Cleanup & Remediation

A top manager from the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup and Washington state officials told the Hanford Site’s advisory board they are seeking better communication with tribal governments and other minority populations near the former plutonium production complex. The aim is to find out “what is it they need, what is it that they want […]

A federal judge in Washington state tossed a revised lawsuit brought by 300-plus employees at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, many of them security guards, over the COVID-19 vaccination rule, saying the plaintiffs never fixed major legal issues with the case they filed in the fall. “We haven’t decided the next step at this […]

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) posted a video online over the weekend to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Tri-Party Agreement between Washington, D.C. and Washington state that governs cleanup of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. Inslee used the anniversary of the 1989 legal agreement between the Washington Department of Ecology, DOE and the […]

A long-serving fed, Savannah River Site deputy manager Thomas Johnson Jr., planned to retire at the end of the month after 30 years with the Department of Energy and about 40 as a federal employee. Michael Budney, the DOE Office of Environmental Management’s top boss, announced the pending retirement Monday at a webcast meeting of […]

The Department of Energy said in a Tuesday notice it is extending the bid deadline for the Elemental Mercury Long-term Management and Storage contract to June 1, from the prior submission date of May 20. In an amendment to the final request for proposals (RFP), the DOE said proposal packages are now due by 4 […]

On paper at least, the Department of Energy expects 10 of the 15 remaining Cold War and Manhattan Project cleanups overseen by its $7.6-billion Office of Environmental Management to be cleaned up within 25 years. That is according to the annual chart of the Environmental Management’s (EM) office’s project schedule range, included in the 490-page […]

A plaintiff who filed suit against Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions in February, claiming the Department of Energy contractor forced him into premature retirement from the site’s fire department, threw in the towel last week, saying in a U.S. District Court filing the chances of victory are too slim without a lawyer. “It is nearly […]

The fiscal 2023 Department of Energy budget request for the Hanford Site in Washington state advances plans for a new $23-million fire station within Area 400, according to justification details posted online last week. The Joe Biden administration proposes $3.1-million toward the new fire station during the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The budget […]

The Department of Energy’s fiscal 2023 budget request for nuclear cleanup at the Idaho National Laboratory includes $10 million toward early planning for  treatment and disposal of 1.2 million gallons of high-level radioactive calcine waste. Under the 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement governing disposal of spent fuel, DOE has until Dec. 31, 2035 to treat the […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board this week added three new resident inspectors to monitor safety at Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Los Alamos, N.M. Clinton Jones is a new resident inspector for DOE’s Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management plans to invest $40 million of grant money into poor communities and tribal governments near federal nuclear cleanup sites. William (Ike) White, the senior adviser and top federal boss at the Environmental Management (EM) office cited the Community Capacity Building initiative in his written testimony filed Wednesday […]

The state of Tennessee kicked off a comment period this week about a long-debated low-level radioactive waste landfill at the Oak Ridge Site, which would replace one expected to reach capacity this decade, a citizens’ advisory board heard Wednesday. The comment period on the planned Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) began Monday and runs through […]

Citing high stakes for Swift & Staley, a Court of Federal Claims judge this week stayed his own order finding the company ineligible for a follow-on landlord services at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky. In the five-page order made public Wednesday, Court of Federal Claims Judge Thompson Dietz said Swift & Staley […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board this week added three new resident inspectors to monitor safety at Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Los Alamos, N.M. Clinton Jones is a new resident inspector for DOE’s Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) […]

The state of Tennessee kicked off a comment period this week about a long-debated low-level radioactive waste landfill at the Oak Ridge Site, which would replace one expected to reach capacity this decade, a citizens’ advisory board heard Wednesday. The comment period on the planned Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) began Monday and runs through […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management plans to invest $40 million of grant money into poor communities and tribal governments near federal nuclear cleanup sites. William (Ike) White, the senior adviser and top federal boss at the Environmental Management (EM) office cited the Community Capacity Building initiative in his written testimony filed Wednesday […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board this week added three new resident inspectors to monitor safety at Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Los Alamos, N.M. Clinton Jones is a new resident inspector for DOE’s Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) […]

The Department of Energy’s fiscal 2023 budget request for nuclear cleanup at the Idaho National Laboratory includes $10 million toward early planning for  treatment and disposal of 1.2 million gallons of high-level radioactive calcine waste. Under the 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement governing disposal of spent fuel, DOE has until Dec. 31, 2035 to treat the […]

The fiscal 2023 Department of Energy budget request for the Hanford Site in Washington state advances plans for a new $23-million fire station within Area 400, according to justification details posted online last week. The Joe Biden administration proposes $3.1-million toward the new fire station during the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The budget […]

Earnings fell at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the first quarter, which the company attributed Monday to pension issues and lower productivity in the naval reactors business. Net earnings for the first quarter were $59 million or $0.64 per share, down from $69.7 million, or $0.73 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was […]

On paper at least, the Department of Energy expects 10 of the 15 remaining Cold War and Manhattan Project cleanups overseen by its $7.6-billion Office of Environmental Management to be cleaned up within 25 years. That is according to the annual chart of the Environmental Management’s (EM) office’s project schedule range, included in the 490-page […]

A plaintiff who filed suit against Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions in February, claiming the Department of Energy contractor forced him into premature retirement from the site’s fire department, threw in the towel last week, saying in a U.S. District Court filing the chances of victory are too slim without a lawyer. “It is nearly […]

Earnings were largely up at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the first quarter, which the international engineering and construction company — with contracts across the Department of Energy nuclear weapons complex — attributed to positive trends in its key markets. First quarter net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Fluor were $48 million, or $0.27 per […]

The budget for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management could swell to almost $8.4 billion by fiscal 2027, according to projections included in President Joe Biden’s detailed justification for the fiscal 2023 request. The DOE requested over $7.6 billion for fiscal 2023, which is relatively flat with fiscal 2022 that ends Sept. 30. […]

Key claims in a lawsuit brought by residents living in the shadow of a former gaseous diffusion plant in Ohio are barred on various grounds, including the government contractor defense, current and former Department of Energy contractors for the Portsmouth Site said recently. Defendants Centrus Energy, Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth and others filed their motion April 28 […]

Don Hardy, the manager of the Department of Energy’s 222-S Laboratory at the Hanford Site, plans to retire on May 12 after 37 years at the former plutonium production complex in Washington state, the lab contractor said Monday. Navarro-led Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration (HLMI) said in a press release that Hardy will be succeeded […]

To slow turnover in the top ranks of federal nuclear remediation, the Government Accountability Office is recommending Congress create a new Department of Energy post, under secretary for nuclear waste management and environmental cleanup. As envisioned in the Government Accountability Office report, the DOE’s $7.6-billion Office of Environmental Management (EM) would be siloed beneath this […]

During a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) pronounced herself “really disappointed with this year’s request” by the Department of Energy for cleanup of the Hanford Site in her home state. The Joe Biden administration’s fiscal 2023 request of $2.5 billion for Hanford was not only […]

Authorities in New Mexico said Thursday afternoon they plan to use a controlled burn to give the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory and the surrounding county more protection from the Cerro Pelado fire in the Jemez Mountains. A controlled burn is planned along Alamo trail to combat the fire that has burned 29,000 […]

Authorities in New Mexico said Thursday afternoon they plan to use a controlled burn to give the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory and the surrounding county more protection from the Cerro Pelado fire in the Jemez Mountains. A controlled burn is planned along Alamo trail to combat the fire that has burned 29,000 […]