Weapons Complex Vol. 25 No. 25 More Than $100 Million for WIPP Recovery in Bills, but House and Senate Disagree on Source
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Budget & Policy
Senate and House FY15 Spending Bills Boost Cleanup Funds, While House Cuts SRS Budget
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/19/2014 While both the House and Senate versions of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bills would boost funding overall for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management above DOE’s budget request, House appropriators are looking to provide less than what DOE is seeking for liquid waste cleanup […]
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Contracts & Procurement
How Should DOE Promote Small Business Subcontracts in the Next Round of Primes?
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 As the Department of Energy plans procurements in the coming years for another round of major prime cleanup contracts, a significant question for small businesses is how the Department will consider promoting meaningful small business subcontracting. Small businesses have expressed concern in recent years as a number of prime contractors […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
INTERVIEW: Poneman Looks Back on Contract Mgmt. Improvements, Cleanup Challenges
The following interview with Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman, who announced this week plans to leave DOE in the fall, was conducted by ExchangeMonitor Publications Editor-in-Chief Mike Nartker. WC Monitor 6/20/2014 To start things off, I think one of the things you’ll be remembered for during your time at DOE is the Department’s efforts to […]
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Budget & Policy
EM-1 Nominee Breezes Through Hearing, Doesn’t Indicate Big Changes for Program
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 The Obama Administration’s next choice to head the Department of Energy’s cleanup program, Monica Regalbuto, breezed through a hearing the Senate Armed Services Committee held on her nomination this week, and she has so far not indicated any big changes are in store for the structure of the DOE Office […]
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Budget & Policy
Deputy Energy Secretary Poneman to Leave DOE This Fall
Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 After five years, Daniel Poneman is stepping down as Deputy Energy Secretary this fall. Poneman’s departure plans were announced in a message Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz sent to employees late this week. “It has been my pleasure to work with Dan in many settings over a couple of decades—from […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
EDITORIAL: It’s Time to Separate Out Cleanup Work from Los Alamos, Other NNSA Sites
This is an idea whose time has come at last: The Department of Energy needs to break out cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory and other National Nuclear Security Administration sites under separate contracts managed by the Office of Environmental Management. The Department’s national transuranic waste program has been brought to its knees in […]
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Contracts & Procurement
DOE Gearing Up to Compete New Oak Ridge TWPC Contract
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 […]
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Budget & Policy
House Appropriators Again Take DOE to Task Over Project Management Concerns
Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 House appropriators are once again expressing concern over how the Department of Energy manages major projects in the Office of Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration. While DOE has made some improvement in its ability to “deliver small projects on schedule and within budget,” the Department “continues to […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Senate Bill Would Reauthorize Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund
Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 After years of trying, the Department of Energy may be moving closer to realizing a goal of getting new funding for the federal Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund, which helps cover cleanup costs at the Paducah, Portsmouth and Oak Ridge sites. The Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Fluor-B&W Portsmouth Working to Improve NDA Program
Some Employees Say More Significant Changes Needed Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, the D&D contractor for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, is working to make improvements to its non-destructive assay program in the wake of a recent assessment that identified concerns, and expects to be able to resume by the end of […]
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Transuranic Waste
DOE Launching New Investigation Into WIPP Incidents
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 […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
South Carolina Warns DOE That Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Penalties May be Coming
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 South Carolina is continuing to push against the Department of Energy’s latest plan for the closure of high-level waste tanks at the Savannah River Site, warning this week of hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties if the Department does not request enough funding for Savannah River cleanup. DOE recently […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Converdyn Sues DOE In Effort to Halt Uranium Transfers
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 Uranium conversion company Converdyn has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Energy in an effort to stop the Department’s uranium transfers, which the company claims will cost it $40.5 million in lost revenue over the next two years. In May, a DOE Secretarial Determination declared that its ongoing uranium […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
URS Shuffles Leadership at Oak Ridge, Savannah River Cleanup Contractors
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 URS moved this week to shuffle the top leadership at two of its major cleanup contracts. Ken Reuter, president of Savannah River Remediation, LLC, the liquid waste contractor at Savannah River, is moving back to URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC, to take over for outgoing President Leo Sain. At SRR, Chief […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Parsons Rejects DOE Final Offer on SWPF Startup
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 Parsons last week rejected the Department of Energy’s “best and final” offer for a new agreement for commissioning and startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility, leaving uncertainty in the path forward for startup, WC Monitor has learned. SWPF startup talks have been ongoing since last summer, when a new […]
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International
U.K. Cleanup Focus
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 EnergySolutions Not Seeking to Overturn Magnox Decision, But Is Claiming Damages From the NDA Incumbent contractor EnergySolutions is not looking to overturn the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s decision to award the Cavendish Fluor Partnership the new contract to manage and decommission the U.K.’s set of nuclear power stations in its […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
At River Protection
Group Calls on State to Order Protections for Tank Farm Workers WC Monitor 6/20/2014 As concerns continue to grow over workers at the Hanford tank farms being exposed to hazardous vapors, the watchdog group Hanford Challenge is calling on the Washington state Attorney General’s Office to use the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to order […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
At Richland
John Ciucci to Serve as New Head of CHPRC WC Monitor 6/20/2014 John Ciucci has been picked to be president of CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. at Hanford effective Oct. 1. He will replace John Fulton, who last week announced his retirement from the position effective Sept. 30. Ciucci came to Hanford in 2011 as […]
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Decommissioning
At Oak Ridge
K-31 Demolition Set to Get Underway This Fall WC Monitor 6/20/2014 URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC, the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge cleanup manager, said this week it is ahead of schedule in getting the K-31 Building ready for demolition, which should begin sometimes this fall. K-31 is potentially a bridge between the demolition of K-25, […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: In DOE, In The DNFSB
WC Monitor 6/20/2014 IN DOE Mildred López-Ferré has been named deputy assistant manager for safety and technical services at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge office. She began her DOE career in 1991 as a program manager in the former Environmental Restoration Division at the Oak Ridge office. Most recently, she was special projects assistant […]