Weapons Complex Vol. 26 No. 19 B&W CEO Expresses Optimism for Future of Company’s Technical Services Group
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High-Level & Tank Waste
New Report Provides Insight Into Bechtel’s Estimates for Completing Key Portions of WTP
GAO Questions DOE’s Planning for New Hanford Vit Plant Facilities Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/8/2015 The price tag for key portions of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant long seen as being less difficult to accomplish may be set to significantly increase, with contractor Bechtel National having estimated that the work could cost up to almost […]
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Transuranic Waste
DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office Has Trouble Filling New WIPP Oversight Positions
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/8/2015 The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office is having a tough time filling 22 new full-time positions, many of them in safety and oversight, that were created in response to last year’s incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, DOE officials said last week. “I have the highest incentive authority […]
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Budget & Policy
INTERVIEW: Sen. Lamar Alexander
The following interview with Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) was conducted April 29 by ExchangeMonitor Editor-in-Chief Mike Nartker. WC Monitor 5/8/2015 We’re right in the midst of appropriations season. As your subcommittee is working on its version of the FY 2016 energy and water bill, what are going to be […]
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National Laboratories
Prior to Electrical Accident at Los Alamos, DOE Had Already Launched Investigation
DOE Convenes Separate Accident Investigation Board Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/8/2015 The Department of Energy had already launched an investigation into the electrical systems at Los Alamos National Laboratory after several incidents occurred prior to this week’s electrical accident there that left one worker seriously injured and eight others seeking medical treatment. The May 3 […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
CHPRC Facing Lawsuit from Subcontractor over K Basin Annex Project
Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/8/2015 Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. (CHPRC) is facing a lawsuit from one of its subcontractors alleging it has experienced more than $12 million in damages for work on the K West Basin Annex construction project. Federal Engineers and Constructors (FE&C) filed the suit on April 21 in […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
BWCS Not Yet Setting Firm Schedule for Full Restart of Portsmouth DUF6 Operations
Contractor Still Conducting Analysis of Chemical Spill Accident Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/8/2015 B&W Conversion Services, LLC, is so far holding off on setting a schedule for the resumption of full operations at the Portsmouth depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF) conversion plant in the wake of a chemical spill accident, saying late this week that the […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
DOE Cuts Uranium Transfers Under Latest Secretarial Determination
Uranium Mining Industry Gives Move ‘Mixed Reviews’ Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/8/2015 In a move that is expected to impact funding for cleanup work at the Portsmouth site, the Department of Energy is reducing the amount of excess uranium it will transfer to contractors to help pay for cleanup activities and downblending programs. Under the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
U-233 Shipments from Oak Ridge to Nevada Moving Ahead
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/8/2015 After nearly two years of talks with Nevada officials regarding disposal of a batch of uranium-233 from Oak Ridge at the Nevada National Security Site, the Department of Energy is moving ahead with the shipments by conducting a trial run this week. DOE had originally hoped to complete in 2013 […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
DOE: No Indication Poneman Violated Ethics Rules in Seeking Centrus Job
Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/8/2015 There is no evidence that former Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman broke any ethics rules while at the Department of Energy regarding his future post as CEO of uranium enrichment firm Centrus Energy Corp., DOE Deputy General Counsel Eric Fygi said in an April 30 letter to Sen. John Barrasso […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
At Richland
Wash. State University to Oversee Hanford Artifacts WC Monitor 5/8/2015 Mission Support Alliance has awarded a subcontract to Washington State University Tri-Cities for professional curatorial and archivist services, plus storage, of the Department of Energy’s collection of Hanford artifacts and archive materials. The university will make the items available for research, education and public exhibitions. […]
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National Laboratories
At Los Alamos
DOE Awards Contract for Los Alamos Scope Planning WC Monitor 5/8/2015 The Department of Energy this week awarded a contract to IEI-PEC, JV, for scope planning at the Office of Environmental Management’s Los Alamos Field Office. EM is currently standing up a new field office at Los Alamos and is the midst of planning a […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
At Oak Ridge
DOE Holds ‘Productive’ Talks With Regulators on Mercury Facility WC Monitor 5/8/2015 A settlement to the dispute over a new mercury-treatment facility at Y-12 could be on the way following an April 21 meeting with environmental regulators that a Department of Energy spokesman termed “productive.” Representatives from the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management in Oak […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up
WC Monitor 5/8/2015 IN DOE Melanie Kent has been named director of human resources at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office. Kent began her federal career in 1979, and she has been chief of the Federal Human Resources Branch at the Oak Ridge Office for the past 14 years. She has a degree in […]