Cleanup & Remediation

South Carolina announced Friday it would drop its lawsuit against the Department of Energy after DOE last week said it would continue construction work on the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility through the end of the fiscal year, according to reports. South Carolina filed suit against DOE in March soon after the Department announced plans […]

After four workers at Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant received radioactive doses from a sealed strontium 90 source in October, the Department of Energy and contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company have identified several noncompliances, according to a DOE enforcement letter released this week. While no occupational dose limits were exceeded, “significant worker extremity doses” were […]

Transportation, Operations and Professional Services (TOPS), which was raided by federal law enforcement agents earlier this year, has sold the waste transportation subcontract it had with URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC (UCOR). UCOR spokesman Allen Schubert confirmed yesterday that Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based TFE Inc. had acquired the subcontract. “This acquisition includes all TOPS assets and personnel […]

The Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office is looking to combine its two cleanup contracts starting in Fiscal Year 2016, but plans to break out some D&D work for small businesses, DOE Idaho cleanup program Manager Jim Cooper said yesterday. “We do recognize that our work is shrinking out there, our footprint is shrinking. So […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration this week backed off a plan to stop construction on the MOX project in Fiscal Year 2014, but Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) continued to press NNSA officials to abandon a plan to put the project in cold standby in FY 2015. “Putting this in cold standby should be an affront […]

A long-awaited report by a Department of Energy task force examining alternatives to the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility concluded that downblending surplus plutonium and disposing of it at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant was determined to be the least expensive option by billions of dollars. The Plutonium Disposition Working group formed last June after DOE […]

Though it first planned to suspend the project starting in March, after receiving strong opposition from lawmakers and the state of South Carolina the Department of Energy yesterday committed to continuing construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility through the end of Fiscal Year 2014. DOE said in its FY 2015 budget request last […]

Bechtel Corp. has assigned its corporate head of quality to take over leadership of quality, engineering, procurement and other key functions at Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant. A new position was created for Michael Costas, and he will report directly to Peggy McCullough, project director of the plant. He will supervise construction, plant startup and safeguards […]

After more than two dozen Hanford tank farm workers this spring needed medical attention for exposure to chemical vapors, Savannah River National Laboratory will lead a panel review of hazardous vapor management and worker protection measures for contractor Washington River Protection Solutions. SRNL will establish the panel and manage communications with WRPS, and has promised […]

Leo Sain is stepping down as President and Project Manager of Oak Ridge cleanup contractor URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC, to take a corporate position with URS. URS spokesman Keith Wood confirmed late last week that Sain will be “moving into a corporate position with URS Global Management & Operations Services with responsibility for the UCOR […]

Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) sent a letter yesterday to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, and the Army Corps of Engineers imploring the government bodies to finalize the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would allow the remediation of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) in Armstrong County, Pa. to continue.  Casey has been […]

Washington state yesterday officially triggered a 40-day formal dispute resolution process with the Department of Energy in an attempt to reach an agreement on a proposal to modify the 2010 consent decree that governs the cleanup of Hanford’s tank waste. The move came after DOE and Washington state each rejected a proposal the other put […]

Hanford Communities, a coalition of Hanford-area local governments, called on Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee this week to drop the state’s demand that eight more waste storage tanks be built at Hanford. The project would unnecessarily divert money from a plan to start treating Hanford’s waste as soon as possible, Hanford Communities said in a […]

URS has come under criticism for an alleged lack of cooperation in an investigation now underway into the recent termination of a nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Weapons Complex Monitor has learned that the Department of Energy Office of fInspector General recently expressed concern over URS’ level of cooperation to DOE […]

The Department of Energy is seeking small businesses able to perform probabilistic performance assessments and apply decision analysis tools to D&D work at the West Valley Demonstration Project, posting a sources sought notice yesterday. The contract would start by Jan 1, 2015 and would be under a joint effort between DOE and New York State […]

After delays last year due to conduct of operations issues, the Department of Energy has pushed its readiness assessment into May for a new mission at Savannah River’s HB-Line to produce plutonium oxide for feedstock for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, WC Monitor has learned. The readiness assessment had been set to occur this […]

The Department of Energy rejected Washington state’s proposal to amend Hanford’s court-enforced consent decree soon after the state announced it was rejecting DOE’s proposal Friday. DOE said it remains committed to continuing to work with the state to develop an amendment acceptable to both agencies. But the state could take the next legal step outlined […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and Security this week noted several issues as a result of its investigation into a shoulder injury last year to a Savannah River Remediation worker. The injury occurred in March, 2013, at the Defense Waste Processing Facility during replacement of an 81-pound check valve and resulted in […]

The House Cleanup Caucus yesterday announced the schedule for this year’s set of briefings on specific Department of Energy cleanup sites. The schedule includes: Idaho National Laboratory on April 30 at 4 p.m. in Room 1334 of the Longworth House Office Building; Hanford’s Richland Operations Office on May 1 at 8:30 a.m. in Room 1324 […]

The Department of Energy is seeking industry comment as to whether an employee benefits test should be added to the planned Request for Proposals for the new contract to perform analysis and testing services at Hanford’s 222-S Laboratory. According to a notice issued yesterday, DOE is considering adding a requirement to the RFP to have […]

Three months after federal law enforcement agents raided the office of a subcontractor to URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC (UCOR), the purpose of the raid remains unclear. On Jan. 16, agents with the FBI and the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office removed records from the office of Transportation, Operations and Professional Services, Inc., which performs […]

South Carolina yesterday filed a motion for summary judgement in its challenge to the Department of Energy’s planned suspension of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. The state filed suit last month in the U.S. District Court for South Carolina soon after the Department’s announcement that it planned to immediately put the facility into “cold […]

The Department of Energy has extended from April 16 to April 28 its due date for responses from firms interested in providing architect and engineering services for design of the Sludge Processing Facility Buildouts Project at the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center. Questions about the procurement should be submitted no later than April 14. […]

The Department of Energy’s $93 million cut to cleanup programs at the Richland Operations Office in the Fiscal Year 2015 budget request puts at least four cleanup milestones at risk, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said yesterday. Murray noted that Richland received the largest cut out of the EM budget. “Several high-risk projects close to the […]

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) both attacked the Department of Energy’s plans to suspend the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at a budget hearing yesterday with Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. “My point is that this committee told you to build the MOX program. We didn’t tell you to study some other […]

Department of Energy cleanup chief David Huizenga said yesterday that DOE hopes to begin shipments of a controversial portion of the uranium-233 inventory stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the Nevada National Security Site “later this year.”  DOE has been making “steady progress” in discussions with Nevada officials on the Department’s plans to send […]

With sharp questioning and conflicting reports about the $30 billion lifecycle cost estimate for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, National Nuclear Security Administration chief Bruce Held yesterday referred inquiries to an unreleased plutonium disposition alternatives assessment that could come out next week. The study launched last spring and led by Department of Energy Senior […]

South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control is asking for the Department of Energy to make a waste status determination before additional plutonium is sent to the site. Last month the Obama Administration announced plans for the U.S. to receive plutonium from Japan and European countries, and that is expected to go to the […]

AREVA is challenging the $30 billion lifecycle cost officials have cited for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, stating that the actual cost would be half that, according to reports. The Fiscal Year 2015 budget request cited the $30 billion figure, which was again used by Department of Energy officials in Congressional testimony last week. […]

Some potential bidders on the new contract to provide architect and engineering services for design of the Sludge Processing Facility Buildouts Project at the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center appear to be concerned that incumbent Wastren Advantage may have an unfair advantage, according to a set of questions-and-answers the Department of Energy released late […]