High-Level & Tank Waste

CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company is soliciting proposals for a small business subcontract for Liquid Waste and Fuel Storage Tank Integrity Inspections, releasing a draft request for proposals yesterday. It would be a firm fixed unit rate contract, and proposals are due by March 25 in an eSourcing event. An award is expected by April […]

In the wake of URS firing a key nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, Sen. Ron Wyden said yesterday that he will ask the Government Accountability Office investigate how whistleblowers are treated at the Department of Energy. Wyden criticized DOE earlier this week after URS terminated Donna Busche, who had held the […]

A key nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant who has alleged she has faced retaliation for raising safety concerns was terminated yesterday by URS, the Hanford vit plant subcontractor for which she worked. Donna Busche, who held the position of environmental and nuclear safety manager, told Weapons Complex Monitor yesterday that she had […]

The Obama Administration appears set to submit a new proposal for modifying the 2010 Consent Decree that governs the cleanup of Hanford’s tank waste to Washington state officials by the end of this month. The schedule was outlined in a letter Washington State Governor Jay Inslee (D) and Attorney General Robert Ferguson sent to Secretary […]

Bechtel National is looking to conduct a significant reorganization of its management at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, Weapons Complex Monitor has learned. Many details of BNI’s proposal, which has been submitted to the Department of Energy for approval, remain unclear, though it reportedly would include modifications to the contractor’s Environmental and Nuclear Safety organization […]

The construction of two new Saltstone Disposal Units at the Savannah River site has been completed ahead of schedule and under budget, the Department of Energy and liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation announced yesterday. The units are vaults used to permanently dispose of low level salt waste, which is mixed with cement to form […]

The federal government should increase its emphasis on Savannah River Site tank waste given the deterioration of Savannah River tanks, according to an editorial in the Aiken Standard yesterday. “It’s been evident for years that the cleanup process at the Savannah River site needs to be sped up. As waste tanks at SRS continue to […]

The construction of two new Saltstone Disposal Units at the Savannah River site has been completed ahead of schedule and under budget, the Department of Energy and liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation announced yesterday. The units are vaults used to permanently dispose of low level salt waste, which is mixed with cement to form […]

The federal government should increase its emphasis on Savannah River Site tank waste given the deterioration of Savannah River tanks, according to an editorial in the Aiken Standard yesterday. “It’s been evident for years that the cleanup process at the Savannah River site needs to be sped up. As waste tanks at SRS continue to […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2013 A majority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voiced support, or indicated through their questioning, that expedited transfer of spent fuel pools to dry cask storage is not needed during a briefing held this week to discuss the NRC’s staff’s findings on the subject. The NRC’s draft study on spent […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/2/2014 The Department of Energy has begun conducting market research for firms to potentially design railcars for the transport of high-level waste. This week, DOE issued a Request for Information/Sources Sought Notice intended to “solicit ideas from all sources on how DOE should acquire the capability to transport casks of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/2/2014 Disposal of high-level waste in salt, clay/shale rocks, and crystalline rock formations could all provide robust long-term isolation for specific wastes, according to a Department of Energy report released this week. The report examines how different geologic disposal options would perform with different waste streams. Notably, it seemed disposal […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/2/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged this week that it will consider a petition to suspend all new reactor licensing decisions and license renewal decisions until it further examines the Environmental Assessment of high density spent fuel pools, according to a posting in the Federal Register. The petitioners, made up […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/2/2014 Opponents to the idea of Texas potentially hosting an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste began to voice their displeasure this week during a meeting held by the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition, an environmental activist group dedicated to clean energy initiatives […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/25/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged this week that it has received a petition to consolidate all regulations that relate to the environmental impacts of spent fuel storage and disposal. The petitioners include a group of 34 activist organizations that also grouped together to petition the NRC to consider the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 A group of nine House lawmakers from five states with permanently shut down reactors are calling for funding to be provided in Fiscal Year 2015 so the Department of Energy can move forward with its plans for developing a consent-based siting approach for nuclear waste storage facilities. In a […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/21/2014 A Nuclear Regulatory Commission risk assessment report has found that the transportation of spent nuclear fuel would cause low radiological impact to the environment or public, even in the case of an accident. The report, commissioned by the NRC to analyze the effects advancements in transportation technology have had […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/21/2014 A set of 34 activist groups is petitioning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to halt all reviews of new licenses and license renewals due to new findings the NRC staff reported in its Expedited Spent Fuel Transfer Proceeding that said a small nuclear reactor pool fire could render 9,400 square […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2013 A majority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voiced support, or indicated through their questioning, that expedited transfer of spent fuel pools to dry cask storage is not needed during a briefing held this week to discuss the NRC’s staff’s findings on the subject. The NRC’s draft study on spent […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2013 A majority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voiced support, or indicated through their questioning, that expedited transfer of spent fuel pools to dry cask storage is not needed during a briefing held this week to discuss the NRC’s staff’s findings on the subject. The NRC’s draft study on spent […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2013 A majority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voiced support, or indicated through their questioning, that expedited transfer of spent fuel pools to dry cask storage is not needed during a briefing held this week to discuss the NRC’s staff’s findings on the subject. The NRC’s draft study on spent […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/16/2014 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) reiterated her desire for the expedited transfer of spent fuel to dry cask storage while chastising the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for granting safety and security regulation exemptions for reactors undergoing decommissioning during a hearing on nuclear reactor decommissioning held […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/25/2014 Though budget cuts to Savannah River’s liquid waste program raised concerns last year about missed high-level waste tank milestones, a funding boost and efficiencies developed by contractor Savannah River Remediation will allow for closure of two tanks in the near future. SRR so far has closed four of the site’s […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/25/2014 Alternatives to commissioning the Salt Waste Processing Facility the Department of Energy has studied include use of the existing processing capability combined with a new in-tank treatment technology called small column ion exchange, WC Monitor has learned. The Department originally undertook the study last year when it was in talks […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/25/2014 URS has come under criticism for a lack of cooperation in an investigation now underway into the termination of a nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, WC Monitor has learned. The Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office expressed concern over URS’ lack of cooperation in a letter […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 4/25/2014 The Department of Energy has filed an appeal to halt to a Washington state order requiring it to begin emptying waste from Hanford’s double-shell Tank AY-102 because of its interior leak by Sept. 1. DOE filed the appeal late last week with the State Pollution Control Hearing Board over the order […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/18/2014 The Department of Energy is reportedly examining alternatives to commissioning the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility as startup talks for the project with facility contractor Parsons have gone on for more than six months without resolution. Parsons submitted a “best and final offer” in late March for commissioning […]

Is State Too Focused on Tank Cleanup? The state of Washington’s focus on Hanford tank issues could come at a big price to work at the rest of the site, according to the Tri-City Development Council. TRIDEC warned Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a letter this week that some of those […]

DOE, Washington State Looking to Start WTP LAW Facility Ahead of Other Portions of Plant Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/11/2014 An interim pretreatment system to allow the Department of Energy to move forward with a proposal to begin operation of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s Low Activity Waste Facility ahead of other portions of the […]

Work Underway on Vit Plant Test Facility In about three weeks the control tower outside the Full Scale Vessel Test Facility at Washington State University Tri-Cities will grow to 90 feet tall, as part of an effort to geometrically mimic conditions at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s Pretreatment Facility. The test facility, also called the […]