Cleanup & Remediation

Federal Judge Edward Shea plans to start the first trial for defendants accused of Hanford timecard fraud next month, but which of the defendants will be tried first remains unknown. Shea said in Eastern Washington Federal District court Tuesday that he would decide after a Sept. 8 hearing which defendants will go to trial later […]

Pump and treat systems at Hanford have removed more than 680 pounds of hexavalent chromium from groundwater near the Columbia River so far this fiscal year. The Department of Energy’s goal was to remove about 550 pounds by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, an objective that DOE and CH2M Hill Plateau […]

Eight more buildings at Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant are gone as workers make way for the eventual teardown of the production portion of the plant. “As we prepare to demolish the facility, we’re ensuring that there is enough space around the main buildings to bring in heavy equipment and stage demolition debris,” said Mike Swartz, […]

Department of Energy Idaho Site cleanup contractor CH2M-WG Idaho has wrapped up work cleaning out a seventh radioactive and hazardous waste exhumation area, the contractor said late last week. CWI said it is currently exhuming and removing targeted buried waste in an eighth area, and has removed radioactive and hazardous waste from 3.31 acres out […]

Savannah River Site liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation has kicked off a year-long project aimed at improving SRR salt disposition efforts and ready the site for the Salt Waste Processing Facility. SRR said it began installing a new process vessel ventilation system earlier this month, utilizing a facility that contains salt solution receipt tanks […]

DOE Proposes Natural Attenuation for Some Groundwater Contamination WC Monitor 8/1/2014 The Department of Energy is proposing leaving some groundwater contamination near the Columbia River at F Reactor to naturally attenuate over 35-to-150 years. The plan is not sitting well with some agencies, though, including the Hanford Advisory Board. “This is the first reactor area […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 8/1/2014 Work at the Moab uranium mill tailings remediation project is almost halfway complete, the Department of Energy said this week. The project involves the removal of a total of approximately 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings from a former uranium-ore processing facility near Moab, Utah, on the west bank […]

Court Agrees CHPRC Improperly Solicited Babcock Services Employees Mike Nartker WC Monitor 8/1/2014 Babcock Services has scored a win in its legal battle with Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co., though the company’s lawsuit has yet to be fully resolved. Last week, a Washington state judge granted Babcock Services’ motion for partial summary […]

As is our annual practice, Weapons Complex Monitor is taking a summer publication break and will not publish for the next two weeks. The next regular issue will be on your desk Aug. 22. Subscribers to the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing service will receive editions twice-a-week on a Tuesday/Thursday basis during the break. In addition, […]

SRNS to Assess Emergency Management Program After Drill WC Monitor 8/1/2014 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the managing contractor for the Savannah River Site, is conducting an assessment of its emergency management program after issues were identified in this year’s annual emergency preparedness exercise. Out of six objectives for the exercise, two were graded as “not […]

WC Monitor 8/1/2014 Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board Member Joseph Bader passed away this week at the age of 75. Bader had served on the DNFSB since 2004, and previously held executive and senior management positions at several companies, including Hill International, Inc., Fluor Daniel, Inc., Urenco, Inc., Exxon Nuclear and Westinghouse Electric Corporation. In […]

WC Monitor 8/1/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY ARS Aleut Remediation, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of ARS International, LLC, has received certification to participate in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, the company announced this week. The certification will allow AAR to purse contracting opportunities set-aside for 8(a) firms. “AAR looks forward to the opportunity to […]

As is our annual practice, RadWaste Monitor is taking a summer publication break and will not publish for the next two weeks. The next regular issue will be on your desk Aug. 22. Subscribers to the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing service will receive editions twice-a-week on a Tuesday/Thursday basis during the break. In addition, we […]

RW Monitor 8/1/2014 IN THE NRC Maureen Wylie has taken over as Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chief Financial Officer’s after being selected by NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane to fill the position previously held by James Dyer, who retired from the NRC in May. Wylie assumed her position early this week after spending 10 years at the […]

The Moab uranium mill tailings remediation project in Utah is almost halfway complete, the Department of Energy said yesterday. To date, approximately 7 million tons of material have been shipped from the Moab site to a nearby disposal cell. “We’re nearly 45 percent complete in relocating the 16-million-ton uranium mill tailings pile away from the […]

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz and a handful of lawmakers will visit the Savannah River Site later today where they will tour the controversial Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility among other facilities, but it’s unclear whether any announcement about the MOX project’s future is planned. Moniz and Klotz will […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/25/2014 Senate appropriators want to reverse the Obama Administration’s proposed funding cut for Hanford in Fiscal Year 2015, according to additional details released this week of the Senate version of the FY 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. Work managed by the DOE Richland Operations Office at Hanford came in for […]

Sen. Graham, Gov. Haley also Expected to Join Tour of Site Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 7/25/2014 Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz will make a trip to the Savannah River Site on July 28, touring the site’s H Tank Farm and H-Canyon facility among other projects at the site. […]

Nuclear Management Partners Names New Chair Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/25/2014 Senior URS executive Tom Bishop has been named the new Chair of Nuclear Management Partners, the parent body organization for Sellafield Ltd. Bishop, who manages URS’ European operations, replaces Tom Zarges, who served as NMP Chair for the first five years of its contract […]

CHPRC Seeking Companies to Perform Construction Support Services WC Monitor 7/25/2014 CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. is seeking companies to perform “safety significant” construction support services. Late this week, CHPRC issued a Request for Proposals for a planned set of multiple basic ordering agreements to facilitate the award of “NQA-1/Safety Significant services” to be performed […]

DOE Completes Sludge Drum Treatment Campaign WC Monitor 7/25/2014 The Department of Energy and its two main cleanup contractors at the Idaho site have wrapped up a project to prepare thousands of drums of sludge waste for eventual disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The project, which began in November 2012, addressed 6,000 drums […]

DOE Says 700,000 Pounds of Mercury Released at Y-12 WC Monitor 7/25/2014 The Department of Energy has released new mercury numbers that give some additional insight into the size and scope of mercury cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The amount of mercury released during the Cold War lithium operations at Y-12 has been […]

WC Monitor 7/25/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Washington Closure Hanford has named Kliss McNeal as its new Director of the Environmental, Safety, Health & Quality, and Closure Manager. She replaces Bruce Covert, who has accepted an offer to serve as the URS lead manager with Dounreay Site Restoration in the United Kingdom, according to Washington Closure. […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 7/25/2014 Members of Missouri’s Congressional delegation are concerned with the unclear timeline of the construction of an isolation barrier at the West Lake Landfill near St. Louis, according to a letter they sent to the Environmental Protection Agency late last week. The EPA plans to construct an isolation barrier to […]

RW Monitor 7/25/2014 IN THE NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission Staff have issued a finding of no significant impact for an environmental assessment of exemptions requested by Southern California Edison that would allow access to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s Decommissioning Trust Fund. SCE wants to be able to use funds from the trust to […]

Sen. Graham, Gov. Haley also Expected to Join Tour of Site Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz will make a trip to the Savannah River Site on Monday, touring the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility among other projects at the site. Moniz and Klotz […]

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz will make a trip to the Savannah River Site on Monday, touring the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility among other projects at the site. Moniz and Klotz will be accompanied by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has fought the Obama Administration’s decision to […]

Washington Closure Hanford has named Kliss McNeal as its new Director of the Environmental, Safety, Health & Quality, and Closure Manager. She replaces Bruce Covert, who has accepted an offer to serve as the URS lead manager with Dounreay Site Restoration in the United Kingdom, according to Washington Closure. McNeal last served as Executive Director […]

Members of Missouri’s U.S. congressional delegation are concerned with the unclear timeline of the construction of an isolation barrier at the West Lake Landfill near St. Louis, according to a letter they sent to the Environmental Protection Agency late last week. The West Lake Landfill cleanup project has taken on an added sense of urgency […]

The Department of Energy and its two main cleanup contractors at the Idaho site have wrapped up a project to prepare thousands of drums of sludge waste for eventual disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The project addressed 6,000 drums that contained a total of approximately 1,200 cubic meters of waste that had been […]