Defense Low-Level Waste

The ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a June legal settlement between the state and the Department of Energy to prevent mislabeled radioactive waste shipments from again ending up at the Nevada National Security Site dominate the site’s just released 2020 environmental report. The settlement reached this summer calls upon DOE to increase the […]

In a long-awaited legal settlement over six years of mislabeled, radioactive waste shipments to Nevada, the Department of Energy agreed to tighten waste-inspection standards at nuclear weapon sites and overhaul its solid waste permit with the state by early next year, Carson City’s top environmental official said this week. DOE will also have to revise […]

In a long-awaited legal settlement over six years of mislabeled, radioactive waste shipments to Nevada, the Department of Energy agreed to tighten waste-inspection standards at nuclear weapon sites and overhaul its solid waste permit with the state by early next year, Carson City’s top environmental official said this week. DOE will also have to revise […]

As part of President Joe Biden’s executive order to review policies issued by the Donald Trump White House, the Environmental Protection Agency is taking another look at its December 2020 approval of plans for a new landfill at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the agency said recently. DOE’s draft record of […]

In a long-awaited legal settlement over six years of mislabeled, radioactive waste shipments to Nevada, the Department of Energy agreed to tighten waste-inspection standards at nuclear weapon sites and overhaul its solid waste permit with the state by early next year, Carson City’s top environmental official said Wednesday. DOE will also have to revise the […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., shipped low-level waste to the Nevada National Security Site in May for the first time in nearly two years after the desert site reinstated a certification that was yanked in 2019 following disclosure that Y-12 had sent 32 containers worth of improperly labelled waste to the […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., shipped low-level waste to the Nevada National Security Site in May for the first time in nearly two years after the desert site reinstated a certification that was yanked in 2019 following disclosure that Y-12 had sent 32 containers worth of improperly labelled waste to the […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., shipped low-level waste to the Nevada National Security Site in May for the first time in nearly two years after the desert site reinstated a certification that was yanked in 2019 following disclosure that Y-12 had sent 32 containers worth of improperly labelled waste to the […]

The Department of Energy and contractor Fluor Idaho said in a Tuesday press release the final shipment of radioactive waste has been placed into the 97-acre Subsurface Disposal Area at the Idaho National Laboratory. The disposal area, which began accepting waste in the 1950s and has since accepted laboratory-generated waste and shipments from the Rocky […]

After a lawsuit by gold companies forced it to back off its initial selection of a commercial site in Texas for long-term storage of elemental mercury, the Department of Energy is again shopping around for a contractor and Waste Control Specialists is again one of the finalists. That is a key takeaway from DOE’s notice […]

After a lawsuit by gold companies forced it to back off its initial selection of a commercial site in Texas for long-term storage of elemental mercury, the Department of Energy is again shopping around for a contractor and Waste Control Specialists is again one of the finalists. That is a key takeaway from DOE’s notice […]

The Department of Energy and contractor Fluor Idaho said in a Tuesday press release the final shipment of radioactive waste has been placed into the 97-acre Subsurface Disposal Area at the Idaho National Laboratory. The disposal area, which began accepting waste in the 1950s and has since accepted laboratory-generated waste and shipments from the Rocky […]

A federal judge this week dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by a prominent nuclear trade group over the agency’s interpretation of very-low level waste disposal regulations.  The court lacked jurisdiction to make a ruling, according to a filing Tuesday. If a 2019 letter to industry from NRC detailing its interpretation of […]

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by a prominent nuclear trade group over the agency’s interpretation of very-low level waste disposal regulations.  The court lacked jurisdiction to make a ruling, according to a filing Tuesday. If a 2019 letter to industry from NRC detailing its interpretation of […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., could soon be approved to resume waste shipments to the Nevada National Security Site, Nevada’s federal site manager said Thursday at an online conference. The Y-12 certification was lifted following a 2019 disclosure that dozens of mislabeled containers of waste were sent to Nevada between 2013 […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee could soon be approved to resume waste shipments to the Nevada National Security Site, Nevada’s federal site manager said Thursday at an online conference. The Y-12 certification was lifted following a 2019 disclosure that dozens of mislabeled containers of waste were sent to […]

The Department of Energy and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection are hammering out some type of legal settlement over shipments of mislabeled radioactive waste sent last decade to the Nevada National Security Site from the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, according to minutes of an advisory committee meeting posted online. “Progress has been […]

The Department of Energy and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection are hammering out some type of legal settlement over shipments of mislabeled radioactive waste sent from the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee to the Nevada National Security Site, according to minutes of an advisory committee meeting posted online. “Progress has been made on […]

The Department of Energy and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection are hammering out some type of legal settlement over shipments of mislabeled radioactive waste sent from the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee to the Nevada National Security Site, according to minutes of an advisory committee meeting posted online. “Progress has been made on […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management on Thursday awarded five-year basic ordering agreements for nationwide low-level and mixed-low level waste treatment to five firms, including some incumbents. The winning companies are Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions, Atlanta-based Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Massachusetts-headquartered Unitech Services Group, Waste Control Specialists in Texas and Ohio-based Veolia Nuclear Solutions […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should consider additional safety measures for its proposed update on rules for disposal of “very-low-level” radioactive waste, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The federal regulator currently on a case-by-case basis allows land burial of this waste type in municipal and hazardous waste landfills that are not licensed for disposal […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has begun procurement for a contractor to help prepare for a major cleanup job at the Niagara Falls Storage Site in New York state under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The Army branch ultimately intends to hire an architectural and engineering services provider for the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has pushed back to this fall the expected submission of a report on the potential path forward for two rules proceedings for disposal of radioactive waste, a senior official said Tuesday. Earlier this year, the report had been anticipated this summer. “That’s being pushed back slightly. It’ll probably be in the […]

The Energy Department expects by mid-August to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for treatment of low-level and mixed-level radioactive wastes, according to procurement documents published Thursday. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said an RFP should be issued within 15 to 60 days of the June 18 notice. The agency plans to issue one […]

Waste disposal sites in up to three states could be the final destination for the Energy Department’s depleted uranium oxide from retired gaseous diffusion plants in Piketon, Ohio, and Paducah, Ky. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said Friday it has published the record of decision (ROD) for disposal of material generated from conversion of […]

The United Steelworkers union is sharply opposing a proposal to ease Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules for disposal of “very low-level” (VLLW) radioactive waste in landfills. “The United Steelworkers asks the NRC to withhold issuing this proposed rule and strongly urge you to reconsider. The minimal monetary costs this rule may reduce is not worth the […]

The U.S. Department of Energy is extending the comment period by more than a month on its draft environmental assessment for the plan to treat and dispose of about 10,000 gallons of recycled wastewater from the Savannah River Site at a low-level radioactive waste site located out of South Carolina. Stakeholders now have until Feb. […]

The U.S. Department of Energy is extending the comment period by more than a month on its draft environmental assessment for the plan to treat and dispose of about 10,000 gallons of recycled wastewater from the Savannah River Site at a low-level radioactive waste site located out of South Carolina. Stakeholders now have until Feb. […]

Idaho Gov. Brad Little has expressed concern that a current proceeding at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission could open the door for disposal of certain radioactive wastes in his state. The Republican governor was among dozens of individuals to submit comments by the Nov. 19 deadline on the agency’s draft regulatory basis on disposal of […]

Perma-Fix Northwest accepted a $23,275 fine for its failure in 2013-2014 to ensure it had sufficient third-party liability coverage for its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) radioactive waste facility in Richland, Wash., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday. Representatives for the federal agency and the company signed a consent agreement on Aug. 12. The […]