High-Level & Tank Waste

The Department of Energy acknowledged late Thursday it will miss the latest state deadline for starting radiological operations of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory but still expects to start treating sodium-bearing waste this fall. The federal agency has requested an extension beyond the current Friday Sept. 30 deadline for using […]

The award of seven field site technical assistance contracts together worth up to $120 million over five years was announced this week by the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts were awarded to S&K Mission Support, AKIMA Systems Engineering, ARS Aleut Remediation, Catawba Engineering and Environmental Services, Energy Technology Alliance, […]

ARLINGTON, VA — Talks about the contractual future of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, ongoing for years between the Office of Environmental Management and the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, could bear fruit within three months, the head of the cleanup office said here Thursday. William (Ike) White made the remark Thursday during […]

ARLINGTON, VA —The acting boss of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, a top manager from the agency’s Office of Nuclear Energy and key congressional representatives were to kick off the National Cleanup Workshop here Tuesday.    The workshop is hosted annually by the Energy Communities Alliance in cooperation with DOE and the Energy […]

Atkins Nuclear Secured Holding Corp. broke ground Tuesday on a new $20-million technology center in Richland, Wash., near the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. Located next door to the current Atkins Engineering Laboratory, the new facility will have a 16,000-square-foot high-bay testing area specifically to develop innovative nuclear and environmental cleanup technologies, the SNC-Lavalin company […]

Two megadollar Department of Energy nuclear cleanup contracts, together potentially worth more than $50 billion, could be awarded by early 2023, a top Office of Environmental Management procurement executive told a gathering in Santa Fe, N.M., Wednesday. The Integrated Tank Disposition Contract for the Hanford Site in Washington state and the Decontamination and Decommissioning Contract […]

The Department of Energy has yet to conclude an outage that began July 20 at the Tank-Side Cesium Removal project at the Hanford Site in Washington state, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday. Since beginning operation in late January, the Tank-Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) project has pre-treated 380,000 gallons of radioactive tank waste and DOE expects to […]

The state of Idaho made the Department of Energy pay about $10 million in penalties so far for its failure to clean up high-level sodium bearing radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, something the agency hopes to do before Jan. 1. Although DOE has yet to set a start-up date for radiological operation of […]

Two megadollar Department of Energy nuclear cleanup contracts, together potentially worth more than $50 billion, could be awarded by early 2023, a top Office of Environmental Management procurement executive told a gathering in Santa Fe, N.M., Wednesday. The Integrated Tank Disposition Contract for the Hanford Site in Washington state and the Decontamination and Decommissioning Contract […]

The Department of Energy Office of Enterprise Assessments is satisfied overall with safety programs Bechtel National is developing for a waste solidification plant aiming to start up late next year at the Hanford Site in Washington state, but says improvements are needed. One area the agency should address prior to startup of Direct-Feed-Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) […]

Online data suggests the Portsmouth Site in Pike County, Ohio appears to be the only Department of Energy nuclear cleanup site which still has a high local transmission rate of COVID-19. An Exchange Monitor search of county-by-county data posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC website listed Pike County, Ohio as about […]

After being criticized for foot-dragging, the Department of Energy and Washington state announced an agreement Aug. 25 to address two leaking underground radioactive tanks at the Hanford Site, as well as future tank leaks. Under a binding order, the federal agency and the Washington Department of Ecology agreed by 2028 to cover the site’s T […]

The final major test run of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory concluded last week and, after a decade of trying, the agency is hoping to start radiological operations this fall. The confirmatory run of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) ended July 27 after DOE and its […]

The final major test run of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory concluded last week and, after a decade of trying, the agency is hoping to start radiological operations this fall. The confirmatory run of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) ended July 27 after DOE and its […]

The Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has treated over 991,000 gallons of waste so far in fiscal 2022, a Department of Energy official told the Citizens Advisory Board for the site Monday.   “We just recently completed a planned outage,” July 12 at the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), […]

The Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has treated over 991,000 gallons of waste so far in fiscal 2022, a Department of Energy official told the Citizens Advisory Board for the site Monday.   “We just recently completed a planned outage,” July 12 at the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), […]

The Department of Energy confirmatory test run for the much-anticipated Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory will likely end around the end of July, a state official said recently. “The [Integrated Waste Treatment Unit] continues to run and will do so for approximately two more weeks,” Kim Custer, a senior hazardous waste […]

The Department of Energy confirmatory test run for the much-anticipated Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory will likely end around the end of the month, a state official said Friday. “The [Integrated Waste Treatment Unit] continues to run and will do so for approximately two more weeks,” Kim Custer, a senior hazardous […]

William (Ike) White, the top fed at the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, anticipates radiological operations “at least up and running” at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at Idaho National Laboratory by the end of the year. White made the remark to Weapons Complex Monitor Wednesday after a House Science, Space and Technology […]

William (Ike) White, the top fed at the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, anticipates radiological operations “at least up and running” at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at Idaho National Laboratory by the end of the year. White made the remark to Weapons Complex Morning Briefing Wednesday after a House Science, Space and […]

While changes in a legally-binding consent decree allow the Department of Energy more time to start turning low-level radioactive tank waste into glass at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the agency’s goal is still to start the work by the end of 2023, the top fed at the property said Wednesday. While DOE has […]

House appropriators want to keep the Hanford Site’s budget flat in fiscal year 2023 and nixed the Joe Biden administration’s plan to increase the site’s liquid-waste budget at the expense of solid-waste programs, according to a bill up for debate in committee on Tuesday. Overall, the bill proposes roughly the $7.9 billion requested for DOE’s […]

Blaming the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Energy on Friday asked a federal court to extend by almost two years the deadline for beginning solidification of liquid waste at the Hanford Site. The request, unopposed by Washington state, was part of a motion filed Friday with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of […]

While construction is essentially complete, serious challenges remain to starting up the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant by the end of 2023, according to the Government Accountability Office. The Department of Energy still estimates the direct-feed low-activity waste (DFLAW) portion of the plant will begin turning some liquid, radioactive tank waste into glass […]

The Department of Energy’s confirmatory run of its Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory has been paused once for about a day since its resumption May 23, a state official said Tuesday. The Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) “is currently operating at steady state conditions for the Confirmatory Run,” Kim Custer, a […]

While construction is essentially complete, hurdles remain to starting up the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant by the end of 2023, according to the Government Accountability Office. The Department of Energy still estimates the direct-feed low-activity waste (DFLAW) portion of the plant will begin turning some liquid, radioactive tank waste into glass logs […]

The annual Radwaste Summit kicks off Wednesday morning in Summerlin, Nev., with presentations from top managers at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management as well as the National Nuclear Security Administration. Jay Mullis II, acting associate principal deputy assistant secretary for regulatory and policy affairs for the $7.6-billion cleanup office, is one of […]

After working out various kinks since late December, the Department of Energy has resumed its demonstration run of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory, a spokesperson said Wednesday. Following a successful heat-up, waste simulant processing resumed on May 23, a DOE spokesperson said in an email. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety […]

After working out various kinks since late December, the Department of Energy has resumed its demonstration run of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory, a spokesperson said Wednesday. Following a successful heat-up, waste simulant processing resumed on May 23, a DOE spokesperson said in an email. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety […]

The Defense Waste Processing Facility at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has entered an outage this month as it prepares to switch over from formic acid to glycolic acid by October. Going with glycolic acid at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) should lead to more efficient conversion of radioactive […]