Vol. 31, No. 41 
SRS Breaks 600 COVID Cases, Total Cases for EM Also Rise
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP Prime Taps Kiewit for Work During Ventilation Project Transition
The prime for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has signed a construction subcontractor to keep a major ventilation project going while a new provider is selected. Nuclear Waste Partnership said Thursday it has awarded a $3-million subcontract to Kiewit US Contractors Co. to support construction of the Safety Significant […]
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Contracts & Procurement
$600M Moab Contract Envisioned in DOE’s Draft RFP
Comments are due Nov. 2 on a draft solicitation for a new, potentially decade-spanning contract for more than $600 million worth of work at the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project in Moab, Utah, the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management said this week. The draft request for proposals (RFP) comes after the agency […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Frequent DOE Critic Not Reappointed to Advisory Board
Dennis Foreman, a frequent critic of Department of Energy decisions at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio is not being appointed to a new term on the Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board, he said Tuesday. Foreman, a schoolteacher and member of Piketon Village Council, became a member of the advisory board four years ago and learned […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
NNSA Plans to Review to Dilute and Disposal Plan for SRS Material
Later this year, the National Nuclear Security Administration will begin a formal review of its program to dispose of the 34 metric tons of plutonium once slated to be recycled into commercial reactor fuel, an agency official said. It was unclear whether the agency would heed the advice of the National Academies of Sciences and […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Market Research Resumes for DOE Long-term Mercury Storage
Soon after withdrawing its designation of Texas-based Waste Control Specialists as its long-term storage site for elemental mercury, the Department of Energy is seeking information about other potentially suitable sites. Responses are due by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Nov. 4 to DOE’s request for information (RFI) for a leased facility and services related to […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Rep. Duncan Could Pick Up Yucca Torch From Shimkus
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) is bidding farewell to Congress after a more than 20 year stint as an Illinois representative, and he says Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) could be one of the congressmen to replace him as the lower chamber’s main advocate for a permanent nuclear-waste disposal site. Shimkus credited Duncan for helping secure the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE Nuclear Cleanup Policy Manager Retiring
The top executive for regulatory and policy at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is calling it a career soon. Elizabeth “Betsy” Connell, the associate principal deputy assistant secretary for regulatory and policy affairs, will retire at the end of the month following a career of more than 30 years around the DOE […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Historically Black College Part of Team Bidding to Run SRNL
South Carolina State University President James Clark said Oct. 16 his institution is part of a team of colleges vying to run the Energy Department’s Savannah River National Laboratory. The historically black public university in Orangeburg, S.C., is a member of a team with Clemson, the University of South Carolina, Georgia Tech and the University […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Cesium Removal Unit Returns to Service at SRS
The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management announced Oct. 15 it has resumed operation of the Tank-Closure Cesium Removal module following an extended maintenance outage that started in summer 2019 when an aging transfer pump stopped working. The pump, used to prepare salt waste inside Tank 10 for cesium removal, was replaced this past […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Energy Dept. Finalizes Changes to Longstanding Nuke Safety Rule
The Department of Energy on Sunday finalized changes to its rule about nuclear safety management that, according to the government’s independent nuclear health and safety watchdog, could encourage contractors to unsafely increase radioactive hazards in old buildings. After about two years of deliberation, the agency published its changes to Title 10, Part 830 of the Code of […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Wrap Up: Late Earnings Show Fluor 1Q Loss
Texas-based Fluor, a major Department of Energy contractor, lost $171 million or $1.22 per share for its first quarter that ended March 31, according to results released Thursday. Since late 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have been investigating problems with Fluor quarterly data filed during 2019, which prevented the […]