Vol. 7, No. 8 Fluor Looking at Self-Performing Savannah River Pit Plant Construction
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Facing Legal Reality Check, NM Legislators Water Down Proposed Rad Waste Ban
A bill making its way through the New Mexico state legislature aimed at blocking a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the state will no longer ban the storage of such waste outright, according to amendments adopted in committee Monday. A package of amendments on House Bill 127, adopted by unanimous vote […]
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Budget & Policy
House Vote Expected Soon on Extending Budgets Through March 11
The House of Representatives could vote Tuesday on a 21-day stopgap budget unveiled Monday by House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) to keep the Department of Energy and the rest of the federal government open through March 11. “This Continuing Resolution [CR] – the product of bipartisan, bicameral negotiation – extends funding through March […]
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Contracts & Procurement
As NNSA Mulls ‘Corrective Action’ on Disputed Production Sites Deal, No Transition Announced Yet
ALEXANDRIA VA. — The head of the National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday would shed no light on the timeline for transitioning the agency’s two main weapons production sites to new management, though the transition was supposed to be halfway over by now. Meanwhile, Consolidated Nuclear Security, the Bechtel-led incumbent managing the Pantex Plant in […]
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National Laboratories
COVID Caused Post-Vaccine Attrition at Sandia Procurement Shop; Materials Shortages Stretch Construction Schedules
ALEXANDRIA, VA. — COVID related supply chain disruptions and pandemic-driven changes in workforce behavior has stressed an already lean procurement staff at the Sandia National Laboratories, which like the rest of the civilian nuclear weapons complex is managing much more spending as National Nuclear Security Administration weapons modernization programs ramp up, a labs procurement official […]
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Decommissioning
NRC Cans Request for Decommissioning Fund Regs Change
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied a request to let companies fund disposal of major components of shuttered nuclear plants by tapping into the plants’ decommissioning trust funds, according to a recent notice from the agency. The proposed rulemaking, which NRC rejected in a Federal Register notice published Feb. 4, would have updated federal regulations to […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Updated Hanford COVID Vax Complaint Has Same Defects, Feds Argue
While more than 300 plaintiffs are now listed, an amended complaint last month by guards and other anti-vaccine workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington has the same central weakness as the original one rejected by a federal judge, government lawyers said in a filing last week. U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE Closing Book on Hanford Plutonium Finishing Plant Cleanup
The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is done with its remediation of the Plutonium Finishing Plant, according to a recently-posted staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The DOE Office of Environmental Management has approved Critical Decision 4 for the cleanup of the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP), “marking completion of […]
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Budget & Policy
DOE Deputy Turk Briefed on DNFSB During Closed Meeting in January
Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk met privately with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Jan. 27, a board spokesperson confirmed Monday. Members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) leadership of DOE and its $7.5-billion Office of Environmental Management “try to meet periodically to discuss updates,” in closed sessions, DNFSB associate director for […]