Transuranic Waste

Contractor inexperience with big-ticket projects and the Department of Energy’s failure to fully account for risks contributed to mushrooming cost and a three-year slide in schedule for the new underground ventilation system at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, according to a government watchdog report published Tuesday. Since 2018, the cost estimate for […]

The Department of Energy received 10 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico during February. A March 14 search of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) public website showed 10 shipments for the month taking place between Feb. 7 and Feb. 24. Five were received from the Idaho […]

A new ventilation system to dramatically increase underground airflow at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., is more than half finished and  should start operating during the summer of 2026, according to materials presented at last week’s Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix. The overall Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) […]

PHOENIX  — The president of the legacy cleanup contractor for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico expects her team will soon close out work on  radioactive contamination found two years ago outside the fence along a public road. Also, this year, the Hunting Ingalls-led joint venture will dig up some […]

PHOENIX  — The president of the legacy cleanup contractor for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico expects her team will soon close out work on  radioactive contamination found two years ago outside the fence along a public road. Also, this year, the Hunting Ingalls-led joint venture will dig up some […]

A battle Friday morning between Russian and Ukrainian forces at one of Europe’s largest nuclear power plants does not seem to have threatened any of the site’s reactors, a UN group said. Although fighting at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in eastern Ukraine resulted in a fire at a training building nearby a reactor building, […]

Over the next 10 years, virtually all of the legacy transuranic waste at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory will be shipped to New Mexico for underground disposal and the lab’s Radioactive Waste Management Complex will be closed, the president of Jacobs-led Idaho Environmental Coalition, said Thursday. In addition, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit […]

The legacy cleanup contractor for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico won 72% of its subjective fee and 91% of its performance-based fee during fiscal 2021, according to an agency scorecard posted this week. Altogether, Newport News Nuclear BWXT (N3B)-Los Alamos took home $8.37 million out of a potential $9.77 […]

Next Monday, Feb. 28, will mark a return-to-onsite work for most Department of Energy Idaho National Laboratory personnel, according to a recent staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which said COVID-19 is still complicating work there. Meanwhile, as of the seven-day period ended Thursday, Feb. 24, there were only 82 confirmed active […]

The legacy cleanup contractor for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico won 72% of its subjective fee and 91% of its performance-based fee during fiscal 2021, according to an agency scorecard posted this week. Altogether, Newport News Nuclear BWXT (N3B)-Los Alamos took home $8.37 million out of a potential $9.77 […]

Next Monday, Feb. 28, is the current target for a return-to-onsite work for most Department of Energy Idaho National Laboratory personnel, according to a recent staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which said COVID-19 is still complicating work there. Another Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) memo said COVID is also still […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico received eight shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during the month of January, according to the latest data on the public website for the disposal facility. During January the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) received four shipments each from the Idaho National Laboratory and an […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico received eight shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during the month of January, according to the latest data on the public website for the disposal facility. During January the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) received four shipments each from the Idaho National Laboratory and an […]

The Department of Energy and the prime for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico last month brought online the 700-C underground ventilation fan not used regularly since the 2014 accident that forced the disposal site out of service for about three years. Reinhard Knerr, manager of DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office that oversees the […]

The Department of Energy and the prime for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico last month brought online the 700-C underground ventilation fan not used regularly since the 2014 accident that forced the disposal site out of service for about three years. Reinhard Knerr, manager of DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office that oversees the […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico won’t launch its regular winter maintenance outage this month or next, deferring such work until fall, when an electrical substation was scheduled to be replaced. The annual maintenance outage, together with replacement of the roughly 30-year old surface Substation 3 at the Waste Isolation […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina should be ready to start shipping certain transuranic waste from downblended plutonium to its underground disposal site in New Mexico by the end of the summer, an agency official told the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Tuesday. The Savannah River Site (SRS) goal is […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina should be ready to start shipping certain transuranic waste from downblended plutonium to its underground disposal site in New Mexico by the end of the summer, an agency official told the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Tuesday. The Savannah River Site (SRS) goal is […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina should be ready to start shipping certain transuranic waste from downblended plutonium to its underground disposal site in New Mexico by the end of the summer, an agency official told the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Tuesday. The Savannah River Site (SRS) goal is […]

The final numbers for December confirm 2021 was a bounce-back year of sorts for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, which disposed of 21 more shipments of transuranic waste than during its first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., received 20 shipments […]

The final numbers for December confirm 2021 was a bounce-back year of sorts for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, which disposed of 21 more shipments of transuranic waste than during its first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., received 20 shipments […]

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) wants Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to provide details about a Department of Energy plan to bury certain nuclear waste, now at the Idaho National Laboratory, at the Nevada National Security Site. Titus said she was caught off guard by federal plans for the shipments from Idaho to the Nevada National […]

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) wants Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to provide details about a Department of Energy plan to bury certain nuclear waste, now at the Idaho National Laboratory, at the Nevada National Security Site. Titus said she was caught off guard by federal plans for the shipments from Idaho to the Nevada National […]

As of mid-December, the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., had received 210 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste in 2021, beating the 2020 total of 192 shipments before the calendar year was out, according to the deep-underground repository’s website. In November alone, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) received 27 shipments […]

Nuclear Waste Partnership, the Amentum-BWX Technologies team that runs the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, won 62% of its subjective fee for fiscal year 2021 and 72% of its overall fee, according to a Dec. 30  scorecard from the Department of Energy. The contractor took home about $3.3 million out of a potential […]

Nuclear Waste Partnership, the Amentum-BWX Technologies team that runs the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, won 62% of its subjective fee for fiscal year 2021 and 72% of its overall fee, according to a recently-released scorecard from the Department of Energy. The contractor took home about $3.3 million out of a potential $5.3 […]

The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico has retained California-based Tetra Tech to work on a supplemental environmental impact statement and related documents for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The agreement for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) documents is potentially worth $1.8-million, according to a Dec. 27 task order award notice […]

As of early December, the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., had received 200 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste in 2021, beating the 2020 total of 192 shipments with weeks left to go in the calendar year, according to the mine’s website. In November alone, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) […]

ALEXIANDRIA, VA — The Department of Energy expects a new ventilation system at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico to come online between 2024 and 2026, the manager of the agency’s Carlsbad field office told Weapons Complex Monitor here this week. The agency’s Office of Environmental Management expects its rebaselining of the cost […]

ALEXIANDRIA, VA — The Department of Energy expects a new ventilation system at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico to come online between 2024 and 2026, the manager of the agency’s Carlsbad field office said here Wednesday. The agency’s Office of Environmental Management expects its rebaselining of the cost and schedule for the […]