High-Level & Tank Waste

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/23/2014 Top Department of Energy and contractor officials from Hanford said this week they are working to achieve “a final answer” to address long-standing concerns over tank vapors at the site. Savannah River National Laboratory has been tasked with conducting a review of the issue after more than 25 workers at […]

As the Department of Energy works to get the Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit fully up and operational, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is asking DOE to consider performing additional independent assessment at the completion of start-up testing prior to introducing actual waste. A DNFSB staff report sent to DOE late last week outlined […]

The Department of Energy is set to have a “mediated discussion” within “the next couple of weeks” with Washington state officials on how to proceed with removing waste from a damaged double-shell tank at Hanford, Kevin Smith, Manager of the DOE Office of River Protection, said yesterday. In March, Washington state ordered DOE to begin […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will hold a public meeting May 28 on safety culture, the Board announced Friday. It will be the first of two upcoming meetings on the subject. “In this first hearing, the Board will receive testimony from a recognized industry expert in the field of safety culture, with a focus […]

The Department of Energy issued a Request for Information (RFI) / Source Sought Notice yesterday on the FedBizOpps website seeking information on railcar design, testing, and approval for the transportation of High-Level Radioactive Material. DOE has begun laying the groundwork, as outlined in the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future’s recommendations, to begin taking […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy found that high-level waste disposal in salt, clay/shale rocks, and crystalline rock formations could all provide robust long-term isolation for specific wastes, according to a DOE report released yesterday. The report, titled "Evaluation of Options for Permanent Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste," […]

After more than two dozen Hanford tank farm workers this spring needed medical attention for exposure to chemical vapors, Savannah River National Laboratory will lead a panel review of hazardous vapor management and worker protection measures for contractor Washington River Protection Solutions. SRNL will establish the panel and manage communications with WRPS, and has promised […]

Washington state yesterday officially triggered a 40-day formal dispute resolution process with the Department of Energy in an attempt to reach an agreement on a proposal to modify the 2010 consent decree that governs the cleanup of Hanford’s tank waste. The move came after DOE and Washington state each rejected a proposal the other put […]

Hanford Communities, a coalition of Hanford-area local governments, called on Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee this week to drop the state’s demand that eight more waste storage tanks be built at Hanford. The project would unnecessarily divert money from a plan to start treating Hanford’s waste as soon as possible, Hanford Communities said in a […]

Donna Busche, a former nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, is looking to drop a lawsuit she filed against WTP contractor Bechtel National and subcontractor URS alleging she faced retaliation for raising concerns. Busche filed her suit in early 2013 after more than a year went by without the Department of Labor […]

The Department of Energy has filed an appeal to halt the Washington State Department of Ecology order requiring it to begin emptying liquid waste from Hanford’s double-shell Tank AY-102 by Sept 1. The appeal was filed with the State Pollution Control Hearing Board. DOE is concerned that the risk of pumping waste outweighs the benefits. […]

The Department of Energy rejected Washington state’s proposal to amend Hanford’s court-enforced consent decree soon after the state announced it was rejecting DOE’s proposal Friday. DOE said it remains committed to continuing to work with the state to develop an amendment acceptable to both agencies. But the state could take the next legal step outlined […]

A group of Mississippi state lawmakers proposed a resolution last week in the state legislature that would voice the state’s opposition to potentially hosting high-level nuclear waste. The proposed resolution, introduced by four Republican Representatives from Southern Mississippi, followed a separate attempt by the state’s Public Service Commission to pass a similar resolution against hosting […]

While Parsons submitted a ‘best and final offer’ in late March for an agreement on commissioning and startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility, the Department of Energy is preparing to counter the offer, WC Monitor has learned. It is unclear whether Parsons will consider the counteroffer, or will stick to its final proposal. After […]

Texas Governor Rick Perry revealed his support for examining the state’s role in potentially storing high-level waste in a letter he sent to Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus late last week. In his Interim Committee Charges, Straus asked Texas’ Committee on Environmental Regulation to consider the logistics […]

The state of Washington issued new demands Monday to hold the Department of Energy accountable for Hanford tank waste retrieval and treatment, proposing a lengthy and detailed list of changes to the 2010 court-enforced consent decree. The proposal would have DOE meet the existing final Tri-Party Agreement requirement to have all tank waste treated by […]

Two more Hanford tank workers were taken to the hospital Wednesday after developing symptoms believed linked to tank vapors. Four workers also were evaluated by the Hanford medical provider, HPMC Occupational Medical Services, after reporting symptoms. It was the second day in a row and the third day in the last two weeks that workers […]

Two Hanford tank farm workers were taken to the Richland hospital after developing symptoms believed linked to chemical vapors Tuesday morning. They were released later in the day without medication and were expected to be cleared by Hanford’s medical provider, HPMC Occupational Medical Services, to return to work, said John Britton, spokesman for Washington River […]

The state of Washington ordered the Department of Energy Friday to start emptying liquid waste by Sept. 1 from Hanford double-shell Tank AY-102, which has an interior leak. The state is expected to follow up that order as early as this week with an announcement on the 2010 consent decree that sets milestones for tank […]

The Department of Energy announced late yesterday its intent to close Hanford’s Waste Sampling and Characterization Facility within a year and to remove sample analysis from Mission Support Alliance’s current scope of work. The move is expected to save approximately $12 million annually once WCSF is placed in “a low-cost surveillance and maintenance mode,” Matt […]

After protracted talks on a path forward for commissioning and startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility, contractor Parsons has recently submitted to the Department of Energy a cost-share proposal that’s believed to be the company’s ‘best and final offer’ for the startup work, WC Monitor has learned. The proposal will be sent to DOE […]

Bechtel National earned only 48 percent of the fee available for the second half of 2013 for its work on the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, according to information the Department of Energy released yesterday. In total, Bechtel National earned $3.025 million out of an available $6.3 million in award fee, according to a DOE award […]

A draft cleanup plan for Hanford shared by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz Monday in the Washington state capital lacked the comprehensiveness and level of detail the state has requested for months, said Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee. “While there are aspects of the plan that have merit, we need to have assurance that the U.S. […]

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz is scheduled to meet with Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee this morning in Olympia after the governor demanded more information on the Department of Energy’s plans to get tank waste treated. The governor and Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson have asked for a proposal to amend the 2010 consent decree […]

The Department of Energy has asked for an Inspector General’s investigation into the recent termination of a key nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, a senior DOE Office of Environmental Management official said yesterday. URS, a major subcontractor at the WTP, has come under heavy scrutiny over its decision last month to […]

The Department of Energy’s plan to wait at least two years to pump waste from Hanford’s damaged double-shell tank is legally unacceptable, the Washington State Department of Ecology said Monday. The plan released late Friday “demonstrates the federal government’s lack of commitment to set a firm, near-term schedule for the removal of waste from leaking […]

The Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council appears to have dropped a lawsuit it filed against Washington River Protection Solutions over what the union had alleged was the unfair termination of four employees last year. On March 7, a federal judge agreed to dismiss the union’s suit, with prejudice. HAMTC had sued WRPS in late January […]

The Department of Energy will start purchasing equipment and making other preparations to remove sludge from a double shell tank with a leak between its shells, but pumping of waste would start no sooner than March 2016, according to a new DOE plan with two phases. DOE delivered the plan for emptying Tank AY-102 to […]

The Department of Energy Friday released a draft request for proposal for a small business procurement for laboratory analysis and testing services at Hanford’s 222-S laboratory. The Department is asking for comments and feedback by March 28. The work would be performed for DOE’s Office of River Protection. “The scope of this contract is to […]

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) late last week released a set of documents that raise new concerns over the status of Hanford’s double-shell waste tanks and called on the Department of Energy to prepare within 45 days a plan for “responding to the increased safety and operational risks” associated with “flaws” in the tanks. Engineering reviews […]