Contracts & Procurement

With a major suit filed against a Department of Energy contractor in his backyard, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) said in a Friday press release he is joining a lawsuit brought by the Georgia governor contending the federal government lacks authority to require government contractors to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The lawsuit was […]

There was no word by deadline Friday on the fate of a federal preliminary injunction request that seeks to prevent the Department of Energy contractor running the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee from placing a small group of COVID-19 vaccine refusers on unpaid leave. There were no new records on the case posted online […]

Lockheed Martin on this week reported lower sales in its third quarter and reduced its outlook for revenue for 2021 with further declines expected in 2022 before rebounding to growth beginning in 2023. Combined with the depressed sales outlook at least through 2022 and a cut to the forecast for operating cash flow this year, […]

A former Sandia National Laboratories employee’s maneuvering for a lighter prison sentence has the government wondering whether the ex-Sandian should receive any sentencing leniency at all, according to a Friday court filing. Joshua Cordova has acted “shamelessly” since reading a plea agreement with the government, claiming that tens of thousands of dollars worth personal items […]

The Department of Energy said in an online notice Tuesday it is awarding the new remediation contract at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee to an Amentum-Jacobs team called United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC in a deal potentially worth $8.3 billion over a 10-year ordering period. United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), won the Oak Ridge […]

Maryland-based Amentum, a major player in the Department of Energy’s weapons complex, announced this week it will buy another federal contractor, Virginia-based PAE in a cash transaction valued at $1.9-billion. The acquisition, which includes Amentum’s assumption of some debt, was approved by PAE’s board of directors, according to the release. As a publicly-traded company, PAE […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) has introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to prevent unvaccinated federal workers and contractors from being fired if they provide proof of COVID–19 antibodies. Newhouse, whose congressional district includes the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, announced the introduction of the Options Over Terminations Act Tuesday. “Federal employees who […]

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has granted the Small Business Administration Office of Hearings and Appeals 24 more days, until Nov. 12, to revisit on remand the issue of whether Swift & Staley is too big to qualify for a $160-million set-aside contract to provide landlord services at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site […]

The Integrated Waste Treatment Unit started its 10-day heat-up period on this week, marking one of the last major milestones before the long-delayed plant begins solidifying sodium-bearing, liquid radioactive waste at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. Heat up started Monday evening, Natalie Walker, hazardous waste bureau chief with the Idaho Department of Environmental […]

Part of the unionized workforce at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state will vote Nov. 5 on a one-year contract extension negotiated by the Hanford Atomic Metals Trade Council, according to monthly reports filed by two major contractors at the federal complex. Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integrated Solutions (HMIS) entered into negotiations with […]

A joint venture led by Virginia-based BWX Technologies this week landed a potential $21-billion, long-term contract from the Department of Energy to manage liquid radioactive cleanup and other work at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the agency said. DOE’s award of the Integrated Mission Completion Contract to Savannah River Mission Completion, announced in […]

Members of United Steelworkers Local Union 1-689, employed in deactivation and demolition by Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth, were scheduled to vote Nov. 1 on a two-year extension to their current collective bargaining contract at the Department of Energy’s former enrichment site in Ohio. Voting was set to start at 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time at the multi-purpose building […]

Part of the unionized workforce at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state will vote Nov. 5 on a one-year contract extension negotiated by the Hanford Atomic Metals Trade Council, according to monthly reports filed by two major contractors at the federal complex. Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integrated Solutions (HMIS) entered into negotiations with […]

A joint venture led by Virginia-based BWX Technologies has landed a potential $21-billion, long-term contract from the Department of Energy to manage radioactive liquid waste and do other work at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. DOE’s award of the Integrated Mission Completion Contract to Savannah River Mission Completion, announced in a Wednesday press […]

Testimony on a restraining order, keeping the Department of Energy contractor running the Oak Ridge National Laboratory from placing a small group of COVID-19 vaccine refusers on unpaid leave, has closed and the order will remain in effect short-term. The current temporary restraining order will “remain in effect until either Friday at 5:00 p.m. or […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has maxed out the options on Consolidated Nuclear Security’s short-term extension to run the Pantex Plant and the Y-12 National Security complex, keeping the short-timer incumbent on the job through March while the agency finalizes the award of a follow-on deal. With an expected four-month transition period to the next […]

Lockheed Martin [LMT] on Tuesday reported lower sales in its third quarter and reduced its outlook for revenue for 2021 with further declines expected in 2022 before rebounding to growth beginning in 2023. Combined with the depressed sales outlook at least through 2022 and a cut to the forecast for operating cash flow this year, […]

The Department of Energy said in an online notice Tuesday it is awarding the new remediation contract at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee to an Amentum-Jacobs team called United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC in a deal potentially worth $8.3 billion over a 10-year ordering period. United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), won the Oak Ridge […]

A hearing was to continue this morning in a federal courtroom in Knoxville, Tenn., over a preliminary injunction requested by a half-dozen employees at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory who seek to avoid being placed on unpaid leave for refusal to take a vaccine against COVID-19. The hearing began yesterday in the […]

Maryland-based Amentum, a major player in the Department of Energy’s weapons complex, announced in a Monday press release it is buying another federal contractor, Virginia-based PAE in a cash transaction valued at $1.9-billion. The acquisition, which includes Amentum’s assumption of some debt, was approved by PAE’s board of directors, according to the release. As a […]

Lawyers representing a half-dozen employees at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee who refuse to take a COVID-19 vaccine are expected Tuesday to argue in federal court that contractor UT-Battelle could rely on options other than a vaccine mandate to protect workers during the pandemic. Had UT-Battelle (UTB), the joint venture […]

An article in the Oct. 19 Weapons Complex Morning Briefing [“Despite COVID, Major Staff Loss Not Seen at SRS, Panel Told”] should have reported that Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) employs 5,500 people and 96% are now vaccinated.

A former Sandia National Laboratories employee’s maneuvering for a lighter prison sentence has the government wondering whether the ex-Sandian should receive any sentencing leniency at all, according to a Friday court filing. Joshua Cordova has acted “shamelessly” since reading a plea agreement with the government, claiming that tens of thousands of dollars worth personal items […]

One of the last major milestones before radiological operation can start at the long-awaited Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory is scheduled to begin this week. A 10-day “heat up” period is set to start Tuesday followed by a 50-day demonstration run of the plant, Brian English, a manager […]

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has granted the Small Business Administration Office of Hearings and Appeals 24 more days, until Nov. 12, to revisit on remand the issue of whether Swift & Staley is too big to qualify for a $160-million set-aside contract to provide landlord services at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is “targeting” fiscal year 2026 as the startup date for a new facility at the Savannah River Site that will process 34 metric tons of surplus weapon usable plutonium for disposal in New Mexico, an agency official told advisors to South Carolina’s governor this week. That’s two years earlier than […]

Maryland-based Amentum has appointed senior vice president Jim Blankenhorn to lead its Technical Services business, which involves engineering, design and operation of environmental projects for domestic and international governmental customers. The promotion is effective Monday, Amentum said in a Thursday press release. Technical Services does work for clients such as the Department of Energy, the […]

The Fluor-led management contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina said Wednesday in federal court that employees who refuse to comply with a federal order to become vaccinated against COVID-19 can simply seek work elsewhere. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court to throw […]

Employees of Department of Energy’s cleanup contractors at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio as well as the Idaho National Laboratory could be sacked if they fail to receive their final vaccination against COVID-19 by Dec. 1, as spelled out in recent documents. Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth workers who are not yet inoculated, or applied for a medical […]

The Department of Energy now expects the Salt Waste Processing Facility built by Parsons at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina will treat roughly four million gallons, rather than six million gallons,  during its first full year of operation, an agency official told the state Nuclear Advisory Council Monday. Parsons finished hot commissioning of […]