Archive

Transuranic Waste

Reporting on the characterization, transport, and disposal of defense transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.

  • DOE Plans to Hire Firm for Emergency Response Support for TRU at SPRU

    The Department of Energy plans to hire a firm, Co-Physics., to provide emergency response support services for mixed transuranic waste storage at the Separations Process Research Unit in New York. The DOE Office of Environmental Management  Consolidated Business Center announced its intention to hire Co-Physics, which has provided radioactive materials support services in the Northeast […]

  • WIPP Shipments Slow Down in August; Locals Along Haul Routes Share Grant Funds

    After recording one of its busier months in more than a year, shipments of transuranic waste to the Department of Energy’s underground disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., declined in August. Data available on the DOE’s public website for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) show only seven shipments during August, with the most recent being […]

  • States, Tribes Along WIPP Haul Routes Could Share $8.9M in Fiscal 2022

    States and tribal governments along haulage routes leading to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico could divvy up about $8.9-million in federal project grants during fiscal 2022, according to a recent notice. “The participating States, tribes, and the DOE will work to develop, coordinate, and implement activities in accident prevention, […]

  • WIPP Shipments Slow Down in August

    After recording one of its busier months in more than a year, shipments of transuranic waste to the Department of Energy’s underground disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., declined in August. Data available Monday on the DOE’s public website for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) show only seven shipments during August, with the most recent […]

  • Navarro Takes Over as Carlsbad Tech Contractor After Protest Dismissed at GAO

    Navarro Research & Engineering took over this week as the new Carlsbad Technical Assistance in New Mexico after a challenge to its $76-million award from the Department of Energy was dismissed. According to a notice filed Friday, Aug. 27, on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) website, the challenge lodged July 26 by Pecos Technical Solutions […]

  • Wrap Up: Odors Prompt Temporary Hanford Take-Cover Order; WIPP Plans Panels

    The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state lifted a take cover order about four hours after workers detected strange odors Wednesday morning in the 200 West Area of the cleanup complex. Crews investigating reports of odors near the Reduction Oxidation (REDOX) plant found no evidence of radiation or a chemical release near the […]

  • State, DOE to Discuss Plans for New Waste Panels at WIPP

    A public meeting is set for 5 p.m. Mountain Time today as the New Mexico Environment Department reviews plans by the Department of Energy and its prime contractor for two new underground disposal panels at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. The Amentum-led Nuclear Waste Partnership, which includes BXW Technologies, will present information on […]

  • Challenge to Carlsbad Tech Contract Dismissed at GAO

    A bid protest filed in July after Navarro Research & Engineering won the $76-million Carlsbad Technical Assistance Contract from the Department of Energy has been dismissed. According to a notice filed Friday on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) website, the challenge lodged July 26 by Pecos Technical Solutions has been dismissed. At DOE’s direction, Oak […]

  • WIPP Bounced Back with 41 Shipments in July

    The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant received 41 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste in July, making it one of the busier months since the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading in the United States in early 2020. Last month’s total is up from the 23 shipments in July 2020, during deep pandemic times. It is […]

  • WIPP Bounced Back with 41 Shipments in July

    The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant received 41 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste in July, making it one of the busier months since the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading in the United States in early 2020. Last month’s total is up from the 23 shipments in July 2020, during deep pandemic times. It is […]

  • Carlsbad Tech Services Handover Should be Complete Sept. 1

    Navarro Research & Engineering should take over Sept. 1 as the new Technical Assistance contractor at the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico, an agency spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. The Oak Ridge, Tenn.,-based company, which beat out five other bidders for the potential five-year, $76-million small business set-aside, received its notice to proceed […]

  • Orano Unveils New Leadership Team for DOE Cleanup, Advanced Nuclear

    Bethesda, Md.,-based Orano USA has a new management team and several new board of directors for its Federal Services Business unit that does business with the Department of Energy, the company said early Wednesday. Orano Federal Services President Dorothy Davidson said in a press release that the new management team will include: Joe Faldowskim, chief […]

  • DOE Expects 60 Isolated Los Alamos Drums to Eventually Head to WIPP

    The Department of Energy expects several dozen drums of transuranic waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory will be found not to pose any ignition risk and eventually cleared for transport to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, a spokesperson said this week. The 60 drums now isolated within storage domes at Area […]

  • DOE Urging Contractors to Find Ways to Get Workers Vaccinated

    After sources told Weapons Complex Monitor of the latest federal efforts to stem the surge of new COVID-19 cases, the Department of Energy acknowledged Friday it  is imploring government contractors to find ways to get workers to take the shot. A DOE spokesperson told Weapons Complex Monitor Friday the agency is reaching out to managers […]

  • Wrap Up: DOE Could Nix WIPP’s Albuquerque Office Space, Jacobs Wins U.K. Biz

    With the COVID-19 pandemic making telecommuting more routine, the Department of Energy might terminate the lease for office space it secured last year in Albuquerque, N.M., to accommodate certain staff for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, an agency spokesperson said by email. “Due to COVID-19 restrictions,” the Carlsbad Field Office was not able to use […]

  • Some State Regulators Resuming Post-COVID Office Hours

    After Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) this week mandated state employees get vaccinated for COVID-19 by Oct. 4, the Washington Department of Ecology, state regulator for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, delayed a planned “soft reopening” of its offices previously scheduled for August, an Ecology spokesman said Tuesday. The reopening has been pushed back […]

  • Carlsbad Tech Services Handover Should be Complete Sept. 1

    Navarro Research & Engineering should take over Sept. 1 as the new Technical Assistance contractor at the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico, an agency spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. The Oak Ridge, Tenn.,-based company, which beat out five other bidders for the potential five-year, $72-million small business set-aside, received its notice to proceed […]

  • Navarro Wins Carlsbad Technical Contract, Rival Pecos Protests Award

    Oak Ridge, Tenn.,- based Navarro Research & Engineering won the $76-million Carlsbad Technical Assistance Contract from the Department of Energy and promptly drew a bid protest by a firm called Pecos Technical Solutions. A DOE chart of major contracts for the Office of Environmental Management, updated July 21, has Navarro taking over from incumbent North […]

  • Pandemic Has Feds Looking to Nix Albuquerque Office Space Leased for WIPP in 2020

    With the COVID-19 pandemic making telecommuting more routine, the Department of Energy might terminate the lease for office space it secured last year in Albuquerque, N.M., to accommodate certain staff for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, an agency spokesperson said by email. “Due to COVID-19 restrictions,” the Carlsbad Field Office was not able to use […]

  • Senate Appropriators’ EM Budget Hair Lower Than House

    The Senate Appropriations Committee approved 25-to-five on Wednesday a fiscal year 2022 spending bill for the Department of Energy and other agencies with roughly $7.7-billion for Department of Energy nuclear weapons cleanup. The committee’s plan for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) office, which oversees cleanup of 16 Cold War and Manhattan Project nuclear sites, […]

  • BWXT 2Q Earnings Fall But Revenue Remains Steady

    Earnings fell at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the second quarter, which the Department of Energy contractor and maker of nuclear submarine reactors and components attributed to non-recurring costs such as commercializing a line of medical isotopes, plus higher interest rates. Net income for the second quarter ended June 30 was $59.4 million or $0.62 […]

  • BWXT 2Q Earnings Fall But Revenue Remains Steady

    Earnings fell at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the second quarter, which the Department of Energy contractor and maker of nuclear submarine reactors and components attributed to non-recurring costs such as commercializing a line of medical isotopes, plus higher interest rates. Net income for the second quarter ended June 30 was $59.4 million or $0.62 […]

  • Contractor CEOs Could Use Earnings Week to Comment on White House Vax Policy

    If the recent past is a guide, CEOs at some of the nation’s largest publicly-traded Department of Energy contractors could use their upcoming public earnings calls with Wall Street analysts to discuss President Joe Biden’s toughened stance on vaccinations for federal employees and on-site contractors. Weapons complex contractors BWXT, Fluor, Huntington Ingalls, Jacobs, Leidos and […]

  • 2 New Panels Should Pose No Big Threat at WIPP, DOE Says

    Developing two new deep-mine panels for disposal of transuranic waste at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., should not entail new environmental risks, according to a document posted last week on the procurement website for a new prime contract. Excavation and use of two replacement panels, dubbed Panels 11 and […]

  • WIPP Lays Groundwork for Resumption of Remote-Handled Waste Shipments

    The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has opened a training center in Carlsbad, N.M., to prepare staff for resumption of shipments of remote-handled waste at the underground disposal facility, the agency tweeted this week. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has not taken shipments of remote-handled (RH) transuranic waste using RH-72B casks since […]

  • WIPP Lays Groundwork for Resumption of Remote-Handled Waste Shipments

    The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has opened a training center in Carlsbad, N.M., to prepare staff for resumption of shipments of remote-handled waste at the underground disposal facility, the agency tweeted Monday. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has not taken shipments of remote-handled (RH) transuranic waste using RH-72B casks since 2014, […]

  • 2 New Panels Should Pose No Big Threat at WIPP, DOE Says

    Developing two new deep-mine panels for disposal of transuranic waste at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., should not entail new environmental risks, according to a document posted last week on the procurement website for a new prime contract. Excavation and use of two replacement panels, dubbed Panels 11 and […]

  • Senate Defense Bill Restores SRS Community Funds, Would Keep GAO Busy on EM Issues

    Like a spending bill passed earlier this month by the House Appropriation Committee, the National Defense Authorization Act that cleared Senate Armed Services last week,restores $5.7 million in community funds the Joe Biden White House left out of its fiscal 2022 budget request for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. That […]

  • WIPP Numbers Up Slightly at Mid-Year; Label Dupe Sends Shipment Back to INL

    The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 26 shipments of transuranic waste during June, according to its public website. Eight were received from the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee but the rest traveled from the Idaho National Laboratory. During the first half of 2021 the underground disposal site had at […]

  • DOE Offers Higher Fee Cap for WIPP Prime Contract, Capital Projects Spark Questions

    The Department of Energy in amendments made this week to its ongoing solicitation for a new multibillion-dollar prime contract at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is increasing the performance fee cap to 7% from 5%. The amendments came out after some prospective bidders for the potential $3-billion, 10-year prime contract for the […]