Cleanup & Remediation

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy this week released a final Request for Proposals for a small business contract for infrastructure support services at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. “A firm-fixed-price, labor hour, cost reimbursement, and indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract will be awarded from this Final RFP. The total estimated value of […]

Criticism Goes Back and Forth on Proposals to Modify Consent Decree Staff Reports WC Monitor 12/12/2014 New Hanford milestones the state of Washington has asked a federal judge to approve would require an extra $18 billion by Fiscal Year 2029, jeopardizing other Department of Energy cleanup projects across the nation, according to the federal government. […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2014 With Congressional Nuclear Cleanup Caucus Chairman Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) set to retire next month, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) this week announced that he will be leading the group.  The caucus is comprised of lawmakers with Department of Energy cleanup sites in their districts, and Fleischmann said he is looking […]

URS Changes Top Person at Hanford Waste Treatment Plant WC Monitor 12/12/2014 URS is changing out its top executive at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Mark Lindholm has been named Chief Operating Officer for Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions, effective Jan. 5, 2015, the contractor announced this week. He replaces Wyatt Clark, […]

CSC Ordered to Pay Back Wages to Two Former Hanford Workers WC Monitor 12/12/2014 Computer Sciences Corp. has been ordered to pay back wages to two former Hanford employees that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found were laid off in violation of whistleblower laws. The former contractor at Hanford has been ordered to pay […]

Fluor B&W Portsmouth officials said that the $76.4 million boost in cleanup funds proposed for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant could reduce or halt potentially hundreds of layoffs that could happen next week. The omnibus funding measure for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2015 released earlier this week included $214 million for operations at Portsmouth, […]

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) has dropped his hold on the nomination of Monica Regalbuto to serve as the next Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management. The move could ease Regalbuto’s path to confirmation in the last days of the current Congress by allowing the Senate to approve her nomination through unaminous consent. Barrasso chose […]

Lawmakers unveiled late yesterday an omnibus funding measure for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2015 that would provide a total of approximately $260 million more than what the Obama Administration had requested for the Department of Energy’s cleanup program for this fiscal year. For defense environmental cleanup, which covers most major DOE cleanup sites, the […]

The Department of Energy yesterday released a final request for proposals for infrastructure support services at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant that will be set aside for small businesses. This comes after the release of a draft RFP in early July. “A firm-fixed-price, labor hour, cost reimbursement, and indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract will be awarded […]

URS is changing out its top executive at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Mark Lindholm has been named Chief Operating Officer for Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions, effective Jan. 5, 2015. Lindholm previously held the position of Manager of Commissioning, Readiness and Operations at the Hanford vit plant, and that position will […]

The successful bidder for the Department of Energy’s new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract could face some of the strongest key personnel-related penalties proposed in recent years. DOE is proposing a fee reduction of $1 million for the early departure of a Program Manager ahead of a two-year commitment, according to a new section […]

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) yesterday announced that he will be leading the Congressional Nuclear Cleanup Caucus and is looking to help the group grow. The caucus is comprised of lawmakers with Department of Energy cleanup sites in their districts has been led by Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), who is set to retire from Congress in […]

The U.K.’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is calling for a spending level of £3.31 billion ($5.18 billion) in the 2015/16 fiscal year, according to a draft business plan released yesterday covering cleanup sites across the U.K. from 2015 to 2018. Out of that, £2.09 billion ($3.27 million) will be funded by U.K. government and £1.22 billion […]

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) is scheduled this morning to make a “major announcement” on the future of the Congressional Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, according to a release from Fleischmann’s office. The group of lawmakers with Department of Energy cleanup sites in their districts has been led by Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), but Hastings will retire from […]

The Department of Energy is emphasizing that it self-reported many of the violations at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant after New Mexico announced over the weekend $54 million in fines linked to the noncompliances. When asked to comment about the massive fines levied by the New Mexico Environment Department, a […]

The Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District last week added an additional two weeks to the Request for Proposal for remediation services at its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program site in Luckey, Ohio. The contract for environmental remediation services and ancillary construction to support the cleanup is worth up to $100 million over 10 […]

The Department of Energy is planning to develop a new secretarial determination regarding its uranium transfers to cover cleanup work at Portsmouth and the downblending of highly-enriched uranium, releasing last week a request for information from the public about potential impacts on the uranium markets. The move comes as uranium conversion company ConverDyn has filed […]

After New Mexico Saturday levied more than $54 million in fines against the Department of Energy for violations at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, members of the state’s Congressional delegation have announced support for the fine. The New Mexico Environment Department levied a $17.7 million fine for 13 violations at […]

New Hanford milestones the state of Washington has asked a federal judge to approve would require an extra $18 billion by fiscal year 2029, jeopardizing other Department of Energy cleanup projects across the nation, according to the federal government. “Those funding levels are simply not realistic,” the Department of Justice argued in legal documents filed […]

In apparent response to concern from potential bidders, the Department of Energy is dropping plans to include a cost cap in the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract. The draft Request for Proposals for the new contract had included a provision that would have made contractors responsible for all costs going forward once the […]

Weapons Complex Monitor is set to publish its annual list of Winners and Losers in its Dec. 19 issue, highlighting the good and the bad from 2014. Send your nominations or make your case to Editor-in-Chief Mike Nartker at nartker@exchangemonitor.com.  

Dounreay Agrees to Improvements After Fire and Possible Release Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 Site license company Dounreay Site Restoration Limited has agreed to take steps to improve operations after a fire and potential radiological release at the Scottish cleanup site’s tank farms, the company said last month. The incident occurred on Oct. 7 at […]

Incumbent to Receive Another Extension, To End of March Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The long-running search for a new support services contractor for the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management may now stretch into 2015, with DOE asking bidders this week to again extend their proposals’ expiration dates, this time by another six […]

Company Part of Incumbent CH2M-WG Idaho Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/5/2014 As industry officials await the release of a final request for proposals for the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract, a major shakeup appears to be in the works among the teams that have reportedly formed to go after the job should the […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/5/2014 A survey of employees in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has found that approximately 60 percent are satisfied with their jobs, but less are satisfied with the organization as a whole, according to information EM recently provided to WC Monitor. The results of the 2014 Federal Employee […]

Fines Connected to Both WIPP Incident and Los Alamos Cleanup Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The New Mexico Environment Department is planning in the next 10 days to take enforcement actions against the Department of Energy that could include about $35 million in fines related to cleanup issues at Los Alamos National Laboratory, with a […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The Senate moved forward late this week with approving a handful of pending Department of Energy nominations, but the White House’s choice to serve as the next head of the Office of Environmental Management still appears to remain in confirmation limbo. Franklin Orr was confirmed to serve as the new […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The Department of Energy this week officially released the details of plans for the 18-to-24-month period for the transition of management of legacy cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Office of Environmental Management from the National Nuclear Security Administration. As previously reported by WC Monitor, DOE plans […]

Mike Nartker and Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board would see a cut of approximately 15 percent in the maximum number of employees it can have under the final version of the Fiscal Year 2015 defense authorization bill unveiled this week. The bill would limit the DNFSB to 130 employees, […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 A strategy plan for dealing with mercury contamination at Oak Ridge has been completed by the Department of Energy and regulators, and DOE is moving forward with design work for a new treatment plant in hope of stating of construction in 2017, according to acting DOE Oak Ridge EM Manager […]