Cleanup & Remediation

The price tag for the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility is set to increase by approximately $400 million according to a new estimate Parsons has submitted to the Department of Energy, WC Monitor has learned. Senior DOE officials, including Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman, were briefed on the new estimate-at-completion yesterday. The new estimate […]

The clock is rapidly ticking down on David Huizenga’s status as acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management, and there is still no sign of if or when the White House will move to formally nominate him for the post. Huizenga’s acting status is currently set to expire on Feb. 14, and it remains unclear […]

This year’s set of House Cleanup Caucus briefings is scheduled to get underway next week, with acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management David Huizenga to give an overview of EM’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget request on Feb. 16. The briefing is scheduled to be held from 8:30-9:30 a.m. in Room 1539 of the Longworth […]

Oak Ridge cleanup contractor URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC, has called off a planned procurement for a subcontract to manage the site’s main landfills. In a brief message sent to prequalified bidders last week, UCOR said it made a “business decision” to self-perform the work beginning in early April, providing no further explanation as to why […]

With his acting status as Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management coming to an end today, David Huizenga has now been given the title of “Senior Advisor for Environmental Management” at the Department of Energy. The title change, which is set to have little impact on the day-to-day management of EM, was announced in a […]

In response to a series of incidents where workers failed to fully abide by administrative procedures, Idaho Treatment Group, LLC, has instituted a safety stand-down at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site. The stand-down, which went into effect Feb. 14, applies to nuclear facility operations and maintenance work. […]

A Japanese delegation is visiting Hanford this week to exchange information with experts across the Department of Energy complex to help with cleanup following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. “The Energy Department’s environmental cleanup mission is one of the world’s largest programs of its type and a key element of the program’s success to date has […]

The Department of Energy is now projecting that the Idaho Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility will begin operation by the end of April. The SBWT Facility, which has had a history of cost and schedule issues, is intended to treat by the end of this year the approximately 900,000 gallons of liquid waste remaining at DOE’s […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management did not give formal guidance to sites on how to handle employees during the wind down of Recovery Act work, leading to the unnecessary spending of nearly $8 million at the Savannah River Site, according to a DOE Inspector General report released yesterday. The report compared the […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and Security is moving up a planned visit to DOE’s Idaho site that is being conducted as part of a broader safety culture review across the DOE complex now underway, WC Monitor has learned. The schedule shift comes amid reports of technical issues and other concerns at […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management appears to be close to making a final decision on whether or not to recompete the next cleanup contract for DOE’s Idaho site. EM is set to reach a final decision point within the next month on whether to recompete or move forward with a planned three-year […]

Portage appears set to retain the new contract for the Moab uranium mill tailings remediation project, with the Government Accountability Office having denied two protests filed over the award, WC Monitor has learned. The decisions against protests filed by TPMC-EnergySolutions Environmental Services, LLC, which includes Moab incumbent contractor EnergySolutions, and Gonzales-Stoller Remediation Services are expected […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could unveil as early as this week the results of its investigation into the set of contamination incidents that occurred at the Separations Process Research Unit site in 2010. The EPA’s investigation was prompted by incidents that occurred during D&D activities at SPRU that spread low levels of contamination to […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Inspector General is questioning how asbestos-related demolition is conducted at some Department of Energy cleanup sites. In an “early warning” report issued last week, the EPA Inspector General said that alternative asbestos control methods that are less restrictive than EPA regulations have been allowed for use at Hanford and are being […]

Veteran Department of Energy security contractor WSI received an ‘outstanding’ rating and $2.369 million for its protective force work at the Savannah River Site during the last six months of Fiscal Year 2011, according to the company’s recently completed performance evaluation. WSI earned 94 percent out of the $2.520 million in available fee for its […]

Technical issues have forced the Department of Energy to significantly revise its transuranic waste processing goals at Oak Ridge, according to a DOE Inspector General’s Office report released yesterday. While the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center, managed by Wastren Advantage, was initially expected to process 1,000 cubic meters of contact-handled transuranic waste by September […]

The Energy Communities Alliance, which represents local communities near Department of Energy sites, has elected a new board of directors. Oak Ridge, Tenn. Mayor Tom Beehan was elected as ECA Chairman. Other Board members include Vice-Chairman Councilman Chuck Smith, Aiken County, S.C.; Secretary Commissioner Roxanne Lara, Eddy County, N.M.; and Treasurer Councilor Fran Berting, Los […]

With approximately six weeks left to go before his acting status expires, there is yet no sign from the White House when it will officially nominate David Huizenga to serve as Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management. Huizenga was named in early July to serve as acting DOE cleanup chief, after Assistant EM Secretary Ines […]

A worker at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in recent weeks suffered second-degree burns during low-level waste processing at the lab’s Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility, according to a newly released Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board site representative report. The accident, which occurred the week ending Dec. 2, was caused by equipment failure and resulted […]

While a number of companies interested in bidding on the new support services contract for the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management had sought additional time to prepare bids—a request granted by DOE—at least one company had been happy with the original timeline, according to a set of questions-and-answers on the LM support services […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has begun searching for a new set of support contractors, yesterday issuing two sources sought notices for environmental technical and safety management expertise. In one notice, EM is seeking capability statements from small disadvantaged business concerns under the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program to provide technical expertise […]

Oak Ridge cleanup contractor UCOR is scheduled to hold a meeting today with the 10 companies it plans to award staff augmentation subcontracts. Today’s kickoff meeting will likely cover the contractor’s expectations on issues including pay and benefits for employees hired under the subcontracts, a topic that raised numerous questions in the subcontracting community when […]

According to what WC Monitor has learned, the White House has quietly begun anew its search for an Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management nominee, a position a most thought would be filled by David Huizenga after he was brought over from the National Nuclear Security Administration in July to take the reigns of the cleanup […]

Ian Hudson from the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is set to join URS as its new Vice President of U.S. Performance Assurance, effective in late March. At the NDA, Hudson served as Program Director for the Sellafield site, where URS is the lead company in contractor Nuclear Management Partners. In his new role, Hudson will […]

Mark Duff has been named a new corporate vice president at Los Alamos Technical Associates, Inc., the company announced this week. Last June, Duff took over as head of LATA Environmental Services of Kentucky, LLC, which performs cleanup work at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, but technically remained an employee of site subcontractor of B&W. […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Operations Office has submitted a recommendation to DOE headquarters to partially extend Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ contract to manage the Savannah River Site, WC Monitor has learned. With the initial five-year period of SRNS’ contract set to expire in 2013, the proposed recommendation would keep the Fluor-led contractor in […]

A driver was injured when a truck tipped onto its side and spilled contaminated soil Tuesday at Hanford, according to Washington Closure Hanford. A semi-tractor was pulling a load with a 25-ton capacity roll-off container loaded with soil contaminated with lead from D Area. It was on Route 3 North headed toward the Environmental Restoration […]

Mission Support Alliance and its key subcontractors are laying off a total of 36 Hanford employees after expecting to cut up to 50 jobs this month. The layoffs include 12 previously approved voluntary layoffs, plus 11 involuntary union worker layoffs and 13 involuntary nonunion worker layoffs. However, eight of the union employees have seniority to […]

The Department of Energy has once again pushed back the due date for bids on the new Office of Legacy Management support services contract. Now, bids are due by Feb. 15, instead of Feb. 1, as previously planned. The change—marking the third time DOE has shifted the bid due date—was part of a new amendment […]

Startup of the Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site has been pushed back yet again, potentially putting DOE at risk of failing to meet a commitment to the state of Idaho to have the remaining liquid waste at the site treated by the end of the year. DOE and Idaho […]