High-Level & Tank Waste

Should the Obama Administration choose to enact the Department of Energy’s recommendation to de-commingle defense high-level nuclear waste and commercial nuclear waste into two repositories, DOE would not need congressional authorization to implement and site a location for defense waste, DOE’s Assistant Secretary of the Office of Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons said yesterday at a […]

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. Lindholm previously held the position of Manager of Commissioning, Readiness and Operations at the Hanford vit plant, and that position will […]

New Hanford milestones the state of Washington has asked a federal judge to approve would require an extra $18 billion by fiscal year 2029, jeopardizing other Department of Energy cleanup projects across the nation, according to the federal government. “Those funding levels are simply not realistic,” the Department of Justice argued in legal documents filed […]

Wash. State Supports New LAW Pretreatment System WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The state of Washington supports the concept of a proposed new facility that would allow Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant to start treating some waste sooner, but has concerns about how the Department of Energy will pay for the facility. The proposed Low-Activity Waste Pretreatment System, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 12/5/2014 The Department of Energy plans to issue a Request for Proposal in early December for the design and prototype fabrication of railcars to transport high-level nuclear waste, according to a pre-solicitation notice issued in late November. DOE plans to issue the RFP around Dec. 8 with an estimated award […]

Waste Control Specialists will brief the local Andrews, Texas community tonight on the possibility of hosting a storage facility for high-level waste. Earlier this year, WCS initiated contact with community leader s on their willingness to storing HLW at the facility. Texas state leadership, including Gov. Rick Perry (R) and Speaker of the House Joe […]

The Department of Energy plans to issue a Request for Proposal in early December for the design and prototype fabrication of railcars to transport high-level nuclear waste, a pre-solicitation notice late last week said. DOE plans to issue the RFP around Dec. 8 with an award estimated date of July 1, 2015. According to the notice, […]

Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Rep. Adam Smith, all Washington Democrats, sent a letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on Friday urging DOE to better protect Hanford workers from tank farm chemical vapors. The letter asked when an implementation plan for the Hanford Tank Vapors Assessment led by the Savannah River National Laboratory […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 11/21/2014 Three years after the Department of Energy began a safety investigation at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, the investigation remains open, there is no sign of resolution and it remains unclear whether any violations or potential penalties may be issued to project contractor Bechtel National. DOE’s Office of Enforcement began […]

DOE Facing Potential Lawsuits Over Tank Vapor Concerns WC Monitor 11/21/2014 The Department of Energy is facing two threats of potential lawsuits over safety concerns posed by chemical vapors from Hanford’s underground high-level waste tanks. This week, the state of Washington threatened to sue DOE and Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions to […]

Washington state is threatening to take the Department of Energy to court to seek a legally enforceable agreement to protect workers at Hanford from the effects of chemical vapors from the site’s waste tanks. Yesterday, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sent DOE and Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions a notice of […]

SRR Completes New Liquid Waste System Lab WC Monitor 10/14/2014 Savannah River Remediation, the liquid waste contractor at the Savannah River Site, has completed a replacement laboratory next to the Defense Waste Processing Facility to serve the site’s liquid waste system. The new multi-functional laboratory will provide backup lab support for the Effluent Treatment Facility, […]

Area Stakeholders Weigh in On Consent Decree Suit WC Monitor 117/2014 Two Hanford-area agencies have asked the federal court to consider what is best for the people who live near Hanford as a judge weighs competing proposals from the Department of Energy and state of Washington for amending Hanford’s court-enforced consent decree. The Tri-City Development […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 11/7/2014 With storage space running out for vitrified high-level waste canisters at the Savannah River Site, “double stacking” the canisters in the current storage building could be an interim solution, according to a proposal by the site’s liquid waste contractor, Savannah River Remediation. Currently the canisters are housed in a storage […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is concerned that the Department of Energy is not adequately preparing the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant for the potential threats posed by volcanic ash, according to a letter the Board sent DOE late last week. The WTP’s current design and safety basis do not include the most recent assessment […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/24/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—South Carolina is pushing for a $150 million investment in increasing tank waste processing at the Savannah River Site, but will seek a court order if conflict with the Department of Energy on tank closure milestones is not settled in the dispute resolution process, a state official said […]

Responding to calls from South Carolina for the Department of Energy to invest $150 million into increasing Savannah River waste processing, DOE officials yesterday said tank waste cleanup will be funded as much as possible given budget constraints. South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Director Catherine Templeton this week said DOE must fully […]

South Carolina will seek a court order if conflict with the Department of Energy on Savannah River tank closure milestones is not settled in the dispute resolution process, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Director Catherine Templeton said yesterday at the Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum. DOE and the state recently entered dispute […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/17/14 With the Department of Energy and South Carolina in dispute over extensions for tank closure milestones at the Savannah River Site, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control is urging DOE to take steps to increase waste processing rates. DOE has requested an extension to the 2015 closure milestone […]

With the Department of Energy and South Carolina in dispute over extensions for Savannah River tank closure milestones, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control is urging the Department to implement new waste treatment technologies. That would include full scale capacity in current treatment facilities at the site, the Next Generation Solvent in the […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/10/2014 The state of Washington and the Department of Energy  have each filed motions asking the federal court to intervene in the 2010 Hanford consent decree and set new milestones  after they failed to reach agreement by an Oct. 5 deadline. “While the department and the State of Washington share the […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/10/2014 As the Department of Energy seeks milestone extensions for Savannah River high level waste tanks, liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation is “optimistic” that it can close the next tank by its milestone date. The Department is entering dispute resolution with South Carolina on its request to extend the closure […]

Contractor Earned 63 Percent of Total Available Fee Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/10/2014 Bechtel National achieved a significant boost in fee for its performance at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in the first half of this year, according to information the Department of Energy released late this week. The contractor earned 63 percent of the […]

The Department of Energy plans to take a new look later this year at the safety culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant after a previous assessment found that concerns persist as to whether workers can safely raise concerns despite years of efforts to make improvements. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz outlined DOE’s new plan […]

Months of talks between the Department of Energy and the state of Washington over how to amend a 2010 consent decree that governs the cleanup of Hanford’s tank waste appear to have been unsuccessful, and now the matter is heading to a federal court. Late last week, the state of Washington, along with Oregon, filed […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/3/2014 The state of Washington has agreed to give the Department of Energy 18 more months to start emptying waste from the Hanford double-shell tank with a leaking inner shell. DOE and Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions are working to complete the planning, design and installation of equipment […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/3/2014 The Department of Energy failed to meet a Sept. 30 commitment to begin operations at the Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, and it continues to be unclear when the facility will begin actually processing waste. A DOE spokesman confirmed late last week that the Department would not be able to […]

DOE Completes Waste Retrieval From 13 of 16 Tanks by Deadline WC Monitor 10/3/2014 Washington state agreed this week that the Department of Energy had met the 2010 consent decree requirements for emptying another waste tank at Hanford. That brought DOE closer to meeting the consent decree deadline to have the 16 C Farm Tanks […]

URS has created a new position intended to aid in the development of a plan to integrate the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant with the site’s tank farms. Terri Marts has been named to fill the new position of Vice President of High Level Waste Mission Integration within URS’ Global Management and Operations Services group, according […]

The Department of Energy has agreed to remove waste from Hanford’s damaged double-shell tank under a settlement with the Washington State Department of Ecology announced yesterday. Washington state had ordered DOE to begin pumping waste from Tank AY-102, which has been found to be leaking material from its inner shell, by Sept. 1, but the […]