Cleanup & Remediation

Next Monday, Feb. 28, is the current target for a return-to-onsite work for most Department of Energy Idaho National Laboratory personnel, according to a recent staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which said COVID-19 is still complicating work there. Another Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) memo said COVID is also still […]

Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not publish today, Feb. 21, 2022, in observance of Washington’s Birthday (President’s Day). Look for the next issue in your inbox on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022.

By John Stang Longtime Hanford Challenge executive director Tom Carpenter plans to semi-retire on April 1 — beginning a phaseout after roughly 35 years as one of the Hanford site’s leading public watchdogs.  Carpenter, 64, will step down as executive director of the organization that he founded, but will stay on as an advisor. Deputy […]

Ben Harp, a Department of Energy manager for several years, has been appointed as an acting senior adviser at the $7.6-million Office of Environmental Management. Harp, a former deputy manager at the Office of River Protection at the Hanford Site in Washington state, is listed on the latest DOE Environmental Management (EM) organization chart published […]

The Department of Energy is required to “fully cooperate” with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and will restrict access in only limited cases such as when a representative of the safety watchdog lacks “an appropriate security clearance,” according to a deal reached this week. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that the two parties have […]

With increased telecommuting, more feds and contractors are eating their chips and candy at home during the COVID-19 pandemic and this in turn has driven down vending machine proceeds at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, according to a recent procurement notice. In the notice initially posted Jan. 27 on the […]

The Department of Energy last week issued Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge its 90-day notice-to-proceed on its potential $8.3-billion, long-term Oak Ridge Reservation Cleanup Contract in Tennessee, a DOE spokesperson said this week in an email. The actual transition begins for  United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), made up of Amentum, Jacobs and Honeywell, on Feb. […]

The Department of Energy is required to “fully cooperate” with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and will restrict access in only limited cases such as when a representative of the safety watchdog lacks “an appropriate security clearance,” according to a deal reached this week. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that the two parties have […]

Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management staffers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory are preparing to return to onsite work starting Feb. 28, Lee Bishop, deputy designated federal officer for the Northern New Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board said during an online meeting Wednesday. “Not everybody is coming back into the office, some people have […]

The Department of Energy last week issued Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge its 90-day notice-to-proceed on its potential $8.3-billion, long-term Oak Ridge Reservation Cleanup Contract in Tennessee, a DOE spokesperson said in a Tuesday email. The actual transition begins for  United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), made up of Amentum, Jacobs and Honeywell, on Feb. 28, […]

With increased telecommuting, more feds and contractors are eating their chips and candy at home during the COVID-19 pandemic and this in turn has driven down vending machine proceeds at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, according to a recent procurement notice. In the notice initially posted Jan. 27 on the […]

Ben Harp, a Department of Energy manager for several years, has been appointed as an acting senior adviser at the $7.6-million Office of Environmental Management. Harp, a former deputy manager at the Office of River Protection at the Hanford Site in Washington state, is listed on the latest DOE Environmental Management (EM) organization chart published […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is done with its remediation of the Plutonium Finishing Plant, according to a recently-posted staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.   The DOE Office of Environmental Management has approved Critical Decision 4 for the cleanup of the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP), “marking completion of […]

Expanding on its decision last week to deny a protest of the Department of Energy’s most recent cleanup contract at the Oak Ridge Site, the Government Accountability Office said this week that the agency properly vetted a Veolia-led team’s proposal and took into consideration the team’s relevant past experience with cleanup jobs. The agency’s evaluation […]

With the promise of a reliable nitrogen supply apparently in hand, the Department of Energy is preparing to resume a final test run to demonstrate operations of a long-awaited plant to treat sodium-bearing radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, according to a state official. “Warm up” of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) began […]

While more than 300 plaintiffs are now listed, an amended complaint last month by guards and other anti-vaccine workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington has the same central weakness as the original one rejected by a federal judge, government lawyers said in a filing last week. U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice […]

Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk met privately with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Jan. 27, a board spokesperson confirmed Monday. Members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) leadership of DOE and its $7.5-billion Office of Environmental Management “try to meet periodically to discuss updates,” in closed sessions, DNFSB associate director for […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is issuing a no-bid contract to the minority-owned firm, Career Communications Group, to give the nuclear cleanup branch a presence at a black engineering conference later this month and help the office improve outreach to technically-savvy minority recruits. The DOE’s Cincinnati-based Environmental Management (EM) Consolidated Business Center […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is issuing a no-bid contract to the minority-owned firm, Career Communications Group, to give the nuclear cleanup branch a presence at a black engineering conference later this month and help the office improve outreach to technically-savvy minority recruits. The DOE’s Cincinnati-based Environmental Management (EM) Consolidated Business Center […]

Expanding on its decision last week to deny a protest of the Department of Energy’s most recent cleanup contract at the Oak Ridge Site, the Government Accountability Office said Monday that the agency properly vetted a Veolia-led team’s proposal and took into consideration the team’s relevant past experience with cleanup jobs. The agency’s evaluation was […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is done with its remediation of the Plutonium Finishing Plant, according to a recently-posted staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.   The DOE Office of Environmental Management has approved Critical Decision 4 for the cleanup of the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP), “marking completion of […]

While more than 300 plaintiffs are now listed, an amended complaint last month by guards and other anti-vaccine workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington has the same central weakness as the original one rejected by a federal judge, government lawyers said in a filing last week. U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice […]

Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk met privately with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Jan. 27, a board spokesperson confirmed Monday. Members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) leadership of DOE and its $7.5-billion Office of Environmental Management “try to meet periodically to discuss updates,” in closed sessions, DNFSB associate director for […]

A Jacobs executive, a college professor, a retired federal regulator and the mayor of town adjoining the government’s largest nuclear cleanup property are the four newest members of an advisory board to the Department of Energy’s $7.5-billion Office of Environmental Management, the agency said last week in a press release.   Newly-appointed members of the 17-member […]

With the promise of a reliable nitrogen supply apparently in hand, the Department of Energy is preparing to resume a final test run to demonstrate operations of a long-awaited plant to treat sodium-bearing radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, according to a state official. “Warm up” of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) was […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has hauled away the last of demolition debris from buildings torn down last year at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory site in Southern California, according to a Tuesday release. Trucks carrying the waste from buildings within DOE’s Energy Technology Engineering Center northwest of Los Angeles rolled out […]

The Department of Energy’s latest best- and worst-case estimates for fully cleaning up the Hanford Site in Washington State were each several tens of billions of dollars lower than the previous estimate, though the calculation released this week does not fully include the cost of delays to the site’s crucial High-Level Waste Facility. The feds […]

Six employees at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory who refused COVID-19 vaccine are assured of their day in court after obtaining a right to sue from a federal agency, the judge in the case confirmed this week. The six plaintiffs filed an amended complaint Jan. 4 against the University of Tennessee- Battelle partnership (UT-Battelle) operating […]

Incumbent North Wind Portage beat out six other small business rivals to win a potentially 10-year, $614-million Moab Remedial Action Contract for cleaning up uranium mill tailings in Utah, the Department of Energy announced Thursday. Idaho-based North Wind Portage holds the existing $197-environmental remediation contract that started in October 2016 and was scheduled to run […]

The Government Accountability Office has denied a protest by a group called Oak Ridge Environmental Partners that challenged the Department of Energy’s  $8.3-billion Cleanup Contract issued in October to United Cleanup Oak Ridge, a team led by Amentum and Jacobs, the current incumbents at the Tennessee site. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) notice dated Tuesday […]