Cleanup & Remediation

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—Savannah River Nuclear Solutions President Carol Johnson said here this week that severing tritium work from the contractor’s Savannah River management and operating contract would be “very detrimental” to the work at the site. When the NNSA consolidated management of the Y-12 and Pantex plants July 1, it […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has easily absorbed recent Congressionally mandated changes to its statute, but outgoing Board Chairman Peter Winokur said this week that he feared that more drastic proposals for the Board would be damaging to the Board’s mission. Led by House Republicans, Congress last […]

Link Technologies Wins EM Support Contract WC Monitor 10/24/2014 Link Technologies has won a five-year contract worth approximately $20 million to provide support to the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. Notably, while Link Technologies is a small business, the contract was competed on an unrestricted basis. Services to be provided under […]

Third Evaluation of Bids Underway Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/24/2014 The Department of Energy’s search for a new support services contractor for the Office of Legacy Management continues to drag on, as DOE asked bidders this week to again extend their proposals’ expiration dates, this time by another six weeks to mid-December. DOE did not […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/24/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—Senior executives from most major Department of Energy cleanup contractors gave a resounding thumbs down here this week to DOE’s new Idaho cleanup contract as currently planned in draft form, and it remains to be seen if, and to what degree, DOE makes changes when it issues a […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/24/2014 Two companies have filed protests with the Government Accountability Office over Navarro Research and Engineering’s win of the new Nevada National Security Site environmental program services contract. The GAO currently expects to resolve the protests, filed by Portage and INTERA, by late January, according to the agency’s website. Navarro and […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/24/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is taking steps to overcome its challenges and become a “healthier” organization, acting Assistant Energy Secretary for EM Mark Whitney said here this week at the Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum. EM “needs to be a healthier organization than it […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 10/24/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has easily absorbed recent Congressionally mandated changes to its statute, but outgoing Board Chairman Peter Winokur said this week that he feared that more drastic proposals for the Board would be damaging to the Board’s mission. Led by House Republicans, Congress last […]

Martin Schneider WC Monitor 10/24/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—The Department of Energy this week sought to clarify the steps it will be taking to mitigate the impact of the current shutdown of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant on sites across the complex, reiterating that DOE will not reclassify transuranic waste as a means to seek alternate […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/24/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—A continued lack of a Senate-confirmed assistant secretary is one of several challenges facing the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) said here this week at the Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum. EM has not had a confirmed assistant secretary since the departure […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/24/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—A mission support-type contract for the Savannah River Site could be one of the options considered as the Department of Energy discusses future contracts at the site, DOE Savannah River Manager David Moody said here this week. “We are talking to our sister sites that have mission support […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 10/24/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—As the Department of Energy wrestles with revamping its contracting approaches, increasing an emphasis on nuclear safety while cutting back on fee, it doesn’t appear likely to continue the approach pursued in Bechtel’s contract for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. The WTP contract sought to incentivize safety culture […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/24/2014 The Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office was unable to determine if a former senior manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant was terminated as an act of retaliation due to a lack of access to information from the main contractors involved on the project, according to a report released […]

Schedules Set in Consent Decree Lawsuit WC Monitor 10/24/2014 The schedule for hearings on amending the Hanford consent decree has been set, with arguments by the state of Washington and the Department of Justice to be heard Feb. 19 in Eastern Washington District U.S. Court in Richland, Wash. If the state of Oregon intervenes in […]

Rep. Hastings Seeking Answers on Hanford’s K Basin Project WC Monitor 10/24/2014 After the Department of Energy missed a Sept. 30 milestone to begin removing sludge out of Hanford’s K-Basin, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) this week asked DOE for a detailed plan on the project. This month, the Environmental Protection Agency denied DOE’s extension request […]

WC Monitor 10/24/2014 IN DOE The Department of Energy plans to issue in the next 15-30 days a draft Request for Proposals for the new Carlsbad technical and administrative support services contract, according to a notice released Oct. 22. The new contract is anticipated to be set aside for small businesses that meet a size […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 The Army Corp of Engineer’s St. Louis District issued a sources sought notice this week seeking contractors for remediation efforts at its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program sites, according to a posting on FedBizOpps. The notice is meant to identify small businesses capable of handling the radioactive waste […]

As the Department of Energy wrestles with revamping its management and operating contracting strategy, increasing an emphasis on nuclear safety while cutting back on fee, it doesn’t appear likely to take a cue from Bechtel’s Waste Treatment Plant contract. The WTP contract sought to incentivize safety culture on the project, but Bruce Held, a senior […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions President Carol Johnson said severing tritium work from the contractor’s Savannah River management and operating contract would be “very detrimental” to the work at the site. When the NNSA consolidated management of the Y-12 and Pantex plants July 1, it retained an option to fold in Savannah River tritium work after […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management needs a confirmed assistant secretary to address challenges facing the cleanup program, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) said yesterday at the Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum. EM has not had a confirmed assistant secretary since the departure of Ines Triay in 2011. Currently the role is being filled […]

With industry executives unhappy with provisions in the draft Request for Proposals for the new Idaho cleanup contract, the Department of Energy is “actively considering” the feedback it has received on the procurement, Jack Surash, deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and project management in DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, said yesterday. Surash, however, declined to […]

The Department of Energy plans to issue in the next 15-30 days a draft Request for Proposals for the new Carlsbad technical and administrative support services contract, according to a notice released yesterday. The new contract is anticipated to be set aside for small businesses that meet a size standard of 500 employees, and is […]

After the Department of Energy missed a Sept. 30 milestone to begin removing sludge out of Hanford’s K-Basin, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) yesterday asked DOE for a detailed plan for the project. This month the Environmental Protection Agency denied DOE’s extension request for the project and said it could begin fining DOE up to $10,000 […]

The Department of Energy’s search for a new support services contractor for the Office of Legacy Management appears set to continue to drag on, as DOE asked bidders yesterday to again extend their proposals’ expiration dates, this time by another six weeks to mid-December. DOE did not respond to requests for comment yesterday as to […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has easily absorbed recent Congressionally mandated changes to its statute, but outgoing Board Chairman Peter Winokur said yesterday that he feared that more drastic proposals for the Board would be damaging to the Board’s mission. Led by House Republicans, Congress directed the DNFSB to run its recommendations by the […]

Senior executives from the teams that have formed to compete for the new Idaho cleanup contract indicated yesterday that their companies won’t bid on the contract as currently planned. During a panel session at this year’s Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum, executives from most major DOE cleanup contractors expressed concern with language in the draft […]

The Army Corp of Engineer’s St. Louis District issued a sources sought notice yesterday seeking contractors for remediation efforts at its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program sites, according to a posting on FedBizOpps. The notice is meant to identify small businesses capable of handling the radioactive waste associated with cleanup at the sites. “The […]

The Department of Energy plans to hold Oct. 28-29 a pre-solicitation conference, site tour and industry one-on-one sessions for the new contract to manage Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed facilities at the Idaho site. The new contract, which is being set aside for small businesses, would cover the Fort St. Vrain facility; the Three Mile Island-2 (TMI-2) […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is taking steps to improve its culture and become a “healthier” organization, DOE acting EM Assistant Secretary Mark Whitney said yesterday at the Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum in Amelia Island, Fla. EM “needs to be a healthier organization than it is right now,” Whitney said. He […]

The Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office was unable to determine if a former senior manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant was terminated as an act of retaliation due to a lack of access to information from the main contractors involved on the project, according to a report released yesterday. The DOE IG had […]