Vol. 33, No. 16 
DOE cans proposed extension for incumbent Savannah River prime; issued in error, DOE says
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Cleanup & Remediation
Washington state defends Hanford worker comp law before Supreme Court
The Supreme Court should uphold the constitutionality of a 2018 Washington state law that makes it easier for workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site to qualify for compensation for illnesses, the state attorney general’s office argued Monday before the high court. The U.S. Supreme Court, an independent branch of the federal government, agreed […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Contaminated excess facilities across DOE draw more attention from cleanup office
William (Ike) White, the top manager of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch, expects excess contaminated facilities in the weapons complex to draw more attention in the next decade or so, he told a National Academies of Sciences board Wednesday. Within that span, it will be time for the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
NM Gov. blasts DOE over lack of engagement on surplus plutonium disposition program
New Mexico’s governor blasted the Secretary of Energy this month for failing to provide “meaningful and transparent public engagement” about the agency’s plans to ship immobilized, surplus plutonium to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant from South Carolina. “Because the issues raised in the petition can only be addressed by DOE, I am passing this petition […]
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Transuranic Waste
Los Alamos container emplaced at WIPP without ignition-risk test; Idaho shipments to resume
A container of transuranic waste from the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico was put underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in March without a required flammable gas analysis, a federal safety group said. Analysis of the omitted screening for the Los Alamos container is nearly done, said a DOE […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
‘Stand down’ order lifted at Idaho advanced mixed waste treatment project
The Jacobs-led cleanup contractor the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has lifted a self-imposed “stand down” order at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project, an agency spokesperson said Tuesday. The contractor, Idaho Environmental Coalition, lifted the order March 31, the DOE spokesperson said in a Tuesday email. The spokesperson was responding to a Weapons […]
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Transuranic Waste
Long-running problems with WIPP firefighting program cited by DOE Inspector General
Until the recent past, the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico let its fire trucks fall into disrepair and did a poor job of training firefighters, the agency’s Office of Inspector General said in a just-released report. While it found no evidence to substantiate the most serious allegations raised about the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Federal district judge refuses to throw out most claims against Portsmouth contractors
A federal district judge in southern Ohio is allowing most claims brought by a group of local residents to proceed against current and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site. With the exception of not allowing minor children to be plaintiffs in a lawsuit chiefly concerning property, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley rejected […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
AVANTech fills out biz development ranks
AVANTech, a Columbia, S.C.,-based radioactive and industrial water treatment solutions provider for the Department of Energy and commercial nuclear markets, said this week it recently completed expansion of its business development staff, by adding or promoting five managers. Tammy Monday joined AVANTech in January as vice president of business development for government services, working out […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: DOE lands more minority partnership fund; ground broken on SRS project
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management officially said in an April 15 press release it is expanding its Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program thanks to increased funding for the program in the agency’s fiscal 2022 budget, which started Oct. 1. In March, DOE’s Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina said Minority Serving […]