Vol. 29, No. 36 
Settlement Reached in Hanford Vapor Lawsuit
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Contracts & Procurement
Next Hanford Services Contract Goes to Bid
The Department of Energy on Thursday released the request for proposals for the Hanford Mission Essentials Services Contract. The award has a projected value of $4 billion to $6 billion over 10 years, including option periods. The work is now performed at the Hanford Site in Washington state by Mission Support Alliance, owned by Leidos […]
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Transuranic Waste
WCS Asks NRC Permission to Keep Problem Waste in Texas Through 2020
Waste Control Specialists (WCS) has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to keep stranded transuranic waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico for an additional two years. The Dallas-based company asked the agency for an extension until Dec. 23, 2020, to allow the state of Texas, the Department of Energy, […]
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Budget & Policy
DNFSB Claims DOE Order Ignores Board’s Legal Authority
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) will hold two more public hearings about a controversial Department of Energy order the independent nuclear health-and-safety watchdog said would prevent it from exercising its lawful authority to inspect nuclear weapons sites. Acting DNFSB Chairman Bruce Hamilton mentioned the meetings in a Sept. 17 letter to Energy Secretary Rick […]
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Transuranic Waste
Energy Department Tardy on Waste Report Required by 2018 NDAA
The Energy Department apparently still hasn’t submitted a report to Congress due Feb. 1 on classifying certain defense nuclear waste. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2018, signed last December, said the “Secretary of Energy shall conduct an evaluation of the feasibility, costs, and cost savings of classifying covered defense nuclear waste as […]
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Transuranic Waste
Idaho Falls Mayor Fears Potential Layoffs at DOE Waste Project
Layoffs are expected within a couple months at Fluor Idaho’s Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP), Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper said last week. The facility workforce at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory “is on its way out the door,” Casper said. This is expected “before the New Year, before the holidays,” she […]
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Transuranic Waste
New Mexico Hears Support, Opposition for Change in WIPP’s Waste Counting
The New Mexico Environment Department has wrapped up the public comment period on an application by the Energy Department to amend the state hazardous waste facility permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad. The state received about 100 pages of comments by Sept. 20, from dozens of individuals and groups, both praising […]
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Transuranic Waste
DOE Contractor Prepared to Resume Salt Mining at WIPP
After a pause this summer, the contractor for the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., expects during the first week of October to resume salt mining to dig out more disposal space. This will be the first mining in storage Panel 8 since July 22, according to Nuclear Waste Partnership spokesman […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Savannah River Contractor Asks Judge to Dismiss Discrimination Case
The liquid waste contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is asking a federal judge to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee. In a Sept. 14 motion for summary judgment, Savannah River Remediation (SRR) said Adrienne Saulsberry was terminated for legitimate reasons. The contractor said its fact […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Final DOE Violation Notice Issued for Hanford Treatment Plant Injury
The Department of Energy Office of Enforcement has issued a final notice of violation to Bechtel National for a Nov. 4, 2016, industrial accident at the Hanford Site in Washington state. A worker sustained broken vertebrae and cuts to the head when a 12-inch pipe unexpectedly separated at a joint and sprayed a pressurized stream […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
SRS Avoids Hurricane Florence With No Impacts to Facilities
Despite threats of severe weather that required the Savannah River Site to brace for impact, the facility emerged unscathed after Hurricane Florence slammed into South Carolina last week. The storm, which has been linked to dozens of deaths in several coastal states, had no impact on missions or facilities at the 310-square-mile Department of Energy […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: Paducah Site Briefly Lost Power Saturday
The Energy Department’s Paducah Site in Kentucky lost power for about three hours Saturday. A failed piece of electrical equipment caused one Tennessee Valley Authority power line to fall into other power lines that morning, Scott Brooks, a spokesman for the federal utility, said by email Wednesday. The TVA system provides electricity to the Paducah […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Correction
An article in the Sept. 14 Weapons Complex Monitor mischaracterized the nature of the Government Accountability Office’s ruling upholding a contract protest against a liquid waste management contract award at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The GAO ruled the Energy Department failed to evaluate the viability of the winning bidder’s […]