Vol. 31, No. 44 
Pandemic Numbers Continue Surge at Nuclear Cleanup Sites
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Budget & Policy
Senate Appropriations Panel Would Keep EM Budget at About $7.5B
With the Department of Energy and other federal agencies now working under a continuing budget resolution keeping spending at 2020 levels, the Senate Appropriations Committee finally released its fiscal 2021 budget proposal Tuesday that would keep nuclear cleanup at the 2020 level of nearly $7.5 billion. The Senate Appropriations’ Energy and Water Development bill would […]
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Budget & Policy
ECA Panel Predicts Lame Duck Session Won’t Be Dull
There is a decent chance, perhaps 50/50, of the lame duck session of Congress reaching a deal on a major omnibus appropriations package for fiscal 2021, a Department of Energy-savvy panel of Washington watchers said Thursday. Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), hope to pass a 2021 spending […]
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Budget & Policy
Opinion: DOE Modernization of Nuclear Safety Management Rule Puts Focus on Safety, Minimizes Unnecessary Administrative Burden
Editor’s note: The Department of Energy recently finalized the first changes in more than 15 years to its Nuclear Safety Management rule, codified in Title 10, Part 830 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This rule governs the conduct of DOE contractors and civil servants — not the conduct of contractors or employees of other […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
No Winner Yet in Race Near Santa Susana
More than a week after the Nov. 3 elections, a California Congressional race with implications for the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex remains undecided. With 86% of the votes counted and more than 330,000 votes cast, incumbent Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), who won a special election in May to claim the open seat, leads Christy […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Familiar DOE Face Takes Over Policy Role at Nuclear Cleanup Office
Mark Gilbertson, a longtime Department of Energy manager, is the new associate principal deputy assistant secretary for regulatory and policy affairs for nuclear cleanup. Gilbertson takes over the post vacated through the Oct. 30 retirement of Elizabeth “Betsy” Connell at the Office of Environmental Management (EM). His appointment was reflected in both an updated organization […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
New Salt Waste Facility Handled 86,000 Gallons During First Month
The contractor for the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. fixed a problem pump flagged by a federal watchdog, and the newly opened facility has now received 86,000 gallons of waste from the site’s H Tank Farm in its first month of radioactive operations, according to the Department of […]
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Transuranic Waste
Fired Contractor Sues WIPP Manager
The Department of Energy’s manager for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico expects to reply by Thanksgiving to a $32-million breach-of-contract suit filed late last month by a joint venture hired to build a major new underground ventilation system. “Nuclear Waste Partnership will file a response to CAA’s lawsuit by November 21, 2020, […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Fluor Posts 2Q Results, 3Q Report Coming Soon
Fluor Corp., the financially troubled, Dallas-based Department of Energy contractor, continued to narrow its losses from continuing operations in the second quarter and first six months of 2020, the company said in a long-delayed second-quarter earnings report. Fluor’s second-quarter loss from continuing operations was about $20 million, an improvement from a loss of more than […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford Water Treatment Subcontract Awarded
Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance, the landlord services provider at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, awarded a $13-million subcontract for local firm Fowler General Construction to build a new water treatment plant. The new facility would replace the current 1940s vintage plant and automate water services and support treatment of tank waste […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Washington Ecology Selects Nuclear Waste Program Director
The Washington Department of Ecology, the state regulator for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, has selected David Bowen as its new nuclear waste Program manager. Bowen, currently a water quality supervisor with the Ecology Department’s central region, replaces Alex Smith. Smith, who has held the nuclear post for more than five years, recently left […]
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National Laboratories
New Director Selected at Idaho National Lab
The Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has a new director, John Wagner, who is being promoted from his current post as associate director for nuclear science and technology. Wagner has been Idaho National Laboratory’s associate director since 2017. Battelle Energy Alliance, the lab prime, announced his elevation to the top job last week. Battelle […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Wrap Up: Longenecker Adds Board Member
Las Vegas-based Department of Energy subcontractor Longenecker & Associates announced this week that retired Jacobs nuclear executive, Terry Hagen, has joined the Longenecker advisory board. Hagen retired effective in June 2019 chief operating officer and president for Jacobs Aerospace, Technology, and Nuclear group. Hagen led Jacobs’ work for the DOE, the Department of Defense, the […]