office of Secure Transportation’s Oak Ridge command has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly falsifying travel vouchers and making other fraudulent claims for financial compensation. The indictment was unsealed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville […]

House authorizers are asking the Department of Energy to develop a plan to transfer excess facilities held by the National Nuclear Security Administration to the Office of Environmental Management for cleanup, according to the subcommittee version of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act released yesterday. Under the bill, DOE would be required to […]

Legislation could be on the table to cap the Department of Energy’s uranium transfers if DOE does not limit the transfers on its own, Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said yesterday at a House Oversight Interior Subcommittee hearing yesterday’s on DOE’s uranium management program. DOE uses the transfers to help fund cleanup activities at Portsmouth and […]

Most Department of Energy cleanup sites including Richland, 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 report language the House Appropriations Committee released yesterday. At Richland, DOE had proposed a $93 million cut […]

House appropriators are not supporting the Department of Energy’s request for funding next year for modifications at the Hanford tank farms to accelerate an effort to begin waste processing at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s Low Activity Waste (LAW) Facility ahead of other portions of the plant. The House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 […]

The funding picture for the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy’s cleanup program will get a lot clearer this week when House appropriators and authorizers mark up the Fiscal Year 2016 House Energy and Water Appropriations Act and the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. The House Appropriations Committee will mark up […]

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 detailed look at how DOE assessed BNI’s work during the second half of last year, for […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/17/2015 A coalition of 22 representatives from advocacy groups sent a letter to the Department of Energy this week calling for a nuclear nonproliferation impact assessment on a new processing method at the Savannah River Site proposed for German spent fuel. The 900 kilograms of U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium comes in […]

At Least Two Bidders Going After Job Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/17/2015 With a little less than a month to go before bids are due for the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract, it appears that the Department of Energy will see some competition for the job. At least two bidders are believed to […]

House Appropriators Also Move to Increase Hanford Budget Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/17/2015 As House Appropriators this week moved to boost funds for the Portsmouth site, Department of Energy Portsmouth Paducah Project Office Manager Bill Murphie emphasized the need for a stable funding level at Portsmouth. Cleanup funding at Portsmouth has been impacted by both […]

Board Vice Chair Roberson, Though, Says Judgement May be ‘Premature’ Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/17/2015 Members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board appear to be divided over whether or not the Department of Energy is making improvements in improving the safety culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant and across the DOE complex. In […]

Former Hanford Supervisor Sentenced in Time Card Fraud Case WC Monitor 4/17/2015 A former Hanford supervisor was sentenced this week to 30 days incarceration, three months of home detention and a fine of $34,146 after pleading guilty to timecard fraud. Daniel Niebuhr was the first defendant to be sentenced in Hanford cases related to timecard […]

Advisory Panel Calls for Conservative Approach for Central Area Cleanup WC Monitor 4/17/2015 The Hanford Advisory Board is recommending that the Department of Energy take a conservative approach as it prepares to make plans to clean up the innermost 10 square miles of Hanford. Unlike much of the rest of the 586 square miles of […]

Los Alamos Issues Sources Sought for Chromium Injection Wells WC Monitor 4/17/2015 Los Alamos National Laboratory is seeking companies able to drill and install six groundwater wells as part of a pump-and-treat system to address the Lab’s chromium groundwater plume, according to a sources sought notice posted this week. The subcontract award is expected to […]

DOE Submits Revised Draft Study for New Landfill WC Monitor 4/17/2015 The Department of Energy’s Environmental Management team in Oak Ridge has submitted a revised draft of the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) for a proposed new CERCLA landfill. The new landfill will be called the Environmental Management Disposal Facility and replace the current facility – […]

H Canyon Spent Fuel Campaign Moves Into Next Phase WC Monitor 4/17/2015 A long-term spent fuel downblending campaign at H-Canyon has moved into the next phase, resuming processing operations in portions of the canyon that had lain dormant for years, the Savannah River Site announced this week. In September, the site’s managing contractor, Savannah River […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/17/2015 Two of the companies partially responsible for paying for the cleanup at the Shallow Land Disposal Area in Armstrong County, Pa., are questioning how the Army Corps of Engineers listed remedial alternatives in its proposed Record of Decision Amendment. The Corps issued a proposed ROD for the site earlier […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/17/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration won’t make a decision this year on adding the management of Savannah River tritium operations to Consolidated Nuclear Security’s Y-12/Pantex management and operating contract, NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz told employees at the Savannah River Site this week. In an April 16 visit to the site, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/17/2015 Perma-Fix Northwest said this week it would no longer pursue adding an evaporation system to its Richland facility. Perma-Fix had initially planned to add the water treatment system to its Richland facility in response to the Department of Energy’s interest in using the technology for contaminated water from the […]

Hall Named Head of DOE Oak Ridge Office NS&D Monitor 4/17/2015 Kevin Hall, who came to Oak Ridge in 2013 following a series of management positions at the Savannah River Site Office, has been named manager of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office. In addition to overseeing management of DOE’s 33,500-acre Oak Ridge reservation, […]

NS&D Monitor 4/17/2015 IN THE DNFSB The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board would be funded at $29.9 million next year under the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, reported out of subcommittee this week. The bill would provide approximately $1.4 million more than the Board’s current funding level, and […]

Funding for environment cleanup work at the Hanford and Portsmouth sites could be boosted above the Department of Energy’s request under the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which underwent a subcommittee markup yesterday. While detailed site-level funding in the bill has not been released yet, subcommittee Chair Mike […]

Kevin Hall, who came to Oak Ridge in 2013 following a series of management positions at the Savannah River Site Office, has been named manager of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office. In addition to overseeing management of DOE’s 33,500-acre Oak Ridge reservation, Hall will also oversee the Oak Ridge Integrated Support Center, which […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is seeking companies able to drill and install six groundwater wells as part of a pump-and-treat system to address the Lab’s chromium groundwater plume, according to a sources sought notice posted yesterday. The subcontract award is expected to be in place by Aug. 30, with readiness activities in September and the […]