Cleanup & Remediation

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/20/2015 With the Department of Energy facing cleanup-related fines in numerous states, some state officials are balking at the Office of Environmental Management’s position that any penalties will come out of cleanup dollars. Notably, New Mexico recently levied $54 million in fines against DOE and has warned of potentially $100 million […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/20/2015 Gearing up for the upcoming procurement for a new contract for legacy cleanup work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Department of Energy plans to hold an industry day March 3 in Pojoaque, N.M. DOE announced last fall plans to shift management of the legacy cleanup work at LANL […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The long-drawn-out search for a new support services contractor for the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management hit a new roadblock this week, with DOE now facing two challenges to its latest award decision. Portage and a team led by Wastren Advantage each filed a protest with the Government […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The highest level CH2M Hill Hanford Group official accused of aiding timecard fraud calls the civil fine he agreed to in exchange for having criminal charges dropped extortion. More than 20 months after Ryan Dodd, a former vice president for CH2M Hill, was charged with 34 felony counts, the Department […]

About 1,300 Sellafield Workers Walk Off Job Twice This Week Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/20/2015 About 1,300 workers at the U.K.’s Sellafield Site walked off the site twice this week as part of a labor dispute, site license company Sellafield Limited confirmed. The workers first left the site on Feb. 16 only to return two […]

DOE, Wash. State Argue in Court Over Proposed Consent Decree Changes WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The state of Washington would inappropriately expand the Hanford consent decree beyond what the parties signed onto in 2010, including adding new double-shell tanks, the Department of Justice argued in Eastern Washington District U.S. Court late this week. “We have a […]

K-25 Museum Won’t Include Original Equipment WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Environmental Management office has confirmed that the upcoming displays planned as part of a K-25 historical park and museum will not include any of the original uranium-processing equipment as part of the exhibit. According to Mike Koentop, the executive officer […]

WC Monitor 2/20/2015 IN THE DNFSB The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is seeking a funding level of approximately $29.2 million for next year, an increase of approximately $650,000 from current funding levels, according to the Board’s recently released FY 2016 budget request. The Board’s request includes an additional $1.76 million to hire additional employees […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/20/2015 While Japan and the Tokyo Electric Power Company have made “significant progress” in cleanup of the Fukushima-Daiichi Power Station, a preliminary report this week on the cleanup by the International Atomic Energy Agency warns that the most intensive work still remains ahead. Since the last IAEA review of the […]

An International Atomic Energy Agency review of the cleanup at the Fukushima-Daiichi Power Station praised Japan and the Tokyo Electric Power Company for making “significant progress” at the site, but cautioned more intensive work still remains, the preliminary report said yesterday. Since the last IAEA review of the cleanup in 2013, TEPCO has made significant […]

The Department of Energy is facing at least one challenge to its latest effort to award the new support services contract for the Office of Legacy Management. A team led by Wastren Advantage Inc. has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office over DOE’s move to award the contract to Navarro Research and Engineering. […]

The Department of Energy’s contractor National Security Technologies issued a sources sought notice for a subcontract to drill boreholes at the Nevada National Security Site late last week. DOE has recently begun to look at borehole disposal as an alternative disposal path for some DOE-managed high-level waste. This contract would call for the constriction of […]

The New Mexico State Senate Friday unanimously reconfirmed state Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn in a 36-0 vote. Flynn has served in the position since April 2013 and has gained attention in recent months after imposing more than $50 million in penalties against the Department of Energy for violations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management contract management will remain on the Government Accountability Office’s High-Risk List for another two years, the government watchdog agency announced this week. GAO unveiled its list two years after it partially removed the agencies from its […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 The New Mexico Environment Department this week warned that it plans to levy additional penalties of more than $100 million against the Department of Energy due to violations at Los Alamos National Laboratory if DOE does not accept accountability for past violations and work with the state on recent compliance […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/13/2015 With the competitive landscape for the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract still in flux, the Department of Energy appears likely to push back the release of a final Request for Proposals for the new contract as it continues to work to address industry concerns that may ultimately lead […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/13/2015 A draft Request for Proposals for a new cleanup contract for the Los Alamos National Laboratory could be issued in the next several months, acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Mark Whitney said late this week. The new contract is intended to cover work currently performed by the lab’s […]

Talks Extended Another Month  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 In a step forward in resolving discussions between South Carolina, the Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Savannah River tank closure milestones, the parties have agreed to a 27-day extension on one tank and will continue discussions one more month. The issue […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 2/13/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management contract management will remain on the Government Accountability Office’s High-Risk List for another two years, the government watchdog agency announced this week. GAO unveiled its list two years after it partially removed the agencies from its […]

Delays Could Impact Start of D-Basin Project Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 After Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the managing contractor at the Savannah River Site, has worked to improve its Earned Value Management System certification since it was revoked in 2013, the contractor says it has corrected the issues and is ready for a follow-up […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 Savannah River Remediation, the liquid waste contractor for the Savannah River Site, earned 95 percent of its available award and incentive fee in Fiscal Year 2014, according to a fee determination scorecard the Department of Energy released this week. SRR earned $26.8 million in incentive fee and award fee out […]

Economic Benefits of Sellafield Change Can’t be Quantified, NDA Says Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 Though last month the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority decided to terminate the current contract to run the Sellafield site, the NDA has said that the economic benefits for the move cannot be quantified, according to documents the agency released this […]

WRPS Issues Plan to Protect Workers From Tank Vapors WC Monitor 2/13/2015 A new plan to better protect workers from chemical vapors from Hanford tanks will be implemented in two phases, with the first phase completing 30 of 47 recommendations made in an independent review of issues. Those steps should be completed by September 2016. […]

Senator Presses DOE Sec. on Hanford Timelines, Budget WC Monitor 2/13/2015 Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-wash.) pressed Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz late this week to provide a timeline for cleaning up two highly contaminated sites at Hanford given a proposed cut to the Richland Operations Office budget for next year. Moniz defended the FY 2016 budget […]

Work on Leaking Reactor Pool to Begin In May WC Monitor 2/13/2015 Cleanup actions at an old and leaking reactor pool at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are expected to begin in May, the Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC, said this week. UCOR is evaluating bids for the work package, which would […]

WC Monitor 2/13/2015 IN CONGRESS Former Naval Reactors Government Affairs director Adam DeMella is joining the majority staff of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, WC Monitor has learned. DeMella headed up Naval Reactor’s government affairs shop from 2001 until December. DeMella will assume most of the portfolio of former Senate Majority Clerk Tom […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/13/2015 The Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program’s (FUSRAP) annual funding level should return to annual funding levels over $150 million in Fiscal Year 2016, six Democratic Senators said in a letter last week to leadership in the Senate Appropriations committee. Each year between FY 1998 […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management contract management will remain on the Government Accountability Office’s High-Risk List for another two years, the government watchdog agency announced yesterday. GAO unveiled its list two years after it partially removed the agencies from its infamous rolls in what appeared to […]

Washington River Protection Solutions released a two-phase plan Tuesday to better protect Hanford workers from chemical vapors from tank waste. By the end of the first phase in September 2016, 30 of 47 recommendations made in an independent review of issues, the Hanford Tank Vapor Assessment Report, should be completed. The proposed strategies should reduce […]

Responding to the potential $100 million in additional fines from New Mexico, the Department of Energy yesterday emphasized its commitment to addressing the issues raised by the state. New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn yesterday said he is working on a new compliance order that tops $100 million linked to recent violations at Los […]