Vol. 7, No. 54 Ditch award fees for prime contractors; M&O parent cos. of little help, new NNSA report says
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP’s Panel 7 full, next one certified by state
The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., last week emplaced its last shipment of defense-related transuranic waste into Panel 7, the underground work area left contaminated by a radiation leak in February 2014. “Last week, last Thursday to be specific, the last waste was placed in panel 7,” said Sean Dunagan, […]
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Decommissioning
NRC asks Holtec to clear up ‘conflict’ in Indian Point trust fund agreement
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants Holtec International to explain why the company has proposed giving itself the power to manage investments from a shuttered New York nuclear plant’s decommissioning trust fund — something the agency said is illegal. In a request for additional information document sent to Holtec Friday, NRC took issue with a provision […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
DNFSB asks Energy Secretary for overdue safety reports on NNSA sites
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Boards sent the Department of Energy a reminder about overdue safety reports for several nuclear weapon sites, according to a letter dated Oct. 20. DOE’s delay is “affecting the Board’s safety oversight,” Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) chair Joyce Connery wrote in the letter to Secretary of Energy Jennifer […]
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Budget & Policy
Manchin vows to seek federal help for Portsmouth school closure
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, pledged last week to seek funds for possible replacement of a middle school closed three years ago after public disclosure of radioactive contamination on the campus near the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio. Manchin, who also sits on the Senate […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
DC court approves Public Citizen withdrawal from interim storage case
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday allowed consumer advocacy group Public Citizen to pull out of a joint lawsuit challenging a proposed commercial interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in west Texas, court filings show. Public Citizen, which until Monday was part of a coalition of anti-nuclear groups suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
DOE plans to extend contract with small biz assisting with West Valley planning
The Department of Energy plans to extend by up to a year a contract with a small business based in Arlington, Va.,for cleanup planning at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York. On Oct. 20 DOE announced its intent to extend its contract with h SC&A through Nov. 17, 2023 if all options are […]