Vol. 28, No. 39 
BWXT-Bechtel-Honeywell Group Wins $4.7B Savannah River Liquid Waste Award
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Cleanup & Remediation
Perry Cites Hanford, WIPP as Examples of Progress on Managing Big-Ticket Items
Energy Secretary Rick Perry told a House of Representatives panel Thursday that progress is being made in improving the history of cost overruns and missed deadlines on big projects administered through the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. Perry testified for more than three hours before the House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee. While much […]
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Budget & Policy
‘Frequent Flier’ Perry Tells Congress He Chartered Only One Plane
A Texas congressman gave Energy Secretary Rick Perry an opportunity to come clean Thursday about his use of charter aircraft for official government business — something Perry maintained, in line with previous reports, that he has done only once. Rep. Joe Barton (R), in a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee, told […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
200 Layoffs Reported at MOX Project
About 200 workers were recently laid off from the MOX project at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, construction prime CB&I AREVA MOX Services said this week. Gentry Brann, a spokeswoman for contractor parent CB&I, said the project employed about 2,200 workers at SRS before the recent layoffs. She did not say when the layoffs […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
S.C. Seeks Quick Judgment in MOX Suit as DOE Requests Dismissal
The state of South Carolina has asked for summary judgment in its recent $100 million lawsuit against the Department of Energy over plutonium disposition at the Savannah River Site. The request was filed Oct. 6 – the same day the federal agency asked that the suit be thrown out. South Carolina filed the complaint on Aug. […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Honeywell Says Spinoffs Shouldn’t Affect DOE Work
Honeywell’s decision to spin off three of its business units should not affect the company’s work with the Energy Department, a corporate spokesperson said Tuesday. Honeywell announced Tuesday it will spin off its Homes portfolio and ADI Global Distribution business into a separate home ventilation, security, and fire-protection company, and spin its Transportation Systems segment […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
SRS Security Personnel Strike to End After Fresh Negotiations
The hundreds of security personnel still on strike at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina are expected to return soon as their union and employer wrap up negotiations for a contract that won’t expire until October 2022. It was not immediately clear when the deal will be signed. Among its provisions, the new labor agreement […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
New Milestone Touted at Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant
Installation of the two melters for the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the Hanford’ Site’s Waste Treatment Plant has been completed, a key milestone on the project, plant officials announced Wednesday. “When operational, these melters will be the largest operating vitrification plant melters in the world,” said Bill Hamel, Department of Energy project director for the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Jury Awards $8.1M to Former Hanford Contractor Employee
A Benton County, Wash., Superior Court jury found in favor of a former employee’s lawsuit against Mission Support Alliance on Tuesday, requiring the Hanford Site support services contractor to pay damages of $8.1 million. Manager Julie Atwood resigned when she was told she would be fired from MSA in 2013. She filed a lawsuit claiming […]
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National Laboratories
DOE Makes Headway on NASA Plutonium, But Has Far to Go, GAO Says
A fledgling effort by the Department of Energy to revive domestic production of plutonium-238 (Pu-238) in order to fuel deep space missions by NASA shows promise but still faces challenges, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Oct. 4. The Energy Department has demonstrated “a proof of concept” by producing 100 grams of Pu-238 […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
At Hanford
Hanford Subcontractor Settles Federal Fraud Case Sage Tec and its owner, Laura Shikashio, have agreed to pay $235,000 to settle allegations of subcontracting fraud at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Department of Justice said on Oct. 6. The announcement came less than a month after a second Hanford-area company in the federal court […]
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National Laboratories
Wrap up: Unionized Sandia Workers Ratify New Labor Contract
More than 400 unionized workers at the Energy Department’s Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico ratified a new three-year labor pact Monday, the Atomic Projects and Production Workers, Metal Trades Council, said Tuesday. “The Collective Bargaining Agreement was accepted by a majority of the membership employed at Sandia National Labs who came out to vote […]