Cleanup & Remediation

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is looking to revise its “vision” and “mission statement.” The potential changes appear to have an eye toward emphasizing the reuse of facilities and land where cleanup has been completed, along with active remediation efforts, according to a survey circulated among EM employees last week. While EM’s […]

After being in the works for approximately a year, the Department of Energy yesterday finalized the reorganization of the Oak Ridge Operations Office. The new structure entails the heads of the three main program operations at Oak Ridge—the Office of Science, the Office of Nuclear Energy and the Office of Science—reporting directly to their DOE […]

The Department of Energy is gearing up to move forward with the planned recompete of the Portsmouth environmental technical services contract, with a draft Request for Proposals set to be issued in about a week, according to a notice released yesterday. The new contract will be set-aside for small businesses, with a size standard of […]

Poor performance appears set to cost Savannah River Nuclear Solutions all of the fee it has earned to date for the Waste Solidification Building project at the Savannah River Site. In a lengthy and sharply written June 12 letter, obtained by NW&M Monitor, the National Nuclear Security Administration accused Fluor-led SRNS of being “negligent” in […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions is pushing back against criticism from the National Nuclear Security Administration that the Fluor-led contractor has been “negligent” in its management of the Waste Solidification Building project at the Savannah River Site. On June 12, as reported yesterday, the NNSA sent SRNS a strongly worded letter outlining a number of concerns […]

The Department of Energy yesterday announced the release of the draft Request for Proposals for the new Portsmouth environmental technical services contract, though the actual document had not been posted online as of press time. The new contract is projected to be a cost-plus-award-fee-type that is set to run for up to eight years, consisting […]

Seven small, disadvantaged businesses have won contracts to provide technical support services to the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, the EM Consolidated Business Center announced yesterday. The winners include Trinity Engineering Associates; TerranearPMC; Aspen Resources Limited; DLE Technical Services; Boston Government Services; JG Management Systems; and North Wind Solutions. The new Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite […]

The United Steelworkers union has fired the latest salvo in its growing war of words with the Department of Energy over labor issues at the Portsmouth D&D project. Earlier this month, USW International President Leo Gerard sent a letter to Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman reiterating the union’s stance on the need for improved benefits […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions is considering establishing a machine and fabrication facility near the Savannah River Site. The site management-and-operations contractor released an Expression of Interest yesterday seeking a vendor interested in developing the facility, and states that a potential site is located next to SRS at the South Carolina Advance Technology Park. “Savannah River […]

Department of Energy security contractor WSI earned an “outstanding” rating and $2.497 million for its work managing protective force activities at the Savannah River Site during the first half of Fiscal Year 2012, according to recently released details of the contractor’s performance evaluation. The performance was the best in recent years for WSI-SRS as it […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has quietly eliminated its Chief Scientist position, with Mary Neu set to return to Los Alamos National Laboratory where she was previously a senior lab official, WC Monitor has learned. While EM has not officially announced the move, the Chief Scientist position was eliminated without explanation from […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is seeking a new federal project director for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility under construction at the Savannah River Site in the face of the upcoming retirement of current project chief Clay Ramsey in late August. The NNSA has posted a job opening announcement seeking candidates to manage the […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions has submitted a response to the National Nuclear Security Administration over the agency’s concerns with how the Waste Solidification Building project at Savannah River is being managed, but is so far keeping quiet on the details. “In reference to the NNSA Letter on SRNS Performance on the Waste Solidification Building Project, […]

On Tuesday, WC Monitor will interview DOE Senior Advisor for Environmental Management David Huizenga to mark his one-year anniversary of heading up the Department’s cleanup program. Got a question for EM-1? Send it along to morningbriefing@exchangemonitor.com. Also this week:  The Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration are holding a regional small business summit […]

The House Armed Services Committee is moving to extend key milestone deadlines related to the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility that would result in massive fines against the National Nuclear Security Administration if not met. The committee included language to extend MOX-related milestones by two years in its version of the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense […]

Paul Seidler has been named the new Director of the Office of External Affairs in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. In the political position, Seidler replaces Shari Davenport, who left EM earlier this year to take a career federal post in DOE’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. According to an EM […]

A coalition of state environmental officials is urging the Department of Energy to finalize a plan for the long-term storage of U.S. stocks of elemental mercury. In a letter sent yesterday to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, the “Quicksilver Caucus” called on DOE to seek sufficient funds in Fiscal Year 2013 and subsequent years to […]

URS yesterday issued one of the most detailed reports to date of the company’s financial situation at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) D&D project, where active D&D work has been largely stalled since a set of contaminated incidents occurred in the fall of 2010. According to URS’ latest earnings report, through March 31, 2012, the […]

Norm Sandlin has been named the new Vice President for Business and Deputy Project Manager for Idaho Treatment Group, LLC, the managing contractor at the Idaho Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project. In the business manager role, Sandlin replaces Scott Raish, who abruptly left Babcock & Wilcox, the lead company in ITG, in April. Prior to […]

As the Senate Armed Services Committee is set to mark up the fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act starting Wednesday, nine senators from states with cleanup sites are reminding committee leadership of the importance of defense environmental cleanup. The senators are requesting that the authorization bill meet the administration’s request of almost $5.5 billion for […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is scheduled to hear from senior Department of Energy officials today on DOE’s efforts to improve the safety culture at various sites. Among those scheduled to testify is Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman, Chief Health, Safety and Security Officer Glenn Podonsky and Senior Advisor for Environmental Management David […]

Washington Closure Hanford is gearing up to recompete a subcontract for the operation of Hanford’s Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF) landfill, with a pre-qualification questionnaire set to be available “on or before” June 12, according to a notice posted yesterday. The planned subcontract is currently anticipated to be set aside for small businesses, and is […]

Only six months after B&W-led Idaho Treatment Group took over operation of the Idaho Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project, the Department of Energy sent the contractor a letter yesterday warning of performance concerns that could result in ITG failing to meet the terms of its contract. To date, ITG has shipped only 1,400 cubic meters […]

The Department of Energy late last week cited Paducah cleanup contractor LATA Environmental Services of Kentucky for violations of DOE worker safety and health and nuclear safety regulations. The violations were tied to two incidents that occurred last year—a March 9, 2011, heat stress event during which an employee lost consciousness; and a May 22, […]

A federal judge late last week dismissed the Department of Energy from a lawsuit filed by Walter Tamosaitis, a former contractor executive at the Hanford Waste Project who is fighting his removal from the project. Tamosaitis, who previously served as the manager of research and technology at the WTP, has alleged that he was removed […]

David Brockman is joining SA Technology as Chief Executive Officer, effective June 11. Brockman currently serves as Chief Energy Advisor at MRI Global, and previously headed up the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management’s two field offices at Hanford—the Office of River Protection and the Richland Operations Office. “We are excited to welcome Dave […]

Longtime critics of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility are taking to Capitol Hill today in a set of briefings targeting the project under construction at the Savannah River Site. Representatives from the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Project on Government Oversight and the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability plan to discuss […]

The Department of Energy has decided to dock Valley Demonstration Project cleanup contractor CH2M HILL B&W West Valley $250,000 in fee following the departure of Ryan Dodd, the contractor’s general manager. “DOE notified CHBWV the total available fee amount specified in the contract between DOE and CHBWV was being decremented in the amount of $250,000 […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management plans to evaluate two new locations near the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for the potential siting of a mercury storage facility, according to a notice issued yesterday. The two locations will be added to seven sites being reconsidered as part of a supplemental environmental impact statement being […]

The Department of Energy is moving forward with plans—first reported by WC Monitor early this year—to partially extend Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ contract to manage the Savannah River Site. On April 3, DOE issued a preliminary notice of intent to extend SRNS’ contract for an additional 38 months, short of the full five-year option period […]