Cleanup & Remediation

PHOENIX — Jeff Avery, No. 2 boss at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, said Tuesday he understands industry frustration over the slow pace of big industry procurements. “Here’s what I can tell you about some of the extended procurement experiences,” Avery told Exchange Monitor during an interview on the sidelines of the […]

Now in his second year as second-in-charge at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, Jeff Avery wants a laser focus on nuclear cleanup balanced with an eye toward doing “public good” where practical. During a 20-minute interview with Exchange Monitor on the sidelines of the Waste Management Symposia, Avery touched upon the evolving […]

The Department of Energy has scrubbed its goal to restart this month the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at Idaho National Laboratory. “This week, while performing start-up operations at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU), crews identified abnormal conditions while performing testing in preparation for resuming waste processing,” DOE said in an email press release shared […]

Now in his second year as second-in-charge at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, Jeff Avery wants a laser focus on nuclear cleanup balanced with an eye toward doing “public good” where practical. During a 20-minute interview with Exchange Monitor on the sidelines of the Waste Management Symposia, Avery touched upon the evolving […]

PHOENIX — Jeff Avery, No. 2 boss at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, said Tuesday he understands industry frustration over the slow pace of big industry procurements. “Here’s what I can tell you about some of the extended procurement experiences,” Avery told Exchange Monitor during an interview on the sidelines of the […]

PHOENIX — The top cleanup officers from the Department of Energy and other U.S. and international nuclear agencies are on hand here this week for the annual Waste Management Symposia conference. Monday’s morning plenary will begin with comments by William (Ike) White, DOE’s senior adviser for the Office of Environmental Management. He will join other […]

Mark Brown, deputy manager of Department of Energy nuclear cleanup at the Idaho National Laboratory, will become manager of the field operation earlier than announced, the agency said Thursday. Brown will assume the Idaho Cleanup Project manager job starting Sunday, March 10, a DOE spokesperson said by email. Connie Flohr will remain on staff serving […]

The largest nuclear cleanup sites run by the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management would meet or beat fiscal 2023 funding levels, under the compromise 2024 appropriations bill released over the weekend. The Office of Environmental Management would get about $8.5 billion for fiscal 2024, roughly what Senate appropriators recommended. The final bill would […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board this week announced the promotion of two senior staffers at the federal watchdog agency for Department of Energy nuclear sites. In moves effective Feb. 26, Katherine Herrera became the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB)’s first deputy executive director of operations and Timothy Dwyer was appointed the agency’s new […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has started sampling for radioactive contamination buried deep beneath a subdivision in Florissant, Mo., near Coldwater Creek, the federal organization said Monday. The Corps’ St. Louis District office said in a press release sampling is starting under its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), in Florissant, about 18 […]

The legacy cleanup contractor for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory officially closed out its remediation of a stretch of public road, previously thought to be clean, where contamination was discovered in 2020, the contractor said this week. In February, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) said the investigation and cleanup of contaminated […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a solicitation for a contractor to clean up the DuPont Chambers Works Atomic Energy Commission site in Deepwater, N.J. The Philadelphia District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday issued an updated request for proposals (RFP) to award a five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract under […]

The story “Upon further review, DOE re-awards mega-dollar Hanford tank contract to BWXT-led group” [Weapons Complex Monitor, Vol. 35 No. 09] should have said BWXT-led Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure filed a case with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. It also should have said the Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance, led by […]

The Department of Energy’s decision to re-award a potential $45-billion contract for liquid radioactive waste management at the Hanford Site in Washington state to a BWX Technologies-led group could put the company at the helm of two major nuclear-weapons cleanups. DOE announced March 1 the re-award of the Integrated Tank Disposition contract to Hanford Tank […]

Department of Energy contractors that have worked at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio last week asked a federal court to throw out the latest complaint by a plaintiff who alleged radioactive contamination escaped from the shuttered gaseous diffusion plant and caused his cancer. The litigation by Joshua Shaw, who blames current and former contractors at […]

The Department of Energy has started to shop for a small business to be the Technical Support Services contractor for Office of Environmental Management field sites. DOE announced the draft request for proposal (RFP) for a potential five-year, $90-million contract on Thursday in a press release. The agency is shopping around for a small business, […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has started sampling for radioactive contamination buried deep beneath a subdivision in Florissant, Mo., near Coldwater Creek, the federal organization said Monday. The Corps’ St. Louis District office said in a press release sampling is starting under its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), in Florissant, about 18 […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a solicitation for a contractor to clean up the DuPont Chambers Works Atomic Energy Commission site in Deepwater, N.J. The Philadelphia District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday issued an updated request for proposals (RFP) to award a five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract under […]

The largest nuclear cleanup sites run by the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management would meet or beat fiscal 2023 funding levels, under the compromise 2024 appropriations bill released over the weekend. At the Hanford Site in Washington state, the former plutonium-making complex that is now DOE’s most expensive cleanup project, the two operational […]

Department of Energy contractors that have worked at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio last week asked a federal court to throw out the latest complaint by a plaintiff who alleged radioactive contamination escaped from the shuttered gaseous diffusion plant and caused his cancer. The litigation by Joshua Shaw, who blames current and former contractors at […]

The legacy cleanup contractor for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory officially closed out its remediation of a stretch of public road, previously thought to be clean, where contamination was discovered in 2020, the contractor said Monday. In February, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) said the investigation and cleanup of contaminated soil […]

The Department of Energy’s decision to re-award a potential $45-billion contract for liquid radioactive waste management at the Hanford Site in Washington state to a BWX Technologies-led group could put the company at the helm of two major nuclear-weapons cleanups. DOE announced Friday the re-award of the Integrated Tank Disposition contract to Hanford Tank Waste […]

Bidders on a Department of Energy contract, potentially worth $3 billion, for Phase 1B remediation work at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state, now have until March 11 to submit proposals. The prior deadline was today, March 4. Jacobs-led CH2M Hill-BWXT West Valley is the incumbent. Its contract, valued at less than […]

The story “BWXT earnings rise in 2023, fourth quarter; Hanford award a ‘wild card’” [Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, Feb. 27, 2024] should have said that the company’s earnings exceeded the estimations of a group of analysts polled by Yahoo! Finance.

The U.S. Department of Energy is studying vitrification technologies as options for treating 1.2 million gallons of calcine, a high-level radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, a DOE advisory board heard Thursday, Feb. 21. DOE is looking at options from three prospective suppliers: an Atkins-Catholic University joint venture, Orano and Veolia, said Valerie Kimbro, […]

The Department of Energy on Friday issued a request for qualifications for developers interested in installing carbon-free electric power projects of 200 megawatts or more at the Idaho National Laboratory. The request for qualifications is part of DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative to tap unused land on Cold War and Manhattan Project sites for […]

As signaled, the Department of Energy’s final solicitation for a new Technical Support Services contract at the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office was published Tuesday. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management procurement office  said in mid-February that the final request for proposals (RFP) for technical support at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the Paducah Site in Kentucky and […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., for 2023, which the maker of nuclear naval reactors and manager of nuclear weapons sites attributed Tuesday mostly to favorable adjustments on government contracts. For the year, net earnings were $246.3 million, or $2.68 per share, up about 7.7% from $238.6 million, or $2.60 a share in 2023. […]

Despite his relatively easy re-election in 2022, a couple of Republicans are set to challenge Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), a longtime member of the House Appropriations Committee and vocal supporter of the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. A couple of Democrats also plan to run in their party’s 2nd congressional district primary, which like […]

After federal litigation, the Department of Energy has again chosen a BWX Technologies-led group as winner of the Integrated Tank Disposition contract, potentially worth $45 billion over a decade. In a Thursday press release, the DOE Office of Environmental Management announced the selection of Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure to oversee closure of underground […]