Cleanup & Remediation

The Washington Department of Ecology Nuclear Waste Program’s promoted Eddie Holbrook to be its new permanent deputy program manager, an agency spokesperson said Wednesday. Holbrook, acting in the No. 2 nuclear role for the state agency since February, introduced himself to the Hanford Advisory Board during a meeting Wednesday. “Holbrook has eight years of experience […]

A federal district judge in Washington state agreed last month to grant a motion by the Hanford Guards Union directing the Department of Energy’s landlord contractor at the Hanford Site to engage in arbitration. U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian in Eastern Washington ruled Oct. 17 that Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions be compelled to arbitrate […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Advisory Board meets this Wednesday in Pasco, Wash., to discuss progress on the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant and other cleanup issues at the former plutonium production complex. In addition to a presentation from DOE’s Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance, the advisory board will also hear from managers with the […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Dennis Carr, chief operating officer at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, told the Monitor here last week that the team’s parent company Fluor would compete for a follow-on management contract at Savannah River. In late September, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) published a special notice with a draft request for proposal (RFP) […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Orano-USA has started the property transfer and licensing process for its planned uranium enrichment plant at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site, the site’s top federal cleanup official said here Wednesday. Orano-USA announced in September that Oak Ridge was its “preferred site” for its uranium enrichment plant that it would build using state […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Orano-USA has started the property transfer and licensing process for its planned uranium enrichment plant at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site, the site’s top federal cleanup official said here Wednesday. Orano-USA announced in September that Oak Ridge was its “preferred site” for its uranium enrichment plant that it would build […]

Vehicle mishaps at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory complex continue to worry the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to a staff report dated Oct.4 and posted on the board’s website. There were four onsite wrecks during September, including one involving an overturned dump truck, although no one was injured, according to the […]

The Department of Energy’s cleanup office has resumed its efforts to control a longstanding hexavalent chromium plume at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, local managers said last week. Partial resumption of what DOE calls its “interim measure” started Sept. 30 with up to to 3 injection wells and 3 extraction wells, Jessica […]

Vehicle mishaps at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory complex continue to worry the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to a staff report dated Oct.4 and posted on the board’s website. There were four onsite wrecks during September, including one involving an overturned dump truck, although no one was injured, according to the […]

The Department of Energy Thursday awarded a potential $3-billion, 10-year cleanup contract to a BWX Technologies-led partnership for work at the West Valley Demonstration Program in western New York state. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said in a press release the award goes to West Valley Cleanup Alliance, a newly-formed joint venture consisting of partners […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Orano-USA has started the property transfer and licensing process for its planned uranium enrichment plant at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site, the site’s top federal cleanup official said here Wednesday. Orano-USA announced in September that Oak Ridge was its “preferred site” for its uranium enrichment plant that it would build […]

The Department of Energy’s cleanup office has resumed its efforts to control a longstanding hexavalent chromium plume at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, local managers said last week. Partial resumption of what DOE calls its “interim measure” started Sept. 30 with up to to 3 injection wells and 3 extraction wells, Jessica […]

A documentary film, the “Half-life of Memory — the hidden legacy of Rocky Flats, America’s Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory,” opens in Denver soon. As part of the Denver Film Festival, the film by Jeff Gipe whose father worked at the plant, has showings set between Nov. 2 and Nov. 8 at the Sie Film Center, […]

Vehicle mishaps at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory complex continue to worry the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to a staff report dated Oct.4 and posted on the board’s website. There were four onsite wrecks during September, including one involving an overturned dump truck, although no one was injured, according to the […]

State and federal agencies plan a public meeting this week to discuss cleanup plans for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. A cleanup strategy favored by DOE and the other agencies would cost more than $70 million and involve complete removal of the prototype intended to eliminate long-term environmental […]

Ty Blackford, the president and project manager of the Department of Energy’s Amentum-led cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory, told an advisory board Wednesday that he is leaving. At a meeting of the Idaho Cleanup Project’s Citizens Advisory Board, Blackford said this would be his last time meeting with the panel. “I will be […]

The Department of Energy said this week the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project in Moab, Utah has successfully moved away from the Colorado River a total of 15 million tons of tailings. This time last year, a total of 14 million tons had been moved.  Contractor North Wind Portage still has about 1 million […]

A Department of Energy advisory board Wednesday endorsed DOE’s preferred cleanup plan for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The DOE Idaho Cleanup Project Citizens Advisory Board endorsed the $70-million cleanup option in a public meeting.  The public comment period on remediation of the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric […]

A U.S. District Court judge in Washington state this week accepted a guilty plea from the owner/operator of a small contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site and scheduled sentencing for March.  The U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington state asked a federal district judge to accept a plea agreement from a subcontractor at the […]

Ty Blackford, the president and project manager of the Department of Energy’s Amentum-led cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory, told an advisory board Wednesday that he is leaving. At a meeting of the Idaho Cleanup Project’s Citizens Advisory Board, Blackford said this would be his last time meeting with the panel. “I will be […]

The U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington state asked a federal district judge to accept a plea agreement from a subcontractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site accused of fraud in connection with a COVID-19 relief program. In an Oct. 15 legal filing, U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref asked that U.S. District Judge Stanley  Bastian accept […]

As of Monday afternoon, there were still some power outages in the 200 West Area of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site Washington state, according to an online update from the agency. “Power has been restored to the Federal Building in Richland,” according to a post by Hanford’s landlord contractor, Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions […]

State and federal agencies plan a public meeting this week to discuss cleanup plans for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The public comment period on remediation of the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric Prototype Facility and its defueled reactor vessel at the Idaho National Laboratory started Oct. 15 […]

Jeff Allison’s retirement from his deputy manager position at Savannah River Field Office was announced Tuesday at the South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council meeting. A spokesperson from the Savannah River Field Office told the Monitor that Allison will retire at the end of the calendar year. Allison has served as the deputy manager since January […]

The Department of Energy is teaming up with Leidos and the Conductive Group to develop a plant at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio to recycle radiologically surface-contaminated nickel, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), said in a press release this week. DOE previously sought expressions of interest for parties interested in developing such a facility at the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions appointed James Dawkins as chief operations officer and executive vice president, according to Dawkins’ LinkedIn profile Saturday. In Dawkins’ new dual role, he will oversee the management and operations of National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) related programs at Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., according […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday told a BWX Technologies-led team to proceed with the takeover of the Hanford Site’s liquid waste cleanup mission under a $45 billion contract. The 120-day transition from Amentum-led incumbent Washington River Protection Solutions will begin Oct. 21, more than a year after DOE first awarded the Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition […]

Jeff Allison’s retirement from his deputy manager position at Savannah River Field Office was announced Tuesday at the South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council meeting. A spokesperson from the Savannah River Field Office told the Monitor that Allison will retire at the end of the calendar year. Allison has served as the deputy manager since January […]

The Savannah River Site is hitting its self-imposed milestone to complete 60% of the design of the site’s plutonium pit facility, construction on which could start by December 2025, the head of the site’s prime contractor said Tuesday in a public meeting. “You’re talking somewhere between August and December of ‘25 is where I see […]

Although a BWX Technologies-led team was told to start a 120-day transition to become the new liquid waste contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, the losing bidder for the work is not abandoning its legal fight. U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank Horn is weighing a motion for […]