Vol. 28, No. 15 
Waste Rolling Into WIPP for First Time in Three Years
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Budget & Policy
White House Wants to Shrink Government, but Proposes Increase For DOE EM
The latest step in the Trump administration’s plan to shrink the federal government, released Wednesday, directs agencies to base their fiscal 2018 headcounts on a budget proposal that prescribes an almost 10-percent funding increase for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. The Environmental Management (EM) office, which cleans up nuclear waste created by Cold […]
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Transuranic Waste
Waste Control Specialists Keeps Los Alamos Waste Under Extended Contract
Waste Control Specialists will retain custody of transuranic waste generated at the Los Alamos National Laboratory under a recently extended contract with Nuclear Waste Partnership: the Energy Department’s prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. A DOE spokesperson confirmed the contract status Wednesday, but the agency declined to discuss the terms of […]
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Budget & Policy
Heller Moves to Block Funds for Yucca License in 2017 Spending Bill
One, and only one, of Nevada’s U.S. senators on Thursday asked the Senate Appropriations Committee not to include any funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the stopgap spending bill Congress must produce this month to keep the federal government funded through September. “As you finalize legislation to continue funding for the Fiscal […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford Acquisitions Strategy Expected in Coming Months
The Hanford Site is developing an acquisitions strategy as it eyes the expiration of major cleanup contracts in the next couple years, officials said Wednesday at the “Hanford Live” virtual question-and-answer session. Department of Energy officials had expected to release a comprehensive contracting strategy for Hanford in January and to issue draft requests for […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
New Labor Group President Takes Office at Hanford
The executive board of the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council (HAMTC) has picked an officer from Local 427 of the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades as the next president of the umbrella group for 15 Hanford Site unions. Jeff McDaniel took over as president at the HAMTC meeting Wednesday after Dave Molnaa, who […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Bechtel Seeks Permission to Install WTP Pipes
A 60-day public comment period opened Monday on Bechtel National’s plan to start installing pipes needed to clean up the Hanford Site’s low-activity liquid radioactive waste, according to regulatory filings made public this week. If granted, the modification to the company’s permit with Washington state would allow Bechtel to install underground plumbing to transfer low-activity […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Major SRS Disposal Unit On Pace for Early Completion
A $122 million waste disposal facility at the Savannah River Site is undergoing a readiness assessment and should be available for use about a year sooner than expected, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. The DOE site in South Carolina tweeted Tuesday that it is entering the final readiness assessment for Saltstone Disposal Unit (SDU) […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Citizens Panel Wants Update Following 2016 Drone Sightings Above SRS Staff Reports
A committee of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) indicated this week it supports the Energy Department’s anticipated request to restrict airspace above agency facilities – a discussion sparked last summer after drone sightings over key areas of the South Carolina facility. The Strategic and Legacy Management Committee – one of several sub-panels […]