Vol. 33, No. 28 Bechtel wins new $3B WIPP prime contract from DOE
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Cleanup & Remediation
COVID lingers, more EM sites mask up indoors per CDC guidance
After a dip last week, the number of confirmed, active cases of COVID-19 among onsite workers for the Department of Energy’s office of Environmental Management rose by 50 this week to 169, almost back to the 171 cases logged two weeks ago. The numbers for non-telecommuting Environmental Management (EM) workers, provided Thursday by a federal […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
DUF6 Ops restarting at Portsmouth; Paducah offline after June mishap
Department of Energy contractor Mid-America Conversion Services has restarted the depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion plant at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio for the first time since 2020, but operations at the Paducah Site in Kentucky are expected to be down until next month after a June 10 accident there, the agency said. Both depleted uranium […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
DOE cleanup boss encouraged by IWTU test run, sees operation by year end
William (Ike) White, the top fed at the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, anticipates radiological operations “at least up and running” at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at Idaho National Laboratory by the end of the year. White made the remark to Weapons Complex Monitor Wednesday after a House Science, Space and Technology […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Environmental Management pursuing more coordinated approach to R&D
The Department of Energy’s special adviser for Environmental Management, William (Ike) White, told a Congressional panel Wednesday the agency’s cleanup branch is addressing research and development problems raised in an October 2021 Government Accountability Office report. The Office of Environmental Management has issued a definition for research and development (R&D) and is in the early […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE starts market research on next Hanford occupational health contract
The Department of Energy is gathering market data about the next Occupational Medical Services contract for the Hanford Site in Washington state, the agency announced Thursday. The DOE Office of Environmental Management announced the request for information in a press release and on the government procurement website, SAM.gov. Thursday’s notice said the Office of Environmental […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
SRS ready to skip LEU processing in H Canyon de-inventory, speed process
The Department of Energy has approved its plan to speed up spent fuel removal from the L-Basin storage area at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. In a Monday press release, DOE announced approval of what it calls accelerated basin de-inventory ABD, which would use H Canyon to dissolve spent nuclear fuel without processing […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
South Carolina, DOE investigate spill at Savannah River Site
The Department of Energy and South Carolina are investigating a July 4 spill of contaminated water around H Canyon at the Savannah River Site, officials confirmed this week. There was a spill of low-level radiologically-contaminated water from a temporary above-ground tank system used to take liquid from the pumping of a sump, which happens periodically […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Oak Ridge cleanup contractor, sub chided for lax asbestos monitoring in Mouse House
The Department of Energy has issued an enforcement letter to an Amentum-Jacobs joint venture and its subcontractor GEM Technologies over “concerns with improper asbestos exposure monitoring” during cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Mouse House. The DOE’s Office of Enforcement, however, plans no additional action against URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) or GEM over asbestos […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
NNSA manager picked as next chief of staff for DOE cleanup office
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has selected a manager from the semi autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, Cathy Tullis, to be its next chief of staff effective July 17. Tullis, currently chief of staff for the associate administrator for management and budget for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), will fill the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Portsmouth contractors given until late August to respond to wrongful death suit
Current and former Department of Energy contractors at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio have until Aug. 30 to file a reply to a federal lawsuit filed by a father who claims offsite radioactive contamination contributed to the cancer that claimed the life of his 13-year-old son. The deadlines for the answers to the complaint was […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE green-lighted DNFSB access to nuclear sites in first half of 2022
The Congressionally-created safety watchdog for nuclear defense facilities was not denied access to any Department of Energy records or personnel during the first six months of 2022. In a regular update to Congress, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said July 1 that the Secretary of Energy did not deny any written requests for […]