Decommissioning

The following interview with Ken Rueter, president and project manager of Oak Ridge cleanup contractor UCOR, was conducted by Weapons Complex Monitor Senior Editor Kenneth Fletcher on June 17. It came just before this week UCOR wrapped up demolition of the K-31 former gaseous diffusion plant, a milestone in the cleanup of the East Tennessee […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The Department of Energy late last week awarded a nearly $4 million firm fixed price contract to CTI and Associates for demolition services at Oak Ridge’s K-732 switchyard in the East Tennessee Technology Park. The contract for the minority owned business falls under the 8(a) program. The contract also includes […]

The Department of Energy late last week awarded a nearly $4 million firm fixed price contract to CTI and Associates for demolition services at Oak Ridge’s K-732 switchyard in the East Tennessee Technology Park. The contract for the minority owned business falls under the 8(a) program. The contract includes demo work and recycling of materials, […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 6/12/2015 Amid pressure from lawmakers and reports regarding the huge amount of excess facilities awaiting transfer to the Department of Energy’s cleanup program, a DOE working group on the issue expects to complete a comprehensive report by the end of the year, officials said this month. The Energy Secretary’s office formed […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/12/2015 After delays and cost increases at Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant were highlighted last fall in a report prepared by the Department of Energy’ Office of Inspector General, cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company aims to implement a host of corrective actions, according to a plan recently released by DOE. […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/5/2015 Portsmouth D&D contractor Fluor B&W Portsmouth, LLC, is placing a renewed focus on deactivation of the X-326 facility after pushing the project’s completion date from March 2016 to June 2017. The contractor this week instituted an organizational change for X-326 work, including a dedicated project team to focus on accelerated […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/5/2015 Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) initiated the final phase of the Maxey Flats Disposal Site cleanup project this week in a symbolic ceremony meant to kick off the construction of a $35.2 million permanent protective cap over the site. Maxey Flats previously served as a disposal site for the […]

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) initiated the final phase of the Maxey Flats Disposal Site cleanup project yesterday in a symbolic ceremony meant to kick off the construction of a $35.2 million permanent protective cap over the site. Maxey Flats previously served as a disposal site for the nation’s low-level radioactive waste, but due to poor […]

Scotland’s Dounreay site recently completed the last shipment of an 11-ton batch of breeder reactor rids to the Sellafield site for storage in an effort to consolidate U.K. used fuel, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced yesterday. While plans originally called for storing the material on site, in 2011 the U.K. government decided to remove it […]

Portsmouth cleanup contractor Fluor B&W Portsmouth, LLC, is placing a renewed priorty on deactivation of the X-326 facility after pushing to project’s completion date from Match 2016 to June 2017. The contractor yesterday instituted an organizational change for X-326 work that includes a dedicated project team to focus on accelerated deactivation and schedule recovery of […]

The U.K.’s Sellafield Limited last week awarded a four-year £20 million ($30.5 million) contract to Tata Steel to refurbish waste containers and doors for the transfer of waste from legacy plants to new storage facilities. The material will allow the decommissioning of the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo. “This announcement demonstrates our commitment to ensuring value […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/22/2015 AECOM is now projecting completion of physical work at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) D&D project by the end of next year—ahead of the Department of Energy’s previously stated schedule for the project. “Safe progress continues at the SPRU project,” AECOM spokesman Keith Wood said in a written response […]

Magnox to See Up to 1,600 Layoffs Under New Organization Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/22/2016 Between 1,400 and 1,600 layoffs are now expected at the U.K.’s set of Magnox sites between now and September 2016, site license company Magnox Limited announced this week. The reductions are related to both changes in the work needed at […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/22/2015 Kurion has received a contract to design a water treatment system for the decommissioning of the Cimarron uranium fuel fabrication facility, located near Guthrie, Okla., the company announced this week. As part of the project, Kurion will leverage its Ion Specific Media technology to remove radioactive contaminants from groundwater, […]

Kurion has received a contract to design a water treatment system for the decommissioning of the Cimarron fuel fabrication facility located near Guthrie, Okla., the company announced yesterday. As part of the project, Kurion will leverage its Ion Specific Media technology to remove radioactive contaminants from groundwater, like the process the company is using at […]

Sellafield Awards £50 Million Canister Contract to Metalcraft Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/15/2015 Sellafield Limited has awarded a contract worth up to £50 million ($78 million) to Metalcraft for providing high integrity stainless steel nuclear waste storage containers for material stored at the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo, the company announced this week. The contract covers […]

Sellafield Limited has awarded a contract worth up to £50 million ($78 million) to Metalcraft for providing high integrity stainless steel nuclear waste storage containers stored at the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo at U.K.’s Sellafield site, the company announced yesterday. The contract covers the procurement of 2,200 three cubic meter boxes needed to store the […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/1/2015 Work on a new cleanup project to bring down structures at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Old Town Section should soon begin once documentation preparation is completed, officials said in April. The Lab’s Old Town section covers seven buildings totaling approximately 56,000 gross square feet and four concrete slabs remaining from […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/24/2015 A new pilot project to decommission the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR) in Arkansas would be launched in Fiscal Year 2016 under the House Appropriations Committee’s version of the FY 2016 Energy and Water spending bill, according to report language released this week. The bill would provide $9.5 million […]

UCOR Moving Forward K-31, K-27 Demolition Efforts WC Monitor 4/24/2015 URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) has made significant progress in demolishing the K-31 Building and expects to complete the job – including the removal of the big building’s concrete pad – by November, several months ahead of schedule. More and more of the Department of Energy […]

RW Monitor 4/24/2015 IN NRC The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to hold its first public meeting on the proposed 10.CFR.61 rulemaking next week at NRC Headquarters in Rockville, Md., NRC Director of the Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs Larry Camper said this week at the Low-Level Waste Forum in Alexandria, Va. Next […]

A new pilot project to decommission the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor in Arkansas would be launched in Fiscal Year 2016 under the House Appropriations Committee’s version of the FY 2016 spending bill, according to report language released yesterday. The bill would provide $9.5 million to DOE to address the aging and inactive experimental reactor […]

Amec Foster Wheeler announced last week that the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority awarded the company a four-year contract to increase its role in decommissioning and waste management services. The value of the contract has not been announced yet, but included in the scope of work is work related to site characterization, engineering design, and […]

The Army Corps of Engineers last week began to move the STURGIS Barge to Galveston, Texas, where it’s planned to be decommissioned, the Corps said in an announcement last week. The journey from the James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia to Galveston is scheduled to take three to four weeks, while the actual decommissioning should […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/17/2015 A group of Senators, including Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), reintroduced three pieces of legislation this week that would enhance and expand safety and security regulations for reactor sites undergoing decommissioning and for the […]

A group of senators, including Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), re-introduced three pieces of legislation yesterday that would enhance and expand safety and security regulations at decommissioning reactor sites and the storage of spent nuclear fuel at nuclear plants. The […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/10/2015 Despite marking an upturn in fee performance after years of steady decline, Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, is considering challenging its Fiscal Year 2014 award fee determination for the Portsmouth D&D project, WC Monitor has learned. At issue is DOE’s decision to give FBP a rating of only “satisfactory” in one of […]

RW Monitor 4/10/2014 IN NRC The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on the updated Zion License Termination Plan, submitted by ZionSolutions in December, according to a posting in the Federal Register this week. The plan included a decommissioning cost estimate for the remaining work, totaling $389 million. “The overall remaining decommissioning cost (including […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on the updated Zion License Termination Plan, submitted by ZionSolutions in December, according to a posting in the Federal Registeryesterday. The plan includes a decommissioning cost estimate for the remaining work, totaling $389 million. “The overall remaining decommissioning cost (including scope risk contingency) was estimated to be […]

FBP Agrees to Pay $50,000 to Settle Asbestos-Related Concerns WC Monitor 4/3/2015 Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, has agreed to implement corrective actions and pay $50,000 to resolve asbestos-related safety concerns at the Portsmouth D&D project under a consent order reached with the Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement. The consent order, released this week, resolves an […]