Cleanup & Remediation

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 […]

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. […]

The story “DOE, N3B to focus on stormwater runoff at Wednesday session” [Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, February 26, 2024] should have said that the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Individual Permit for Los Alamos is not tied to prior litigation by Amigos Bravos.

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 […]

Stormwater discharges from legacy nuclear work at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the subject of litigation in recent years, will be the focus of a virtual meeting on Wednesday. The DOE Office of Environmental Management and its Los Alamos cleanup prime, Newport News Nuclear-BWXT Los Alamos (N3B), said in […]

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. DOE is looking at options from three prospective suppliers: an Atkins-Catholic University joint venture, Orano and Veolia, said Valerie Kimbro, a nuclear […]

A group of 20 people fired by a Department of Energy cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site filed a motion last week urging a federal district judge in Eastern Tennessee to reconsider his earlier ruling rejecting their request to join an ongoing lawsuit by three similar plaintiffs. The former employees of Amentum-led UCOR filed […]

Atkins-led Mid-America Conversion Services has 30 days to contest $382,500 in Department of Energy fines stemming from allegations that the contractor failed to ensure a crane used in Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio was maintained in a safe manner. The contractor “has not acknowledged these nuclear safety deficiencies, they have […]

A group of 21 plaintiffs who claim they were fired after seeking a religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccinations have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The former employees of Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) filed suit against the contractor Feb. […]

The Amentum-led environmental prime at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee this week told a federal appeals court it should have sovereign immunity, as a federal contractor, from a lawsuit by a radiation technician who was fired after refusing COVID- 19 vaccination. In its 36-page filing Tuesday, UCOR LLC told the U.S. […]

Proposals are due by the end of February from subcontractors interested in overhauling the electric power infrastructure within Area 100 of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an updated procurement notice. Proposals in response to the solicitation launched by Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, which acts as city manager for […]

The partial evacuation Tuesday afternoon at the 222-S Laboratory at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state was done as a precaution after “about a thimble full” of a legacy chemical was discovered prior to disposal, an agency spokesperson said in Wednesday emails. The evacuation of 50 to 60 people, initially reported by […]

The cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory will need to treat about twice as much sodium-bearing waste annually as it did during 2023 in order to meet the agency’s target for the new Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, an advisory panel heard Thursday.  After treatment resumes, DOE wants the Integrated Waste Treatment […]

The partial evacuation Tuesday afternoon at the 222-S Laboratory at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state was done as a precaution after “about a thimble full” of a legacy chemical was discovered prior to disposal, an agency spokesperson said in Wednesday emails. The evacuation of 50 to 60 people, initially reported by […]

The Amentum-led environmental prime at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee this week told a federal appeals court it should have sovereign immunity, as a federal contractor, from a lawsuit by a radiation technician who was fired after refusing COVID- 19 vaccination. In its 36-page filing Tuesday, UCOR LLC told the U.S. […]

The 222-S Laboratory at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state was evacuated Tuesday afternoon due to concerns over chemical exposure, the Tri-City Herald reported. The evacuation occurred around 2:20 p.m. Pacific Time after an employee at the 222-S Laboratory, managed by Navarro-led Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration, handled a vial of the […]

Proposals are due by the end of February from subcontractors interested in overhauling the electric power infrastructure within Area 100 of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an updated procurement notice. Proposals in response to the solicitation launched by Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, which acts as city manager for […]

The cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory is on track to resume treating sodium-bearing liquid waste in March, but some fixes are still needed, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board update. Jacobs-led Idaho Environmental Coalition finished a maintenance outage at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) in mid-January after […]

A group of 21 plaintiffs who claim they were fired after seeking a religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccinations have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The former employees of Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) filed suit against the contractor Feb. […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee who champions increased cleanup funding for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, will have a primary challenger again this cycle for his fourth district congressional seat.   So far, there are only two announced candidates for a nonpartisan primary scheduled for Aug. 6: Newhouse and […]

The Oak Ridge, Tenn., City Airport, to be built on remediated land transferred from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site, could still run a deficit in its fifth year of operation, according to a recent analysis from an aviation consulting firm in Kentucky. Financial performance in the fifth year, when the general aviation airport […]

During fiscal 2023 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released three reports from “extensive sampling and testing” around the closed Jana Elementary School near St. Louis and the Coldwater Creek Superfund area and “no known data exists that indicates any radiological concern,” at the school, according to a recent report. During the fiscal year ended […]

In roughly a month the Washington state Department of Ecology will take comments on a Department of Energy proposal that could lead to offsite solidification and disposal of 2,000 gallons of less-radioactive tank waste from the Hanford Site in Washington state. The 45-day public comment period, on whether to grant a Research, Development, and Demonstration […]

Honeywell this month marked its 75th year of work at what is now the Kansas City National Security Campus in Kansas City, Mo. Run by the National Nuclear Security Administration today, the campus relocated in 2014 from the old Bannister Federal Complex, portions of which were scheduled for transfer to the Department of Energy’s Office […]

It is both “premature and improper” to grant employees fired from a Department of Energy contractor at the Oak Ridge Site a break from the normal statute of limitations before they even join a lawsuit, a federal judge ruled in Tennessee last week. “Plaintiffs’ motion for joinder is improper because they have no authority to […]

The Department of Energy said Wednesday evening it will promote Mark Brown to become the new cleanup project manager at the Idaho National Laboratory where he will replace Connie Flohr who plans to retire from the agency in April and take a job in industry. Brown is deputy manager of the Idaho Cleanup Project and […]

The Department of Energy said Wednesday evening it will promote Mark Brown to become the new cleanup project manager at the Idaho National Laboratory where he will replace Connie Flohr who plans to retire from the agency in April and take a job in industry. Brown is deputy manager of the Idaho Cleanup Project and […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee who champions increased cleanup funding for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, will have a primary challenger again this cycle for his fourth district congressional seat.   So far, there are only two announced candidates for a nonpartisan primary scheduled for Aug. 6: Newhouse and […]

During fiscal 2023 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released three reports from “extensive sampling and testing” around the closed Jana Elementary School near St. Louis and the Coldwater Creek Superfund area and “no known data exists that indicates any radiological concern,” at the school, according to a recent report. During the fiscal year ended […]

Here is an event related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week: 14: Meeting: The Oak Ridge Citizens Advisory Board meets at 6 p.m. Eastern Time in a hybrid session taking place at the DOE Information Center, Office of Science and Technical Information, 1 Science.gov Way, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831. […]