Cleanup & Remediation

Oak Ridge cleanup contractor UCOR this week notified six prequalified companies and teams for its radiological protection support services subcontract. The subcontract’s scope includes furnishing labor and vehicles for UCOR’s radiological protection-related programs, providing all required health physicists and giving personnel with related training. It does not cover characterization, treatment or disposal of waste. UCOR […]

In a rare occurrence, the heads of the Department of Energy’s offices of Environmental Management and Health, Safety and Security are set to testify together before House appropriators at an upcoming hearing, WC Monitor has learned. By having the two officials testify together, House appropriators appear to be signaling that they’ll be focusing heavily on […]

The cost for LATA Environmental Services of Kentucky, LLC, to complete its scope of cleanup work at the Paducah site has increased, though by how much is unclear. Last week, the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office said in a written response that LATA Kentucky’s contract is currently valued at $299 million, an increase of […]

As industry officials await the competition of additional tasks under the 12 small business Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity cleanup contracts awarded last year by the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, Ralph Holland of EM’s Consolidated Business Center says he expects more work will be offered in the future. “We’re always looking for opportunities, and […]

Savannah River Remediation is planning to reduce its workforce by up to 100 positions, the company announced yesterday. While the Savannah River Site’s liquid waste contractor is offering employees the chance to participate in voluntary separations between now and Nov. 18, it noted that those could be followed by involuntary layoffs. “SRR has accomplished much […]

The Department of Energy yesterday issued a Request for Proposals seeking small business bidders for the new contract to provide occupational medical services at Hanford. The contract is estimated to be worth approximately $102 million and is set to run for up to six years, consisting of a two-year base period and four one-year options. […]

In response to budget concerns, the Department of Energy Inspector General is recommending that DOE re-evaluate its complex-wide cleanup strategy to focus only on “high risk, high priority” activities. In its annual report on management challenges facing DOE, issued yesterday, the IG questioned the Department’s current approach of making cleanup-related decisions based on regulatory agreements, […]

EnergySolutions is moving to buy out its other two partners on the uranium-233 disposition project at Oak Ridge—B&W and Burns and Roe, WC Monitor has learned. The three companies together make up Isotek Systems, LLC, an arrangement led by EnergySolutions that the company is looking to modify by having B&W and Burns and Roe instead […]

The Department of Energy appears set to face protests over its recent decision to award Portage the new contract to continue the Moab uranium mill tailings remediation project. Debriefings are scheduled with the losing teams this week and, according to industry officials, a protest appears likely to be filed with the Government Accountability Office by […]

In a holiday gift to contractors, the Department of Energy last week issued the long-awaited Request for Proposals for the new support services contract for DOE’s Office of Legacy Management the day before Thanksgiving, with bids due two days before Christmas. The cost-plus-award-fee contract with task assignments is being set aside for small businesses, and […]

In a holiday gift to contractors, the Department of Energy last week issued the long-awaited Request for Proposals for the new support services contract for DOE’s Office of Legacy Management the day before Thanksgiving, with bids due two days before Christmas. The cost-plus-award-fee contract with task assignments is being set aside for small businesses, and […]

The team of Terranear-EnergySolutions, as expected, filed a protest last week with the Government Accountability over its loss of the new contract to continue the Moab uranium mill remediation project. EnergySolutions is the incumbent contractor for the Moab project and will likely receive an extension to its contract, currently set to expire at the end […]

A second unsuccessful bidder is now challenging the Department of Energy’s decision to award the new Moab cleanup contract to Portage. Gonzales-Stoller Remediation Services, LLC, filed a protest over the award with the Government Accountability Office on Nov. 25, just days after TPMC-EnergySolutions Environmental Services, LLC, filed one on Nov. 23. The GAO, which made […]

Local communities near Department of Energy sites are seeking greater involvement in meetings held by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. In a letter sent last week to the Board, the Energy Communities Alliance questioned the lack of local government participation in a public meeting the Board recently held near Los Alamos National Laboratory. “No […]

The leadership of the Department of Energy’s cleanup program is set to roll out a reorganization of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management later this week. Details of the reorganization, which has been in the works for the past few months, are set to be provided to EM employees during an all-hands’ meeting scheduled for Dec. […]

After announcing last month that it would reduce its workforce by up to 100 employees, Savannah River Remediation said yesterday it is laying off 48 employees through its involuntary separations program. The Savannah River Site liquid waste contractor said that in the last month 18 employees chose voluntary layoffs while 20 employees left the company […]

With a new senior management team in place in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, EM is looking to hold a “contractor summit” in early 2012, according to acting DOE cleanup chief David Huizenga. Huizenga unveiled the plans for the summit yesterday during a meeting of the Energy Facility Contractors Group in Washington, […]

Completing another round of workforce reductions, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions said this week that it had laid off 28 employees. The site contractor for Savannah River announced the round of layoffs in October, stating at that time that up to 50 employees could be affected. “These are very difficult decisions to make especially during the […]

URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC (UCOR) President Leo Sain yesterday stressed the need for adequate funding to ensure the demolition of the former K-25 uranium enrichment process building is completed as currently scheduled in the summer of 2014. In remarks at this year’s Decisionsmakers’ Forum, Sain warned that the level of funding for the K-25 D&D […]

Also of note during the first day of the Decisionmakers’ Forum yesterday:   Acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Dave Huizenga emphasized his desire to push authority out to DOE field offices. “To be a productive team, we have to understand what our job is. That’s part of my job in the next few […]

While Fluor announced yesterday it would become the majority investor for small modular reactor vendor NuScale, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions President and CEO Dwayne Wilson says the move would not influence the contractor’s choice of reactor design in its plans for an energy park at the Savannah River Site. “This doesn’t have a direct bearing […]

As Congress works to complete a final funding bill for Fiscal Year 2012, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is hoping to again make the case for increased funding for several cleanup efforts that have so far rejected by lawmakers. Among the funding increases sought by EM that have been met with little […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration may look to the Department of Energy’s cleanup program for advice on how to minimize waste generation going forward, NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Don Cook said last week. In remarks at this year’s Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum, Cook called for advice on ways to change processes to […]

A subcontract worker on Hanford’s River Corridor Closure project earlier this month found out the hard way just how portable a Porta-John can be, according to a recently released Department of Energy occurrence report. On Oct. 5, a forklift operator picked up and moved a chemical toilet while it was still occupied by a teamster […]

A Savannah River Site worker who became internally contaminated with radioactive material last year is not expected to suffer any long-term negative effects as a result, SRS managing contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions said yesterday. According to SRNS, the worker received “a final Committed Effective Dose of 31.6 REM” as a result of a puncture […]

The Department of Energy last week issued enforcement letters to two former subcontractors to URS on the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) D&D project, warning of potential violations of DOE regulations stemming from radiological contamination events that occurred at the site last year. The letters were sent Oct. 24 to EnergySolutions and Safety and Ecology […]

The Department of Energy will employ the Savannah River Site’s H-Canyon facility to help prepare up plutonium oxide feed for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility currently under construction at the site, the Department said yesterday. In total, H-Canyon will be used to produce approximately 3.7 metric tons of MOX feed using the non-pit plutonium […]

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Robert Martineau said yesterday that he may work to renegotiate Oak Ridge cleanup milestones due to budgetary limitations facing the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. “Perhaps contrary to people’s opinions about regulatory agencies, however, we do not live in a bubble,” Martineau said at the Energy […]

The Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office is reviewing how DOE’s two largest cleanup sites—Hanford and the Savannah River Site—conducted layoffs of workers hired with Recovery Act funds. DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman disclosed the review in testimony yesterday at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending. “The […]

Washington Closure Hanford yesterday announced two new senior management appointments. Daniel Plung has been named director of Project Services. Plung last worked at Sellafield where he served as a program manager responsible for designing and implementing a management and compliance system. He previously worked at Washington Closure Hanford from 2005 to 2009, serving as manager […]