Cleanup & Remediation

A federal advisory panel heard Tuesday the Department of Energy’s top manager at the Hanford Site in Washington state still expects to start making test glass in November from a simulant designed to mimic low-level radioactive tank waste. DOE site manager Brian Vance told the Hanford Advisory Board cold commissioning of the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste […]

Congressman Joe Wilson, 77, whose district abuts the Savannah River Site, was hospitalized in Washington Tuesday night after taking ill, according to his office’s post on website X. Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-S.C.) son, South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson, said on the website X that the congressman was experiencing “stroke-like symptoms,” according to doctors at […]

Anti-nuclear groups in Tennessee and elsewhere have filed a formal “notice of intent to sue” with the U.S. Department of Justice, alleging violations of the Superfund law at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. Attorneys for the Foundation for Global Sustainability, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning and […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear-weapons cleanup office will by January 2026 evaluate the effectiveness of nine citizen-staffed boards that provide non-binding advice to the agency, the office said in a report published Monday. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) mentioned the review in a letter appended to a report published Monday by the Government Accountability […]

After three years of litigation, the Department of Energy and the administration of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) settled on a new agreement for cleaning up legacy radioactive waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The New Mexico Environment Department announced the agreement last week in a press release. The new accord bears some similarities […]

One of the largest business mergers in the Department of Energy’s weapons complex in recent years should be completed Friday Sept. 27, Dallas-based Jacobs Solutions said Sept 13. The spin-off and merger of Jacobs’ Critical Mission Solutions and Cyber & Intelligence government services businesses with Virginia-based Amentum will conclude shortly after 4 p.m. Eastern Time […]

A federal judge on Monday ruled that a team led by BWX Technologies should keep the long-term, multibillion-dollar liquid waste contract twice awarded to it by the Department of Energy. The ruling was made under seal, so the judge’s reasoning in the case, filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, was not public as […]

The Integrated Waste Treatment Unit is again solidifying sodium-bearing liquid waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, a Department of Energy spokesperson said Thursday in an email. “During maintenance, engineers replaced granulated activated carbon beds, which remove mercury during the waste treatment process, replaced process gas filter bundles, and completed minor maintenance operations,” the spokesperson wrote […]

The Department of Energy is bidding adieu to its Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office in Washington state effective Oct. 1, DOE’s manager for the Hanford Site said Tuesday. “We are going to be the Hanford Field Office, it’s going to be a new name,” Vance told the Hanford Advisory Board Tuesday evening. […]

Charles McMillan, 69, the former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, died Friday morning, Sept. 6, in a car crash in New Mexico, people familiar with the situation told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. The Los Alamos National Laboratory acknowledged McMillan’s passing Friday in a statement posted to the social media sites LinkedIn and Facebook. “On […]

Congressman Joe Wilson, 77, whose district abuts the Savannah River Site, was hospitalized in Washington Tuesday night after taking ill, according to his office’s post on website X. Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-S.C.) son, South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson, said on the website X that the congressman was experiencing “stroke-like symptoms,” according to doctors at the […]

Charles McMillan, 69, the former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, died Friday morning, Sept. 6, in a car crash in New Mexico, people familiar with the situation told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. The Los Alamos National Laboratory acknowledged McMillan’s passing Friday in a statement posted to the social media sites LinkedIn and Facebook. […]

The Department of Energy should not move Hanford Site liquid radioactive waste through Spokane, Wash., on its way to disposal sites in Texas or Utah, the mayor of Spokane told the Hanford Advisory Board Wednesday  “I am quite concerned about the plan to transport liquid waste through our city,” enroute to Waste Control Specialists in […]

The Department of Energy is bidding adieu to its Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office in Washington state effective Oct. 1, DOE’s manager for the Hanford Site said Tuesday. “We are going to be the Hanford Field Office, it’s going to be a new name,” Vance told the Hanford Advisory Board Tuesday evening. […]

Congressman Joe Wilson, 77, whose district abuts the Savannah River Site, was hospitalized in Washington Tuesday night after taking ill, according to his office’s post on website X. Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-S.C.) son, South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson, said on the website X that the congressman was experiencing “stroke-like symptoms,” according to doctors at […]

A federal advisory panel heard Tuesday the Department of Energy’s top manager at the Hanford Site in Washington state still expects to start making test glass in November from a simulant designed to mimic low-level radioactive tank waste. DOE site manager Brian Vance told the Hanford Advisory Board cold commissioning of the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste […]

A federal judge on Monday ruled that a team led by BWX Technologies should keep the long-term, multibillion-dollar liquid waste contract twice awarded to it by the Department of Energy. The ruling was made under seal, so the judge’s reasoning in the case, filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, was not public as […]

Anti-nuclear groups in Tennessee and elsewhere have filed a formal “notice of intent to sue” with the U.S. Department of Justice, alleging violations of the Superfund law at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. Attorneys for the Foundation for Global Sustainability, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning and […]

After three years of litigation, the Department of Energy and the administration of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) settled on a new agreement for cleaning up legacy radioactive waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The New Mexico Environment Department announced the agreement last week in a press release. The new accord bears some […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear-weapons cleanup office will by January 2026 evaluate the effectiveness of nine citizen-staffed boards that provide non-binding advice to the agency, the office said in a report published Monday. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) mentioned the review in a letter appended to a report published Monday by the Government Accountability […]

The Integrated Waste Treatment Unit is again solidifying sodium-bearing liquid waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, a Department of Energy spokesperson said Thursday in an email. “During maintenance, engineers replaced granulated activated carbon beds, which remove mercury during the waste treatment process, replaced process gas filter bundles, and completed minor maintenance operations,” the spokesperson wrote […]

Charles McMillan, 69, the former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, died Friday morning, Sept. 6, in a car crash in New Mexico, people familiar with the situation told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. The Los Alamos National Laboratory acknowledged McMillan’s passing Friday in a statement posted to the social media sites LinkedIn and Facebook. […]

Orano-USA on Wednesday said the company could build a uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., using some state funding and Department of Energy land. The planned, “multi-billion dollar” 750,000 square-foot facility will employ about 300 people in Roane County, Tenn., according to a press release from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. […]

Jeffrey Baran, who lost his job at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2023, will join the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management on Sept. 8, according to an internal email. When he arrives at DOE headquarters in Washington, Baran will be deputy assistant secretary for waste and materials management, or EM-4.2, in the Office […]

Patricia Lee, former manager of Savannah River National Laboratory, was sworn in Wednesday as the newest member of the federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the agency said. The Senate confirmed Lee July 9 in a 54-41 vote, mostly on party lines. Her term runs through Oct. 18, 2027. Lee has over 30 years of experience in […]

Hanford stabilized its final reactor basin in August, meaning all the water has been removed and the empty pool has been filled with grout. Hanford’s K West reactor is the last one to be cleaned out, its outlying buildings demolished and to be sealed off. The site has nine shuttered reactors dating back to World […]

Patricia Lee, former manager of Savannah River National Laboratory, was sworn in Wednesday as the newest member of the federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the agency said. The Senate confirmed Lee July 9 in a 54-41 vote, mostly on party lines. Her term runs through Oct. 18, 2027. Lee has over 30 years of […]

Workers planned to break ground Sept. 9 on parts of the planned Rocky Mountain Greenway, a hiking trail near a former plutonium-pit factory, a group trying to stop the trail said in court papers. Planned activity for next week includes beginning construction on abutments for pedestrian bridges and a pedestrian underpass, according to a notice […]

By the numbers, House and Senate appropriators are within 2% of agreeing on a budget for nuclear-weapons cleanup for fiscal year 2025, but election-year politics could stand in the way of a resolution when Congress returns to Washington next week. Overall for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), the House Appropriations Committee […]

Jeffrey Baran, who lost his job at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2023, will join the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management on Sept. 8, according to an internal email. When he arrives at DOE headquarters in Washington, Baran will be deputy assistant secretary for waste and materials management, or EM-4.2, in the Office […]