Vol. 29, No. 1 
Industry Sources Upbeat on Nominee to Lead DOE EM
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Transuranic Waste
Leadership, Contracts, Construction Among DOE Cleanup Issues to Watch in 2018
Like everyone else, the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management and its contractors have turned the page to 2018, which is shaping up to be another year of transition, according to an informal survey of veteran watchers of the DOE nuclear cleanup complex. Here are a few of the issues to watch: A new leader […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
DOE Must Prepare for Long-Term Spent Fuel Management: Expert Report
The U.S. Department of Energy must be prepared to safely manage its 2,510-metric-ton stockpile of spent nuclear reactor fuel for decades until it can be placed in a permanent repository, according to new findings from a federal panel of experts. “While disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in a deep […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE to Close Leaky Hanford Waste Storage Tank
The Department of Energy plans to close the Hanford Site’s waste storage Tank AY-102, which developed a slow leak from its inner shell into the space between its shells. Tank AY-102 was the first of 28 double-shell tanks built at the Energy Department site in Washington state, leaving 27 in service to hold waste emptied […]
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National Laboratories
All Quiet on the Bid Protest Front for New DOE Contracts
As of Thursday, the Government Accountability Office had not ruled on protests filed against the Energy Department’s award of a $4.7 billion liquid waste management contract at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. It also appears the GAO has not to date received any bid protests on the $1.39 billion award for legacy […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford Radioactive Contamination Spreads to 21 Vehicles
The number of contaminated vehicles identified after a spread of radioactive contamination at the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant has increased to 21. Fourteen of those are government and contractor vehicles, and seven belong to workers. The last worker-owned car with contamination was released to its owner Wednesday. Surveys of vehicles are continuing at the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford Contractor Seeks New Trial After $8.1M Verdict for Former Employee
Mission Support Alliance (MSA), the support services contractor for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, is asking for a new trial in Benton County, Wash., Superior Court after a jury in October awarded $8.1 million in damages for retaliation and discrimination against a former manager. If Judge Doug Federspiel does not agree to a new […]
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Transuranic Waste
DOE Taking Comments on Above-Ground WIPP Storage Facility
The Energy Department is seeking public comment until Jan. 15 on plans to build a 65,280- cubic-foot above-ground concrete storage facility at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., for contact-handled transuranic waste. The comment period opened Dec. 15 on the draft environmental assessment, required by the National Environmental Policy Act. The surface storage […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Ohio EPA Defends Vetting of Portsmouth Disposal Cell
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Craig Butler said last month the state feels confident in the safety of a planned on-site disposal cell for waste from decommissioning of the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant — and that recent research by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency backs up that conclusion. “We have patiently and […]
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Decommissioning
Brookfield Buying Westinghouse Electric for $4.6 Billion
Brookfield Business Partners, a global asset management firm, announced Thursday it would purchase ailing nuclear energy and infrastructure giant Westinghouse Electric from Toshiba for $4.6 billion. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Westinghouse is looking to focus more on nuclear services, including reactor decommissioning. “The company operates within a complex regulatory and licensing environment […]
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Transuranic Waste
Idaho Facility Resumes Operation After TRU Waste Fire
After a transuranic waste fire forced the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility at the Idaho National Laboratory out of service on Dec. 21, the facility has now largely returned to operations, the Department of Energy confirmed Friday. “AMWTP Treatment Facility Operations have resumed following the scheduled holiday curtailment of operations with the exception of the […]
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Transuranic Waste
New Mexico Auditor Questions WIPP, LANL Settlements
The New Mexico State Auditor’s Office has questioned whether the state Environment Department (NMED) went too easy on the Department of Energy during legal settlements in recent years over cleanup problems and violations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. In a Nov. 21 letter to New Mexico Environment Secretary Butch Tongate, […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Grand County, Utah, Group to Seek More Moab UMTRA Funds
A delegation of local officials from Grand County, Utah, plans to travel to Washington, D.C., within the next month to promote increased cleanup funding for the Energy Department’s Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project. The group is expected to meet with members of Utah’s congressional delegation and Energy Department officials in February to […]