High-Level & Tank Waste

The Department of Energy issued a Request for Proposals yesterday for low-level and mixed-low level waste treatment services for its Office of Environmental Management cleanup program. The RFP could result in the issuance of one or more Basic Ordering Agreements for a period of five years, with no associated option periods. Work will be performed […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 2/27/2015 As the Department of Energy hopes to launch a pilot program for deep borehole disposal  of radioactive waste next fiscal year, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said this week that Hanford’s cesium-strontium capsules could be a good candidate for borehole disposal. The 1,936 high activity capsules stored at Hanford’s Waste […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/27/2015 As the Department of Energy hopes to launch a pilot program for deep borehole disposal  of radioactive waste next fiscal year, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said this week that Hanford’s cesium-strontium capsules could be a good candidate for borehole disposal. The 1,936 high activity capsules stored at Hanford’s Waste […]

As the Department of Energy hopes to launch a pilot program for deep borehole disposal next fiscal year, DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz said yesterday that Hanford’s cesium-strontium capsules could be a good candidate for borehole disposal. The 1,936 high activity capsules stored at Hanford’s Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility gave been named one of the […]

DOE, Wash. State Argue in Court Over Proposed Consent Decree Changes WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The state of Washington would inappropriately expand the Hanford consent decree beyond what the parties signed onto in 2010, including adding new double-shell tanks, the Department of Justice argued in Eastern Washington District U.S. Court late this week. “We have a […]

The Department of Energy’s contractor National Security Technologies issued a sources sought notice for a subcontract to drill boreholes at the Nevada National Security Site late last week. DOE has recently begun to look at borehole disposal as an alternative disposal path for some DOE-managed high-level waste. This contract would call for the constriction of […]

Talks Extended Another Month  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 In a step forward in resolving discussions between South Carolina, the Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Savannah River tank closure milestones, the parties have agreed to a 27-day extension on one tank and will continue discussions one more month. The issue […]

WRPS Issues Plan to Protect Workers From Tank Vapors WC Monitor 2/13/2015 A new plan to better protect workers from chemical vapors from Hanford tanks will be implemented in two phases, with the first phase completing 30 of 47 recommendations made in an independent review of issues. Those steps should be completed by September 2016. […]

Washington River Protection Solutions released a two-phase plan Tuesday to better protect Hanford workers from chemical vapors from tank waste. By the end of the first phase in September 2016, 30 of 47 recommendations made in an independent review of issues, the Hanford Tank Vapor Assessment Report, should be completed. The proposed strategies should reduce […]

DNFSB Raises Concerns Over Ventilation System at WTP Facility WC Monitor 2/6/2015 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board expressed concern this week over the ability of the confinement ventilation system to be used at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s High-Level Waste Facility to effectively perform its safety function in the event of a seismic incident. […]

SRNS Improperly Destroyed Necessary Waste Canister Records WC Monitor 2/6/2015 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the managing contractor for the Savannah River Site, improperly destroyed thousands of records last year that are required to send canisters of vitrified high-level waste  from the site to an eventual repository, according to a Department of Energy occurrence report. SRNS […]

Hanford tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions is seeking companies interested in participating in a “technology exchange” to “improve the tank farm vapor management system,” according to a sources sought notice posted Friday.  The vapors have been an ongoing issue for WRPS, as several workers last year had to seek medical attention after exposure […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/30/2015 The Department of Energy is in talks with Bechtel National on a potential financial settlement to collectively resolve a number of outstanding safety findings at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, WC Monitor has learned. The settlement reportedly would entail Bechtel National agreeing to pay at least $1 million in fines […]

DOE Agrees to Pay $44,000 Fine Over Waste Storage Violations WC Monitor 1/30/2015 The Department of Energy has agreed to pay a $44,722 penalty to resolve more violations of waste storage requirements at Hanford, as alleged by the Environmental Protection Agency. The two agencies signed a consent agreement this week, with DOE neither admitting nor […]

DNFSB Wants Info From DOE On Preventing Hydrogen Explosions at WTP WC Monitor 1/30/2015 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is questioning how the Department of Energy plans to prevent hydrogen explosions in some tanks holding high-level radioactive waste at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. The Board is asking for a written report in 90 […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is calling on the Department of Energy to provide more information on how it intends to prevent potential hydrogen explosions in a portion of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Currently, the Safety Design Strategy for the WTP’s High-Level Waste Facility “does not define a nuclear safety control strategy for […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/23/2015 Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions, LLC, earned $10.5 million in Fiscal Year 2014 award fee, or about 83 percent of its total available award fee, according to information the Department of Energy released late this week. The contractor earned an overall grade of “very good” for its […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 1/23/2015 The state of Washington is concerned that the Department of Energy may be planning to take longer to build the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant and scale back on retrieving waste from single-shell tanks at the site to lower annual spending, according to new documents filed in federal court. DOE said […]

DOE Looking At Next Steps for Waste Retrieval After MARS Failure WC Monitor 1/23/2015 The Department of Energy is considering its next steps to empty waste from Tank C-105 after its most robust retrieval technology failed to work as expected when equipped with a vacuum attachment. Work was stopped in the tank after the Mobile […]

Commissioning Costs for Idaho Facility Double Previous Estimates Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/16/2015 While the planned facility for addressing the remaining liquid waste at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site is anticipated to be in full operation before the end of this year, it won’t be until at least 2016 before treatment of the waste […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/16/2015 With no resolution yet in its dispute with the Department of Energy over Savannah River tank waste milestones, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control this week asked to elevate the issue to the Dispute Resolution Committee. “We acknowledge that the discussions between representatives of the Department of […]

DOE IG Finds Issues With WRPS’ Management of Materials Inventory WC Monitor 1/16/2015 Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions is implementing corrective actions after a Department of Energy Office of Inspector General report highlighted management issues with its materials system inventory. The tank farm material services system is used to manage inventory for […]

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control yesterday requested that its dispute with the Department of Energy over tank waste milestones be elevated to the Dispute Resolution Committee. “We acknowledge that the discussions between representatives of the Department of Energy, SCDHEC and the Environmental Protection Agency have been constructive and that there has […]

Still Unclear When Treatment Facility Will Begin Processing Material Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/9/2015 Idaho environmental regulators have begun penalizing the Department of Energy thousands of dollars per day for failing to empty underground tanks at the Idaho site of liquid radioactive waste, and it remains uncertain when the facility intended to process the waste […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 Construction work has been completed on the Savannah River Site’s Waste Solidification Building as the site’s managing contractor is preparing to put the facility into an “interim layup” due to delays in completion of the related Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project. The WSB is designed to process waste streams […]

Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz on Friday signed a determination to allow closure operations to begin at Savannah River’s H Tank Farm. The H tank farm includes Tank 16, which will be the next tank to be closed by DOE, as well as Tank 12. Those tanks have had more than 99 percent of the […]

The following interview with Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Allison Macfarlane was conducted by RadWaste Monitor reporter Jeremy L. Dillon this week at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md. Macfarlane plans to leave her position on the Commission at the end of this year. RW Monitor 12/19/2014                     […]

The Department of Energy should examine the idea of building new double-shell waste tanks at Hanford, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released today. Concerns have grown over the longevity of Hanford’s current set of 28 double-shell waste tanks, which are intended to store waste taken from the site’s single-shell tanks until it […]

Still Uncertain, Though, When Facility Will Begin Operation Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/12/2014 The Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit reached a significant milestone in its startup process last week, but it could be well into 2015 before the facility begins processing actual radioactive waste. On Dec. 2, a waste simulant was introduced into the IWTU […]

URS Changes Top Person at Hanford Waste Treatment Plant WC Monitor 12/12/2014 URS is changing out its top executive at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Mark Lindholm has been named Chief Operating Officer for Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions, effective Jan. 5, 2015, the contractor announced this week. He replaces Wyatt Clark, […]