Archive

Contracts & Procurement

Awards, protests, extensions, and re-competes for management and operating contracts and major subcontracts across the weapons complex and commercial nuclear sector.

  • New weapons executive officer at Los Alamos

    Los Alamos National Laboratory appointed Evelyn Mullen executive officer for weapons, the New Mexico nuclear-weapons design laboratory announced Monday. In her new role, Mullen will be an “executive leader in the organization, with a focus on both tactical and strategic operational needs,” according to Los Alamos’ press release. She will report to Robert Webster, the […]

  • Four Rivers to build emergency ops center at Paducah

    The Department of Energy has signed off on a $5.4-million task order for Four River Nuclear Partnership to build an emergency operations center at the Paducah Site in Kentucky, according to a procurement notice posted online Friday April 22. Construction is scheduled to start this year, according to the DOE Office of Environmental Management budget […]

  • Feds say most plaintiffs in Hanford COVID Vax case lack standing to sue; hearing set for May

    It is time for a federal district court judge in Washington state to toss out the amended complaint brought by more than 300 workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site who oppose mandatory vaccination against COVID-19, government lawyers said in filings last week. “Regardless of what procedural exhaustion requirements must be met to assert […]

  • NNSA locks in Sandia management and operations contractor for five more years

    Honeywell’s wholly owned subsidiary National Engineering and Technology Solutions of Sandia will be the prime contractor for the Sandia National Laboratories for another five years, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced Monday. The semi-autonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency said in a press release that it exercised five options on National Engineering and Technology […]

  • DOE does market research on certain work now handled by WCS, EnergySolutions

    The procurement arm of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office is requesting information from contractors capable of storing and disposing of low-level or mixed low-level hazardous waste, according to a recent online notice. The DOE’s Cincinnati-based Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center issued a sources sought/request for information (RFI) on Thursday April 21, trying to […]

  • Long-term mercury storage RFP extended until May 20

    Prospective bidders on a Department of Energy contract for long-term storage of domestic elemental mercury now have two extra weeks, until May 20, to submit proposals. In an update on its procurement page for Elemental Mercury Long-term Management and Storage, the DOE said Thursday April 21 that the submission deadline is being extended to May […]

  • Wrap Up: DOE lands more minority partnership fund; ground broken on SRS project

    The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management officially said in an April 15 press release it is expanding its Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program thanks to increased funding for the program in the agency’s fiscal 2022 budget, which started Oct. 1. In March, DOE’s Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina said Minority Serving […]

  • Federal district judge refuses to throw out most claims against Portsmouth contractors

    A federal district judge in southern Ohio is allowing most claims brought by a group of local residents to proceed against current and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site. With the exception of not allowing minor children to be plaintiffs in a lawsuit chiefly concerning property, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley rejected […]

  • ‘Stand down’ order lifted at Idaho advanced mixed waste treatment project

    The Jacobs-led cleanup contractor the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has lifted a self-imposed “stand down” order at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project, an agency spokesperson said Tuesday. The contractor, Idaho Environmental Coalition, lifted the order March 31, the DOE spokesperson said in a Tuesday email. The spokesperson was responding to a Weapons […]

  • Long-running problems with WIPP firefighting program cited by DOE Inspector General

    Until the recent past, the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico let its fire trucks fall into disrepair and did a poor job of training firefighters, the agency’s Office of Inspector General said in a just-released report.   While it found no evidence to substantiate the most serious allegations raised about the […]

  • AVANTech fills out biz development ranks

    AVANTech, a Columbia, S.C.,-based radioactive and industrial water treatment solutions provider for the Department of Energy and commercial nuclear markets, said this week it recently completed expansion of its business development staff, by adding or promoting five managers. Tammy Monday joined AVANTech in January as vice president of business development for government services, working out […]

  • Washington state defends Hanford worker comp law before Supreme Court

    The Supreme Court should uphold the constitutionality of a 2018 Washington state law that makes it easier for workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site to qualify for compensation for illnesses, the state attorney general’s office argued Monday before the high court. The U.S. Supreme Court, an independent branch of the federal government, agreed […]

  • TVA, Ontario Power Generation to collaborate on advanced reactors development

    Two of North America’s largest utilities are teaming up to advance the rollout of new advanced nuclear technology in the U.S. and Canada, the companies announced this week. Under their new partnership, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) plan to coordinate design, licensing and deployment of advanced reactors “as part of […]

  • Contaminated excess facilities across DOE draw more attention from cleanup office

    William (Ike) White, the top manager of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch, expects excess contaminated facilities in the weapons complex to draw more attention in the next decade or so, he told a National Academies of Sciences board Wednesday. Within that span, it will be time for the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management […]

  • DOE cans proposed extension for incumbent Savannah River prime; issued in error, DOE says

    The Department of Energy has withdrawn the federal procurement notice from Monday announcing a planned multi-year extension for the prime at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, saying it was “done in error.” The DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) “are jointly developing contract plans related to […]

  • NNSA search for new Las Vegas campus underway

    The National Nuclear Security Administration is looking for a new remote office site in Las Vegas for personnel who don’t need to regularly commute to the Nevada Nuclear Security Site some 60 miles to the northwest of the city, according to a recent procurement note. The semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency “plans to […]

  • DOE cans proposed extension for incumbent Savannah River prime; issued in error, DOE says

    DOE cans proposed extension for incumbent Savannah River prime; issued in error, DOE says The Department of Energy has withdrawn the federal procurement notice from Monday announcing a planned multi-year extension for the prime at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, saying it was “done in error.” The DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) […]

  • Long-running problems with WIPP firefighting program cited by DOE Inspector General

    Until the recent past, the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico let its fire trucks fall into disrepair and did a poor job of training firefighters, the agency’s Office of Inspector General said in a just-released report.   While it found no evidence to substantiate the most serious allegations raised about the […]

  • NNSA search for new Las Vegas campus underway

    The National Nuclear Security Administration is looking for a new remote office site in Las Vegas for personnel who don’t need to regularly commute to the Nevada Nuclear Security Site some 60 miles to the northwest of the city, according to a recent procurement note. The semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency “plans to […]

  • Contaminated excess facilities across DOE draw more attention from cleanup office

    William (Ike) White, the top manager of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch, expects excess contaminated facilities in the weapons complex to draw more attention in the next decade or so, he told a National Academies of Sciences board Wednesday. Within that span, it will be time for the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management […]

  • Feds kick off work on Advanced Manufacturing center near SRS lab

    Department of Energy managers, college officials and lawmakers broke ground Tuesday on a new off-site research center for the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. The $50-million Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative facility, to be built by North Wind Group on the University of South Carolina-Aiken campus, will provide 60,000 square feet of laboratory, office and […]

  • TVA, Ontario Power Generation to collaborate on advanced reactors development

    Two of North America’s largest utilities are teaming up to advance the rollout of new advanced nuclear technology in the U.S. and Canada, the companies announced Tuesday. Under their new partnership, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) plan to coordinate design, licensing and deployment of advanced reactors “as part of the […]

  • Washington state defends Hanford worker comp law before high court

    The Supreme Court should uphold the constitutionality of a 2018 Washington state law that makes it easier for workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site to qualify for compensation for illnesses believed to be linked to contamination at the former plutonium production complex, the state attorney general’s office argued Monday. Washington Deputy Solicitor General […]

  • Federal district judge refuses to throw out most claims against Portsmouth contractors

    A federal district judge in southern Ohio is allowing most claims brought by a group of local residents to proceed against current and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site. With the exception of not allowing minor children to be plaintiffs in a lawsuit chiefly concerning property, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley rejected […]

  • SRNS would remain Savannah River prime for up to 5 more years, under DOE plan

    The Department of Energy intends to keep Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions as management and operations contractor of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina for up to five more years, the agency said in a procurement notice Monday. The agency said on the SAM.gov procurement website it plans to extend the period of performance […]

  • DOE Environmental Management expands minority partnership effort funding

    The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management officially said in a Thursday press release it is expanding its Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program thanks to increased funding for the program in the agency’s fiscal 2022 budget, which started Oct. 1. In March, DOE’s Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina said Minority Serving Institutions […]

  • After watchdog disclosure, DOE says potential vapor issue at Hanford liquid-waste plant is resolved

    Experts will brief the public in May about the Department of Energy’s efforts to protect both Hanford workers and people nearby the site from a compound called acetonitrile: a toxic byproduct liquid radioactive waste treatment scheduled to begin by late 2023 at the former plutonium production site in Washington state. “Subject matter experts” will be […]

  • No greenlight yet for resumption of IWTU demonstration run

    The Department of Energy has yet to resume its final test run of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory, the agency confirmed Thursday. “The IWTU remains shut down,” an Idaho Department of Environmental Quality official said by email Thursday. “They [DOE managers]have completed their investigation and are preparing to start warming […]

  • COVID court roundup: Justice looks to start enforcing vaccination order; Hanford guards seek permanent exemption

    After the government won a key legal battle last week, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday that the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should allow it to enforce a presidential executive order requiring federal employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. On April 7 the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit overturned a nationwide preliminary injunction […]

  • Nuclear Fuel Services to start weapons-uranium work under sole-source NNSA contract

    BWX Technologies Nuclear Fuel Services, Erwin, Tenn., will begin producing purified uranium metal for nuclear weapons under a sole-source award announced Wednesday by the National Nuclear Security Administration. “The purification and conversion capabilities provided by the Contractor shall allow for HEU [highly enriched uranium] materials of various forms (such as metal and oxide) to be […]