Transuranic Waste

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/27/2014 As the Department of Energy begins moving forward with a procurement for a new contract to operate the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center, incumbent Wastren Advantage Inc. won’t be able to lead a bid to maintain the work due to the company’s size. WAI, which has managed the facility […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/27/2014 After nearly a month with no entries into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground, filter replacement activities at the facility were completed this week. No teams have entered WIPP since May 30, when contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership began efforts to change out filters that exchange air between the aboveground and […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/27/2014 While the radiological release that occurred at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant earlier this year and the ongoing shutdown of the facility has not scared away potential host communities for a pilot interim storage facility in the United States, the incident has sent ripples through the […]

Filter replacements at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant were completed this week, paving the way for the first reentry into the repository’s underground since May 30, when upgrades to the ventilation system began. The ventilation upgrades that shut down the underground for several weeks were part of the recovery effort following the February fire and […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 Both House and Senate appropriators plan to provide more than $100 million in extra funds to help reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant following incidents earlier this year, though the two chambers disagree on where the funds will come from. The Department of Energy is expected to need significant funding […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/20/2014 Although the radiological release that occurred at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant earlier this year and the ongoing shutdown of the facility continue to send ripples through international waste repository planning efforts, communities looking to potentially host a storage site for high-level waste remain unfazed by […]

Will Department be Able to Make Award Before Current Contract Expires? Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 The Department of Energy is moving forward with plans to compete a new contract to manage the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center, announcing late this week that a draft Request for Proposals is set to be issued for […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014  The Department of Energy’s Office of Independent Enterprise Assessments is launching an investigation into the February incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, according to a notification sent to WIPP contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership this week. The Office of Enforcement will look into “the facts and circumstances associated with potential […]

House appropriators cleared the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill yesterday, clarifying language that will give the Department of Energy the authority to divert up to $120 million in planned pension payments toward recovery efforts at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. An amendment drafted by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) stated that planned pension […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Independent Enterprise Assessments is launching an investigation into the February incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, according to a notification sent to WIPP contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership this week. The Office of Enforcement will look into “the facts and circumstances associated with potential programmatic deficiencies in the nuclear […]

Both House and Senate appropriators plan to provide more than $100 million in extra funds for recovery of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant following incidents earlier this year, though the two chambers disagree on where the funds will come from. The Department of Energy is expected to need significant funding to restore operations at WIPP […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/13/2014 As investigations continue into the breached drum at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Department of Energy is scrutinizing five additional Los Alamos waste drums  from the same acidic waste stream currently stored at Waste Control Specialists.  A leading theory has been that nitrate salts and organic kitty litter in […]

The Department of Energy is scrutinizing five additional Los Alamos waste drums currently stored at Waste Control Specialists that are “highly acidic” and from the same waste stream as the breached drum discovered in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, according to the New Mexico Environment Department. The breached drum contains nitrate salts and organic kitty […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/04/2014 After reentering the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground for the first time since February’s incidents and establishing a clean base of operations this week, the Department of Energy is planning to send workers deeper into the mine next week. The manned reentries are the first to take place since the […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/04/2014 The first shipment of Los Alamos transuranic waste arrived at the Waste Control Specialists facility in Texas this week for temporary storage during the ongoing shutdown of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The storage will take place under a one-year, $8.8 million contract between WCS and WIPP contractor Nuclear Waste […]

DOE: Maintenance Issues Contractor’s Responsibility Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/28/2014 With last month’s truck fire at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant raising concerns over the state of maintenance activities at the facility, the Department of Energy said this week that any maintenance issues were the responsibility of the site’s managing contractor while state and local […]

DOE Gearing Up to Return Workers to Mine Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/28/2014 As the Department of Energy prepares to re-enter the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant six weeks after a radiation release, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said this week that a poor initial response to the event led to unnecessary worker contamination. DOE […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/21/2014 Following an investigation that concluded that last month’s fire at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant was “preventable,” URS is bringing in another addition to WIPP’s management team to focus on the facility’s recovery, WC Monitor has learned. URS has hired Perma-Fix Environmental Services Chief Operating Officer Jim Blankenhorn to fill […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/21/2014 While the Department of Energy this week announced that it plans to send transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory to Waste Control Specialists for temporary storage, there is a tight time frame for completing preparations for the shipments. DOE has committed to New Mexico to completing its campaign for […]

DOE SEEKS FIRMS FOR TRU SLUDGE BUILDOUTS PROJECT WC Monitor 3/21/2014 The Department of Energy issued a notice this week seeking qualifications from firms interested in providing architect and engineering services for design of the Sludge Processing Facility Buildouts Project at the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center. The procurement is being competed on an […]

URS Names New Head of WIPP Contractor in Response to Incidents Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/14/2014 Additional releases of radiation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant are possible because the repository’s ventilation system is not a “credited safety system,” according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. When an underground monitor at WIPP detected a radiation […]

House appropriators are proposing to have the Department of Energy use surplus National Nuclear Security Administration pension funds to help cover the cost of getting the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant back in operation after a radiological release occurred earlier this year. The House version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill would […]

Initial Tests at Los Alamos Inconclusive  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/6/2014 Efforts continue to determine the cause of the radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant after initial tests at Los Alamos National Laboratory so far have not been able to confirm a leading theory. After the discovery last month of a breached Los […]

Questions Come as Congress Prepares Appropriations Bills  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/6/2014 The Department of Energy has yet to formally ask Congress for additional funds to help reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, leading to questions from lawmakers and Hill staff as preparations for Fiscal Year 2015 appropriations bills move forward. DOE asked for $220.5 […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/6/2014 The Department of Energy officially announced late last week that it will not meet the high profile June 30 deadline for removing 3,706 cubic meters of aboveground transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory. The move was expected, after a radiological release shut down the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/07/2014 CARLSBAD, N.M.—After criticism from state and local officials over a lack of communication following recent incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Department of Energy cleanup chief Dave Huizenga apologized at a town hall meeting held here late this week and promised improvements. This week, New Mexico Environment Department Secretary […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/07/2014 PHOENIX, Ariz.—As the Department of Energy examines alternatives for its transuranic waste program, it has pledged to the state of New Mexico to complete on time a high-profile Los Alamos disposition campaign despite the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant shutdown, officials said here this week. The clock is ticking on the […]

13 Workers Contaminated Following Leak Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/28/2014 With news getting worse at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant amidst test results this week that showed 13 workers experienced internal contamination following a radiation leak at the plant, several options have emerged for progressing with the Department of Energy’s transuranic waste campaign at Los […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/21/2014 In another Waste Isolation Pilot Plant event that may delay missions across the Department of Energy complex, WIPP remains shut down indefinitely following the detection of a likely radiation leak from a waste drum late last week. WIPP was already shut down as the result of an investigation into a […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is expected to report today that initial tests have not been able to replicate a reaction that was thought to be linked to the release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, WC Monitor has learned. A leading theory has been that nitrate salts in a LANL transuranic waste drum reacted with […]