Cleanup & Remediation

Commissioning Costs for Idaho Facility Double Previous Estimates Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/16/2015 While the planned facility for addressing the remaining liquid waste at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site is anticipated to be in full operation before the end of this year, it won’t be until at least 2016 before treatment of the waste […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/16/2015 After the U.K. government’s decision this week to terminate Nuclear Management Partners’ contract to manage Sellafield, the site will now seek a “strategic partner” in industry for a long-term agreement to aid cleanup work. Under the new plan announced this week, ownership of site license company Sellafield Ltd. will revert […]

Martin Schneider WC Monitor 1/16/2015 SALT LAKE CITY—With comments on the draft Request for Proposals for the new Idaho Cleanup Project Core contract due this week,  DOE Office of Environmental Management Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Project Management Jack Surash pushed back in remarks here against continuing concern from bidders about the terms and […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/16/2015 The Department of Energy is pushing back against a total of $54.3 million in fines New Mexico has levied for violations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, denying many of the alleged violations and calling the penalties “grossly disproportionate” in official responses filed late […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/16/2015 With no resolution yet in its dispute with the Department of Energy over Savannah River tank waste milestones, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control this week asked to elevate the issue to the Dispute Resolution Committee. “We acknowledge that the discussions between representatives of the Department of […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/16/2015 The South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control has tapped Eleanor Kitzman, a former state official in South Carolina and in Texas, to serve as the next director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control following the resignation of Catherine Templeton that took effect Jan. 12. […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/16/2015 Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), the freshman lawmaker now representing Hanford, this week was named Vice-Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology’s Energy Subcommittee. The subcommittee covers federal R&D programs, including Department of Energy laboratories. “I am honored by this exciting opportunity to serve as Vice-Chairman of the […]

Idaho will only accept into the state spent nuclear fuel needed for Department of Energy research studies should the Department resolve its 1995 Settlement Agreement noncompliance issues with the state, according to a Jan. 9 letter from Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter (R). Idaho environmental regulators last week penalized DOE for its failure to empty […]

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control yesterday requested that its dispute with the Department of Energy over tank waste milestones be elevated to the Dispute Resolution Committee. “We acknowledge that the discussions between representatives of the Department of Energy, SCDHEC and the Environmental Protection Agency have been constructive and that there has […]

The South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control has appointed Eleanor Kitzman to be the next director of the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control, following the resignation of Catherine Templeton that took effect Monday. The appointment must now be approved by the governor and is subject to advice and consent of the […]

Newly elected Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), whose district covers the Hanford site, plans to urge more transparency and accountability from the Department of Energy, the lawmaker said in an op-ed published yesterday. Newhouse took over this month after the retirement of longtime Rep. Doc Hastings. “I also intend to push for transparency and accountability from […]

In response to recent financial challenges, CH2M Hill is asking employee shareholders to approve a proposal that would allow the company to seek minority investment from outside investors. Last week, CH2M Hill issued a preliminary proxy statement outlining proposals the company said would “provide … greater flexibility in raising additional capital and are intended to […]

The Department of Energy reportedly does not plan to contest fines levied by Idaho regulators for delays in processing the remaining liquid waste at the Idaho site. Last week, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality began penalizing DOE a total of $3,600 per day for failing to empty three tanks at the Idaho site of […]

The Department of Energy is fighting back against $54.3 million in fines from New Mexico for violations at Los Alamos and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, filing official responses Friday denying many of the alleged violations and calling the penalties “grossly disproportionate.” The New Mexico Environment Department assessed the fines early last month for violations […]

Former URS executive Richard Wolfe has joined Fluor Government Group as a vice president for business development. Most recently, Wolfe was based in Charlotte as a vice president for business development focusing on commercial nuclear business for URS.

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/9/2015 For the six-month period marking the second half of Fiscal Year 2014, Oak Ridge cleanup contractor URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC, earned $3.67 million in award fee out of a total of $3.83 million available, about 96 percent. That is on par for UCOR’s fee in the first half of FY’14, […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/9/2015 As the Department of Energy gets ready to release the final Request for Proposals for the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract, it appears that—at most—two teams are set to compete for the job, WC Monitor has learned. Fluor has assembled a team and has been actively preparing to […]

Still Unclear When Treatment Facility Will Begin Processing Material Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/9/2015 Idaho environmental regulators have begun penalizing the Department of Energy thousands of dollars per day for failing to empty underground tanks at the Idaho site of liquid radioactive waste, and it remains uncertain when the facility intended to process the waste […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/9/2015 South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Director Catherine Templeton, known for fighting missed milestones by the Department of Energy at the Savannah River Site, announced this week that she will resign effective Jan. 12. Templeton was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to the Secretary of […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/9/2015 The Department of Energy and the state of Nevada have formalized a working group process that began after controversy over proposed shipments of uranium-233 to the Nevada National Security Site for disposal, and is including a focus on issues including waste acceptance criteria and low-level waste classification, Nevada Department of […]

Charges Dismissed Against Final Defendant in Time Card Fraud Case WC Monitor 1/9/2015 Criminal charges related to Hanford timecard fraud were dismissed Dec. 29 against the final defendant who had pleaded not guilty. The federal government reached a civil settlement with Patrick Brannan, the base operations radiological control manager for former Hanford tank farms contractor […]

DOE to Replace Ventilation System at WESF as Part of Shutdown WC Monitor 1/9/2015 The Department of Energy is making plans to replace the hot cell ventilation system at Hanford’s Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility, a necessary step to shut down the building. Earlier this year, DOE’s Office of Inspector General said that 1,936 capsules […]

New TRU Milestones In The Works WC Monitor 1/9/2015 The state of Tennessee is on the verge of approving a set of extended milestones for processing and disposing of the Department of Energy’s transuranic waste in Oak Ridge because of the inability to ship the material to the troubled Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New […]

2013 Data Falsification Incident Costs FBP Approx. $50,000 WC Monitor 1/9/2015 An incident in 2013 where workers at the Portsmouth D&D project were found to have falsified records has ended up costing contractor Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, approximately $50,000 so far, according to information recently obtained by WC Monitor. Last summer, DOE determined that $46,538.03 in […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/9/2015 The Army Corps of Engineers is projecting a significant increase in the cost to complete the cleanup of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) site in Armstrong County, Pa., according to information released this week. The Corps’ new estimate puts the final cost of cleaning up the SLDA site […]

Security Contractor Earns About 90 Percent of Available FY 14 Award Fee WC Monitor 1/9/2014 Savannah River Site security contractor, Centerra Group, earned about 90 percent of its available award fee for Fiscal Year 2014, according to a scorecard released by the Department of Energy late last month. Centerra, which was known as G4S-Government Solutions, […]

WC Monitor 1/9/2015 An article in the Dec. 19, 2014, edition of WC Monitor incorrectly stated that the Reduction-Oxidation Plant at Hanford was the last processing plant built at the Hanford site. The REDOX plant was the fourth of five canyons built at the site and the last canyon built at the Central Plateau’s 200 […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/9/2015 The Army Corps of Engineers’ Kansas City District awarded to 10 companies this week an unrestricted Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Multiple Award Task Order Contract for remediation services. The contract, which has a ceiling of $185 million, will support work across Corps projects such as remediation work for the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/9/2015 New York Senator Charles Schumer (D) this week called on the Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) to release the remediation plan for the Tonawanda Landfill while promising to push for more federal funding for the cleanup program. The Corps has said it would […]

SRS Security Contractor Earns About 90 Percent of Available FY 14 Award Fee NS&D Monitor 1/9/2014 Savannah River Site security contractor, Centerra Group, earned about 90 percent of its available award fee for Fiscal Year 2014, according to a scorecard released by the Department of Energy late last month. Centerra, which was known as G4S-Government […]