Weapons Complex Vol 25 No 18 At Richland
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Cleanup & Remediation
At River Protection
SRNL TO Conduct Review of Tank Vapors WC Monitor 5/2/2014 The Savannah River National Laboratory will lead an independent review of chemical vapors and worker protection at the Hanford tank farms, it announced late last week. Early this week, two more workers reported smelling tank vapors, this time at the C Tank Farm where work […]
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Transuranic Waste
Bags Covering WIPP Drums Disturbed, Rad. Leak Cause Remains a Mystery
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/2/2014 While the cause of the Feb. 14 radiation release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant still remains unknown, crews entering the mine this week discovered that magnesium oxide bags covering waste drums at the likely leak site were disturbed. After initial entries to WIPP’s Panel 7 in recent weeks, this […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
EM Calls for Complex-Wide Deferred Maintenance Review
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/2/2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has asked contractors and site field offices across the complex to perform a review of deferred maintenance in response to the recent incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant that have shut down operations there. “One of the early lessons learned from […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Seven Hanford Milestones at Risk of Being Missed in FY ’15
DOE FY’15 Budget Request Would Cut RL Funding by Approx. $93 Million Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/2/2014 As many as seven cleanup milestones at Hanford are at risk of being missed in Fiscal Year 2015 due to funding issues, a DOE official said this week. DOE’s Richland Operations Office faced one of the largest cuts […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE Considering Combining Idaho Cleanup Contracts Post-FY 2015
D&D Work May be Broken Out for Small Businesses Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/2/2014 As the Department of Energy moves forward with planning for a procurement for cleanup work at the Idaho site post-Fiscal Year 2015, DOE is considering combining the site’s two current cleanup contracts and separating out D&D work for small businesses, a […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Oak Ridge Subcontractor Targeted by Law Enforcement Sells Off UCOR Work
Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/2/2014 Transportation, Operations and Professional Services (TOPS), which was raided by federal law enforcement agents earlier this year, has sold the waste transportation subcontract it had with URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC (UCOR). UCOR spokesman Allen Schubert confirmed this week that Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based TFE Inc. had acquired the subcontract. “This acquisition […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE Signs Deal to Explore Processing German HEU at H-Canyon
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/2/2014 Moving ahead with potentially processing German experimental spent fuel at the Savannah River Site’s H-Canyon, the Department of Energy recently signed a statement of intent with the German government to examine the idea. The highly enriched uranium comes in the form of graphite spheres from the pebble bed AVR gas-cooled […]
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Transuranic Waste
Pu Disposal at WIPP Lowest Cost Disposition Option, DOE Study Says
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/2/2014 As the Department of Energy considers its options for disposing of surplus plutonium, a new study released this week suggests that downblending the material and disposing of it at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant may be the least expensive alternative. While DOE’s current plans calls for the material to be […]
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International
UK Cleanup Focus
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/2/2014 EnergySolutions Sues NDA for Damages in Magnox Award Incumbent contractor EnergySolutions this week filed a claim for damages against the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in a challenge to the recent award of the Magnox/RSRL contract to the Cavendish Fluor Partnership. Bechtel, EnergySolutions’ teaming partner in the Reactor Site Solutions bid for […]
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Contracts & Procurement
DOE Gearing up to Issue Draft RFP for Paducah Infrastructure Contract
Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/2/2014 A draft Request for Proposals for the new Paducah infrastructure services contract is set to be issued within the next 15 to 45 days, the Department of Energy said in a notice issued April 30. The new contract is being set-aside for small businesses, with the procurement to use a […]
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Transuranic Waste
More Than 75 Los Alamos Containers of TRU Waste May Not Meet WCS Criteria
WCS, DOE Look to Change Acceptance Criteria Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/2/2014 More than 75 of the transuranic waste containers slated for shipment from Los Alamos National Laboratory to Waste Control Specialists may not meet the current WCS acceptance criteria, complicating a high-profile push to remove all aboveground LANL transuranic waste by the end of […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
URS Moving UCOR Chief Leo Sain Back to Corporate Position
Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/2/2014 Leo Sain is stepping down as President and Project Manager of Oak Ridge cleanup contractor URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC to return to a corporate role at URS. In his new position, announced this week, Sain will head up URS Global Management and Operations Services’ Decontamination and Decommissioning and Waste Management […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: In DNFSB, In The Industry
WC Monitor 5/2/2014 IN THE DNFSB House lawmakers are looking to lower the maximum number of employees the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board can have by 20 percent. A provision in the House version of the FY 2015 defense authorization bill, which was reported out of subcommittee this week, would limit the number of full-time […]