Vol. 7, No. 60 DOE preparing to pick up N3B option, agency official says
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Feds ‘have a role’ in interim storage alongside private sector, Granholm says
WASHINGTON — Though the government lags private industry in the development of centralized nuclear waste storage, Washington can still be part of the solution, the Secretary of Energy said here Wednesday. “I understand that there are private efforts going on, but we believe that the government has a role in a [nuclear waste] repository as […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Granholm stumps for existing nuclear fleet, fuel supply chain at IAEA conference
WASHINGTON — The Secretary of Energy told attendees at an international nuclear power conference Wednesday that the U.S. aims to keep nuclear at the center of its energy mixture in the long term. “[W]e are committed to maintaining and modernizing our existing fleet, and we are committed to developing a secure and diverse supply chain […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
String of minor mishaps prompts N3B to suspend field work
A series of small but troubling safety and health issues triggered a “stop work order” by the legacy cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, federal and company managers said during an online meeting Wednesday. Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) issued the stop work order Oct. 13, suspending most field […]
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Contracts & Procurement
DOE extends Centerra’s security contract at Savannah River until October 2024
As expected, the Department of Energy extended Centerra Group’s paramilitary security contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina by two years. That is according to the most recent major contracts summary issued Monday, which says Centerra’s contract now runs through Oct. 7, 2024. A DOE spokesperson confirmed the contract extension in a Wednesday […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
DOE touts backup hydrogen supply at DUF6 conversion plants
The depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion plants at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky, both back in service after extended outages, are benefiting from backup sources of hydrogen, the federal agency said Tuesday. The Paducah facility in western Kentucky was the first to restart conversion of depleted uranium […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Contractor parent companies could fill talent gaps, DOE procurement boss says
With retirements and resignations depleting key worker ranks, a procurement manager with the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch said this week the feds should tap parent companies of prime contractors. “Attrition and retention challenges have recently increased the need for the Office of Environmental Management (EM) prime contractors to access corporate support resources to […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Accomplice in nuclear-submarine espionage case seeks three-year sentence
A woman who assisted with the attempted sale of classified nuclear-powered attack submarine secrets should get three years in prison, her lawyer said Wednesday. A three year sentence “would be consistent with, and in some cases greater than, sentences imposed for other accomplices, as well as even some principle offenders,” Diana Toebbe’s legal counsel wrote […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Hruby to talk arms control at first in-person Nuke Fest in two years
The head of the National Nuclear Security Administration was scheduled to discuss arms control Thursday at a major nuclear-policy conference in Washington. Agency Administrator Jill Hruby was set to speak alongside Bonnie Jenkins, under secretary for arms control and international security, in an evening session at the biennial Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference. The session, […]