Transuranic Waste

The Department of Energy’s manager for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico expects to reply by Thanksgiving to a $32-million breach-of-contract suit filed late last month by a joint venture hired to build a major new underground ventilation system. “Nuclear Waste Partnership will file a response to CAA’s lawsuit by November 21, 2020, […]

The Department of Energy’s manager for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has yet to reply to a $32-million breach of contract suit filed late last month by a joint venture which had been hired to build a major new underground ventilation system. Critical Applications Alliance, a venture jointly owned by Christensen Building […]

In an online session set for Nov. 10, the Department of Energy will discuss the final solicitation for a new technical assistance contract potentially worth $100 million at the Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico. The DOE Office of Environmental Management issued the final request for proposals (RFP) last week. In a notice posted Tuesday, […]

In an online session set for Nov. 10, the Department of Energy will discuss the final solicitation for a new technical assistance contract potentially worth $100 million at the Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico. The DOE Office of Environmental Management issued the final request for proposals (RFP) last week. In a notice posted Tuesday, […]

The Department of Energy Thursday rolled out a final solicitation for a potential five-year, $100-million technical assistance contract at the Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico. Bids are due by 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Dec. 14 for the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract to replace the one held by North Wind Portage under a […]

The Department of Energy’s underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste is succumbing to mission creep, a critic of the agency told the New Mexico Legislature’s Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee last week. The mission at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad “is not for defense high-level waste, commercial spent nuclear fuel, or […]

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham (D) wants the Department of Energy to explain how its plan to dispose of some seven metric tons of diluted, weapon-usable plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant complies with environmental law, according to a recent letter. The tranche is part of the 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium that […]

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham (D) wants the Department of Energy to explain how its plan to dispose of some seven metric tons of diluted, weapon-usable plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant complies with environmental law, according to a recent letter. The tranche is part of the 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium that […]

The Department of Energy’s underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste is succumbing to mission creep, an agency critic told the New Mexico Legislature’s Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee last week. The mission at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad “is not for defense high-level waste, commercial spent nuclear fuel, or any commercial […]

The prime for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has signed a construction subcontractor to keep a major ventilation project going while a new provider is selected. Nuclear Waste Partnership said Thursday it has awarded a $3-million subcontract to Kiewit US Contractors Co. to support construction of the Safety Significant […]

Shipments to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico are down more than 40% for both the first nine months of 2020, and the just-completed 2020 fiscal year, based on figures from the site’s public database. During the first nine months of pandemic-affected 2020, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) received […]

Officials at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory are looking into Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board concerns that the New Mexico site should do more to minimize the risk of a transuranic waste drum explosion. The board, in a letter dated Sept. 24, found that safety bases for both DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear […]

Joe Franco, the Department of Energy’s deputy manager at the Hanford Site’s Richland Operations Office in Washington state, is leaving the agency to become a special adviser to the prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Amentum-led Nuclear Waste Partnership said in a Thursday press release that Franco will become special adviser to the […]

Nuclear Waste Partnership’s current eight-year, $2.4-billion contract for management and operation of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is being extended for at least one more year, potentially two. The DOE and Amentum-led Nuclear Waste Partnership agreed Sept. 15 to a one-year option through Sept. 30, 2021, contractor spokesman Donavan […]

Nuclear Waste Partnership’s current eight-year, $2.4-billion contract for management and operation of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is being extended for at least one more year, potentially two. The DOE and Amentum-led Nuclear Waste Partnership agreed Sept. 15 to a one-year option through Sept. 30, 2021, contractor spokesman Donavan […]

For the first time in 15 years, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is making shipments of transuranic waste to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, a lab spokesman said this week. Three shipments left Lawrence Livermore for WIPP during the week of Sept. 21, one week after a […]

For the first time in 15 years, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is making shipments of transuranic waste to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, a lab spokesman said this week. Three shipments left Lawrence Livermore for WIPP during the week of Sept. 21, one week after a […]

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is making shipments of transuranic waste to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, a lab spokesman said Monday.  Three shipments left Lawrence Livermore for WIPP during the week of Sept. 21, Livermore spokesman Nolan O’Brien wrote in an email. Livermore crews expect to […]

Most Americans don’t like the way 2020 is playing out, at least if social media posts are any guide, and the first eight months of the year have not gone well for productivity at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. There have been 121 shipments from Jan. 1 through Aug. […]

The business dismissed recently for slow progress in building a new underground ventilation system for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant expects to leave the New Mexico project by the end of the month. The parties are working out a financial settlement, said Mark Christensen, owner and president of Christensen Building Group, and […]

The business dismissed recently for slow progress in building a new underground ventilation system for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant expects to leave the New Mexico project by the end of the month. The parties are working out a financial settlement, said Mark Christensen, owner and president of Christensen Building Group, and […]

The Government Accountability Office is tracking DOE’s progress on returning the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico to a pre-accident operations clip and plans a full report this year, an official with Congress’ investigative arm said recently. The report will be among the first comprehensive external looks at DOE’s efforts to transition its unique, […]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has still received no definitive timetable from the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management for removing stranded drums of potentially-combustible transuranic waste from temporary commercial storage in Andrews County, a commission spokesperson said this week. The state regulator expected to receive a technical analysis from the Environmental Management office […]

The Government Accountability Office is tracking DOE’s progress on returning the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico to a pre-accident operations clip and plans a full report this year, an official with Congress’ investigative arm said recently. The report will be among the first comprehensive external looks at DOE’s efforts to transition its unique, […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management acknowledged late Friday afternoon it will not remove remaining stranded drums of potentially-combustible transuranic waste from temporary storage in Andrews County, Texas this year. “Due to the unique technical considerations” of removing the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) TRU from Waste Control Specialists, “as well as still-to-be-determined impacts […]

Addressing the elephant in the desert, an official with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Wednesday warned that ongoing nuclear-weapon maintenance will require a transuranic waste disposal site that is open beyond 2050: the current, best-case availability for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. “From an NNSA perspective, with an enduring mission, […]

While the Energy Department faces a December deadline to remove some problem transuranic waste from a commercial disposal site in West Texas, there appears to be a chance the material might stay there for two more years. On Aug. 24, Waste Control Specialists requested the Nuclear Regulatory Commission relax its existing order that allows the […]

Addressing the elephant in the desert, an official with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Wednesday warned that ongoing nuclear-weapon maintenance will require a transuranic waste disposal site that is open beyond 2050: the current, best-case availability for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. “From an NNSA perspective, with an enduring mission, […]

A top official with the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management declined Wednesday to specify when a new subcontractor might be selected to finish building a new underground ventilation system for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. “It is certainly a high-priority for us,” Todd Shrader, DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental […]

Addressing the elephant in the desert, an official with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Wednesday warned that ongoing nuclear-weapon maintenance will require a transuranic waste disposal site that is open beyond 2050: the current, best-case availability for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. “From an NNSA perspective, with an enduring mission, […]