Vol. 27, No. 46

Cleanup & Remediation

Two Potential Vapor Incidents Reported This Week at Hanford

A dozen workers this week reported symptoms or suspicious odors that could be related to chemical vapors from waste stored at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Thursday afternoon, three workers reported a suspicious ammonia-like odor outside a facility used to switch out empty air bottles for full containers to use with […]
  • Cleanup & Remediation

    New BWXT Chief Wants More DOE Legacy Cleanup Biz

    With the impending ascension of former NASA hand Rex Geveden to the top spot at BWX Technologies, the Lynchburg, Va.-company has set an an outsider from the aerospace business in charge of an effort to grow the company’s legacy nuclear cleanup business with the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. “We remain strongly committed to […]

  • Budget & Policy

    Hoffman Out, Knox in as Rumor Mill churns on Trump’s DOE Appointees

    Nuclear Navy vet Don Hoffman, longtime president of Excel Services Corp., in Rockville, Md., is reportedly out of the running to head the Department of Energy’s legacy nuclear cleanup operations, and Eric Knox, a former Energy Department civil servant with ties to the Yucca Mountain, is rumored to be in consideration, sources in Washington said […]

  • Transuranic Waste

    Senators Say WIPP Needs More Money to Resume Waste Ops

    This week, as the Energy Department weighed decisions that will determine if the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) reopens in 2016, news broke that New Mexico’s U.S. senators believe the facility needs tens of millions of dollars more than expected to safely resume nuclear waste disposal. After numerous setbacks this year, DOE and site contractor […]

  • High-Level & Tank Waste

    Bechtel, AECOM Settle WTP Claims for $125M

    Energy Department contractors Bechtel and AECOM will pay a combined $125 million to settle allegations that they spent federal dollars on non-nuclear-certified parts and services for the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the U.S. Justice Department announced late Nov. 23. Bechtel’s payment also covers claims that it improperly used federal funds for lobbying purposes. […]

  • Cleanup & Remediation

    Plaintiffs Request Delay in Hanford Worker Protection Lawsuit

    Washington state and its co-plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit over chemical vapor protections for workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site are asking for five more months to prepare for trial. The proposed delay would move the trial from Sept 18, 2017, to Feb. 19, 2018. The current case schedule cannot be met, in […]

  • Cleanup & Remediation

    Hanford Contractor, DOE Reach Settlement in Septic System Fall

    Hanford Site tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) has reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Energy Office of Enforcement over a subcontractor worker who fell into an abandoned septic system. The company has agreed to pay $45,000 and take actions to improve safety, including with its subcontractors, according to a consent […]

  • High-Level & Tank Waste

    Public Comment Period Opens for WTP Permit Modification

    The Washington state Ecology Department on Monday opened a 60-day public comment period for locals to weigh in on a permit modification Bechtel National and the Energy Department need to start treating radioactive waste at the Hanford Site as soon as 2022. If granted, the modification will smooth the way for Bechtel, prime contractor on the […]

  • Transuranic Waste

    WCS Asks Feds for Leniency in Los Alamos Waste-Storage Case

    Waste Control Specialists is seeking leniency from federal regulators after apparently violating its federal waste-storage permit to prevent a possible radiation release in 2014, according to an official account the company filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The 12-page account, the most detailed Waste Control Specialists (WCS) has offered publicly on the situation, is printed […]

  • Cleanup & Remediation

    South Carolina Asks Judge to Reconsider Order in MOX Case

    South Carolina wants a U.S. District Court judge to reconsider her recent opinion that she has no jurisdiction to rule on the $100 million the state is seeking in its lawsuit over disposition of DOE plutonium stored at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. State Attorney General Alan Wilson sued the Energy Department, Energy Secretary […]

  • Cleanup & Remediation

    SRS Advisory Board Wants DOE to Expedite Aluminum-Clad Spent Fuel Processing 

    A local advisory board wants the Department of Energy to expedite processing of aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel (SNF) stocks at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. During its bimonthly meeting on Nov. 15, the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) approved a recommendation asking DOE to “accelerate plans and decisions to process its entire inventory of aluminum-clad SNF […]

  • Budget & Policy

    IG Identifies FY17 DOE Management Challenges

    A recently released report from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Inspector General (IG) identifies seven significant management challenges facing the agency in fiscal 2017. They are: financial assistance and contract management; cybersecurity; environmental cleanup; nuclear waste disposal; safeguards and security; stockpile stewardship; and infrastructure modernization. All but one of these categories were previously identified […]

  • Cleanup & Remediation

    Hamilton Nominated for Full DNFSB Term

    President Barack Obama this week nominated nuclear energy industry veteran Bruce Hamilton to serve a full term on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board member. Hamilton joined the board in August 2015, replacing Ken Mossman, who has since died. If approved by the Senate, he would serve a full term of five years. Hamilton was president […]

  • Contracts & Procurement

    DOE Issues EM HQ Information Technology Contract

    The Department of Energy said Thursday it has issued a $39.1 million, five-year contract to e-Management Consultants for information technology services at Office of Environmental Management (EM) headquarters. The Silver Spring, Md.-based company, which specializes in IT services for government, beat 12 other bidders, according to a DOE press release. The contract covers a wide […]

  • Cleanup & Remediation

    Commentary — EFCOG: 25 Years Of Supporting Excellence In Operations Across the DOE Complex

    By Billy Morrison Twenty-five years ago this week, the Energy Facility Contractors Group was born. After receiving the thumbs up from then-Secretary of Energy James Watkins early in 1991, a group of executives from the Department of Energy’s management and operations contractors met the first week of December 1991 to officially form EFCOG, approving a charter […]

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