Transuranic Waste

The Department of Energy should reclassify treated liquid waste stored in glass logs at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., so the material will be eligible for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, N.M., the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) recommended Tuesday. The recommendation, approved in a 19-2 vote, asks the […]

The Department of Energy should reclassify treated liquid waste stored in glass logs at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. so the material will be eligible for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, N.M., the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) recommended Tuesday. The recommendation, approved in a 19-2 vote, asks the […]

The Energy Department wants a proposed change for counting the volume of transuranic waste disposed of in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico to be retroactive to 1999. That is among the primary points included in a July 12 letter from Todd Shrader, manager of DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office, and Bruce Covert, president […]

Bob McQuinn, an AECOM senior executive who, among other things, led the prime contractor team for the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), for about a year following a 2014 accident, has announced he will retire at the end of August. McQuinn is vice president of the company’s performance assurance and high-level waste sector. […]

A federal judge has placed a South Carolina lawsuit against the Department of Energy on hold until an appeals court decides if she was right to block the agency from stopping work at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). It would not make sense to address other issues in the high stakes […]

Nuclear Watch New Mexico (NukeWatch) can continue to pursue its lawsuit against the Energy Department and its former Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) contractor for failing to do certain tasks spelled out in a 2005 consent order, but a federal judge won’t throw out a revised 2016 settlement between DOE and the state of New […]

The Energy Department and its prime contractor received 169 shipments of transuranic waste for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico during the first six months of 2018. That averages out to 6.5 shipments per week for the first 26 weeks of the year. By comparison, there were 133 shipments, or […]

The Energy Department and its prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico will hold their next WIPP Town Hall update on Aug. 2 in Carlsbad, N.M. These public briefings on the underground transuranic waste disposal site are webcast. The Energy Department and contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership had initially planned to have […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina would look for ways to accelerate shipments of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico under a proposal being studied by a local advisory board. The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board is expected to vote on making the recommendation to DOE […]

The House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee voted Thursday to reauthorize the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state and instruct the Government Accountability Office to prepare a report on radioactive waste at the site. The bill passed on a voice vote is an amended version of legislation forwarded June 27 by the […]

Elevated levels of radioactive contamination were found last month on transuranic waste drums awaiting shipment from the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, according to a recent update from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). “The contamination readings were due to the decay of […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina would look for ways to accelerate shipments of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico under a proposal being studied by a local advisory board. The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board is expected to vote on making the recommendation to DOE […]

Elevated levels of radioactive contamination were found last month on transuranic waste drums awaiting shipment from the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, according to a recent update from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). “The contamination readings were due to the decay of […]

The amount of transuranic waste already emplaced at the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., taken together with known “WIPP bound” material, doesn’t leave much room for more material under the cap established by the 1992 WIPP Land Withdrawal Act. That’s a takeaway from a June 26 presentation to a National Academy […]

The Idaho Cleanup Project Citizens Advisory Board recently voted 7-4 to urge the Energy Department to extend the lifespan of the Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) by allowing the facility to process radioactive waste from out of state. The letter, posted June 27 on the panel’s website, urges DOE to continue […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) wants to know more about the Energy Department’s proposal to change the way it counts the volume of transuranic waste emplaced at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. In a June 27 letter, called a technical incompleteness determination, the state agency asked DOE and WIPP management contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) wants to know more about the Energy Department’s proposal to change the way it counts the volume of transuranic waste emplaced at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. In a June 27 letter, called a technical incompleteness determination, the state agency asked DOE and WIPP management contractor […]

Fluor Idaho expects in September to finish decontamination operations at the Idaho National Laboratory site where four 55-gallon drums of radioactive waste overheated and ruptured on April 11. The company also said, in a June 28 report on the incident to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, it should issue its final investigation findings in […]

The Idaho Cleanup Project Citizens Advisory Board recently voted 7-4 to urge the Energy Department to extend the lifespan of the Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) by allowing the facility to process radioactive waste from out of state. The letter, posted June 27 on the panel’s website, urges DOE to continue to […]

The Energy Department and contractor Fluor Idaho have gathered up the loose material that spewed out of four breached drums of radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, but have still not determined the cause of the April 11 incident. Once a root cause is determined, Airlock 5 of the Accelerated Retrieval Project 5 facility […]

The House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce environment subcommittee voted Wednesday to recommend the Government Accountability Office (GAO) prepare a report on the types of radioactive waste at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state, but stopped short of saying the material should be deemed defense-related. The panel approved, by voice vote, an […]

Energy Department Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader said Tuesday it could take an additional year to secure New Mexico approval to change the way the volume of transuranic waste is counted for underground disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The New Mexico Environment Department said June 1 it plans a more extensive […]

Energy Department Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader said Tuesday it could take an additional year to secure New Mexico approval to change the way the volume of transuranic waste is counted for underground disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The New Mexico Environment Department said June 1 it plans a more extensive […]

The House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce environment subcommittee voted Wednesday to recommend the Government Accountability Office (GAO) prepare a report on the types of radioactive waste at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state, but stopped short of saying the material should be deemed defense related. The panel approved, by voice vote, […]

Energy Department Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader said Tuesday it could take an additional year to get New Mexico approval to change the way the volume of transuranic waste is counted for underground disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The New Mexico Environment Department said June 1 it plans a more extensive […]

Los Alamos National Security (LANS) no longer has the Energy Department’s legacy cleanup contract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, but it posted a strong performance during the most recent fee review period. LANS took home 94 percent of the total fee available for its last review period as lab cleanup contractor, […]

After searching since late 2017, Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP), the Energy Department’s prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, has hired a director of underground mining. The contractor and DOE said Tuesday Pete Graham, who previously worked as a plant manager for US Silica in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., started at WIPP […]

An amendment to a federal spending package, to reverse existing Energy Department policy and treat waste at the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York state as defense-related, evidently won’t be coming up for a vote. The Senate adjourned without considering the amendment by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). Lawmakers would have only two hours to […]

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) proposed an amendment to a federal spending package this week to reverse existing Energy Department policy and treat waste at the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York state as defense-related. The Gillibrand amendment, proposed Tuesday and yet to be voted upon, would treat radioactive waste at the site, as […]

After searching since late 2017, Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP), the Energy Department’s prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, has hired a director of underground mining. The contractor and DOE said Tuesday Pete Graham, who previously worked as a plant manager for US Silica in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., started at WIPP […]