Cleanup & Remediation
Coverage of DOE-EM’s multi-billion-dollar effort to address Cold War and Manhattan Project nuclear legacy waste, including tank waste treatment, site remediation, and decommissioning at Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge, and other major sites.
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Cleanup & Remediation
September 2025 trial date set for Hanford landlord contractor
A federal judge in eastern Washington has scheduled a September 2025 jury trial in the Department of Justice’s case accusing a Leidos-led joint venture of false billing for fire prevention work at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. Barring settlement or good cause for delay, U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian plans to commence the trial […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
With 1 small Portsmouth labor deal in hand, Steelworkers pursue another
After reaching a new labor contract with Centrus Energy for dozens of employees involved in making enriched uranium at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio, a United Steelworkers union local is in negotiations with the landlord contractor for the complex. Although the new Centrus contract, reached in March, only involves 40 people for […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Magistrate coordinates overlapping discovery in Portsmouth cases
A U.S. District Court magistrate judge in Ohio issued an order last week coordinating pre-trial discovery in four federal lawsuits against present and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Preston Deavers issued the stipulation and order Friday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. “Overlapping discovery” […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
Second round clean energy RFI released for Savannah River
The Department of Energy Tuesday rolled out its second market information request for carbon-free electricity at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, with an eye toward bigger projects that might generate power for locals near the nuclear complex. A top DOE nuclear cleanup manager at Savannah River said recently the agency is evaluating solar […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE plans Paducah landlord presentation, site tour May 29
The Department of Energy in late May will hold an information session and site tour for potential bidders on a new Infrastructure Support Service contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management recently announced it would extend the incumbent landlord contractor Swift & Staley for up to 16 months, potentially through […]
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National Laboratories
NNSA manager is new environmental field boss at Los Alamos
Jessica Kunkle. a Los Alamos, N.M., native and longtime National Nuclear Security Administration executive, will lead the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management field operation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory starting in June. Kunkle has been with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) about 15 years and is a deputy administrator with NNSA’s […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: Hanford backs DOE research into WIPP backup; Prep work advances for Oak Ridge landfill; Nevada lawmakers seek to snuff out any Yucca revival; more
The Department of Energy’s Hanford Advisory Board for the nuclear cleanup site in Washington state, wants the feds to start looking for a second underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste —just in case. DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), near Carlsbad, N.M., is permitted by the New Mexico Environment Department to continue disposing of […]
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National Laboratories
NNSA manager is new environmental field boss at Los Alamos
Jessica Kunkle. a Los Alamos, N.M., native and longtime National Nuclear Security Administration executive, will lead the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management field operation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory starting in June. Kunkle has been with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) about 15 years and is a deputy administrator with NNSA’s […]
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National Laboratories
NNSA manager is new environmental field boss at Los Alamos
Jessica Kunkle. a Los Alamos, N.M., native and longtime National Nuclear Security Administration executive, will lead the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management field operation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory starting in June. Kunkle has been with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) about 15 years and is a deputy administrator with NNSA’s […]
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National Laboratories
Los Alamos advisory board meeting called off
The Department of Energy today canceled its Northern New Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board that was scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. Mountain Time. The next board meeting, for the panel which offers advice on DOE Office of Environmental Management issues affecting the Los Alamos National Laboratory, will be July 17, according to a staff email […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
Second round clean energy RFI released for Savannah River
The Department of Energy Tuesday rolled out its second market information request for carbon-free electricity at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, with an eye toward bigger projects that might generate power for locals near the nuclear complex. A top DOE nuclear cleanup manager at Savannah River said recently the agency is evaluating solar […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
With 1 small Portsmouth labor deal in hand, Steelworkers pursue another
After reaching a new labor contract with Centrus Energy for dozens of employees involved in making enriched uranium at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio, a United Steelworkers union local is in negotiations with the landlord contractor for the complex. Although the new Centrus contract, reached in March, only involves 40 people for […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Magistrate coordinates overlapping discovery in Portsmouth cases
A U.S. District Court magistrate judge in Ohio issued an order last week coordinating pre-trial discovery in four federal lawsuits against present and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Preston Deavers issued the stipulation and order Friday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. “Overlapping discovery” […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE plans Paducah landlord presentation, site tour May 29
The Department of Energy in late May will hold an information session and site tour for potential bidders on a new Infrastructure Support Service contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management recently announced it would extend the incumbent landlord contractor Swift & Staley for up to 16 months, potentially through […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: 2025 trial possible in case against Hanford landlord; Ex- Canada lab exec joins SRS prime; Ex-DOE manager Flohr joins Navarro; and more
The Department of Justice and the landlord contractor for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state both anticipate a fraud trial lasting several weeks could be held in federal district court during fall of 2025. That is one of the key takeaways from a joint filing Thursday by Justice, on behalf of a […]
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Contracts & Procurement
N3B inks Los Alamos subcontracts for building upkeep, health clinic
The legacy cleanup contractor for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory said this week it has signed two subcontracts, worth a combined $36.5 million, with small businesses for building maintenance and health services. Newport News Nuclear BWTX Los Alamos (N3B) said in a Wednesday press release it has signed a roughly $30-million contract […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
BWXT touts re-award, hopes for Hanford waste contract transition this year
Despite protests by a rival, a team led by BWX Technologies has now twice won a $45 billion Department of Energy liquid waste contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state, which shows it is a “superior” proposal, CEO Rex Geveden said Monday during an earnings call. “After multiple protests… the DOE decided to re-award […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford advisory panel raises questions on grout, other issues
No decision has been made on whether grouting of some low-level radioactive tank waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site would occur inside the 580-square-mile federal complex, or elsewhere, government attorneys told an advisory board Tuesday. A pathway to grout for some Hanford waste sparked questions from the Hanford Advisory Board, which was briefed […]
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National Laboratories
Wrap up: Lawsuit over contamination in Bay area; Sandia pushes deadline for public-private pulsed power RFI; Griffin back at SRS; more
After threatening for years, the University of Berkeley Law Environmental Law Clinic and Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice sued the Navy and Environmental Protection Agency in May over concerns of improper and fraudulent inspection of radioactive contamination at Hunter Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, Calif. Greenaction, a Bay-area nonprofit, and Berkeley listed strontium-90, […]
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Budget & Policy
Newhouse faces challenge from former Senate candidate
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash)., who represents the area around the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, in the House of Representatives, is getting a new challenger, a former GOP Senate candidate, Tiffany Smiley. Smiley, who ran an unsuccessful race against incumbent Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in November 2022, announced Monday she will challenge fellow Republican Newhouse […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
DOE releases details on May 23 SRS clean energy information day
The Department of Energy kicks off its second Cleanup to Clean Energy information day for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina at noon May 23 at 12 p.m. Eastern Time at Aiken Technical College, according to a notice issued by the agency this week. The session is scheduled to run through about 4 p.m. […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Agencies dub holistic deal realistic and doable; defend DOE on Hanford HLW
The Department of Energy’s decision not to impose its new high-level radioactive waste interpretation at the Hanford Site in Washington state avoided a lengthy squabble and made it easier for agencies to cut a new deal for cleaning up tank waste, an advisory panel heard Tuesday. By not using a DOE 2020 reinterpretation that allows […]
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Contracts & Procurement
N3B inks Los Alamos subcontracts for building upkeep, health clinic
The legacy cleanup contractor for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory said this week it has signed two subcontracts, worth a combined $36.5 million, with small businesses for building maintenance and health services. Newport News Nuclear BWTX Los Alamos (N3B) said in a Wednesday press release it has signed a roughly $30-million contract […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
DOE releases details on May 23 SRS clean energy information day
The Department of Energy kicks off its second Cleanup to Clean Energy information day for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina at noon May 23 at 12 p.m. Eastern Time at Aiken Technical College, according to a notice issued by the agency this week. The session is scheduled to run through about 4 p.m. […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford advisory panel raises questions on grout, other issues
No decision has been made on whether grouting of some low-level radioactive tank waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site would occur inside the 580-square-mile federal complex, or elsewhere, government attorneys told an advisory board Tuesday. A pathway to grout for some Hanford waste sparked questions from the Hanford Advisory Board, which was briefed […]
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Budget & Policy
Newhouse faces challenge from former Senate candidate
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash)., who represents the area around the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, in the House of Representatives, is getting a new challenger, a former GOP Senate candidate, Tiffany Smiley. Smiley, who ran an unsuccessful race against incumbent Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in November 2022, announced Monday she will challenge fellow Republican Newhouse […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Ex-DOE manager Flohr joints Navarro
Connie Flohr, a longtime Department of Energy executive who retired from the agency last month after being manager of cleanup at Idaho National Laboratory, has joined contractor Navarro Research & Engineering. In her role at Oak Ridge, Tenn.,-based Navarro, Flohr will concentrate on partnerships and growing the company’s footprint within DOE, NASA and the Department […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Earnings rise at Fluor; Pantex award decision expected soon
Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the first quarter, which the weapons complex contractor attributed to new awards in its Urban Solutions segment. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31 were $59 million, or $0.34 a share, up from a loss of $107 million or 0.82 a share, in the year-ago quarter, […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
DOE’s high-level reinterpretation not included in holistic agreement at Hanford
Washington State politicians do not want the Department of Energy treating high-level waste at the Hanford Site as low-level waste, and a long awaited update to cleanup rules at the site reflects that. In December 2021, DOE affirmed a policy proposed in 2019 during the Donald Trump administration that the agency could reinterpret an existing […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: New nuclear unit comes online; DOE evaluates SRS solar offers; Oak Ridge reactor vessel shipped; and more
A Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power has started commercial operations of the new Vogtle Unit 4 nuclear reactor in Waynesboro, Ga., the company announced in a Monday press release. The new reactor can generate enough electricity to power about 500,000 homes and businesses, Southern said in the release. Bechtel, which is also a Department of […]







