Vol. 33, No. 47 
New Mexico could pull plug on WIPP decades sooner than DOE wants
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Contracts & Procurement
In appeal over lost small-biz award, Swift & Staley claims agency-level process foul
Seeking to retain a $160 million small-business landlord services award from 2020 at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky, an attorney for Swift & Staley told a federal appeals court Thursday the company never had a chance to explain why its minority role in a joint venture did not make it ineligible for […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Design work resumes on Hanford HLW vitrification facility, DNFSB says
Long-idled design work resumed this summer on the high-level waste portion of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. After August workshops, prime contractor Bechtel National and DOE created what they call the “HLW [High Level Waste] Firm […]
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Budget & Policy
NDAA deal would raise spending on Hanford high-level waste facility
The text of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released Tuesday approves spending up to $359 million on the High-Level Waste Vitrification Facility portion of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant being built by Bechtel National. The administration of President Joe Biden proposed spending $316 million on the facility — a vital cog in […]
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Budget & Policy
Staff concerns, DOE relations feature in DNFSB financial report
During fiscal 2022, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board worked on staffing needs and finalized a deal with the Department of Energy spelling out the watchdog’s authority to access people, records and facilities around the weapons complex. Those are a couple of highlights from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) fiscal 2022 Agency Financial […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Parts of Hanford occupational med draft RFP published by DOE
The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch is urging businesses interested in providing worker healthcare services at the Hanford Site in Washington state, to provide feedback on portions of a draft solicitation by Jan. 4. The information will be used by DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in Cincinnati as it prepares a final request […]
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Budget & Policy
EM Savannah River budget won’t evaporate after transfer to NNSA
The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch should not see a significant near-term decrease in its budget for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina because control of the federal complex is being transferred to the National Nuclear Security Administration, a budget and planning official said last week. “Most of our funding is for liquid […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Value of North Wind’s naval reactor cleanup contract could more than double, DOE says
The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch could increase the value of a North Wind Group environmental remediation contract at a naval reactor laboratory site in New York state to $47 million from $22 million, according to a procurement notice published last week. The DOE’s Cincinnati-based Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center published a justification for […]
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International
NDA report highlights recent progress in United Kingdom nuclear cleanup
The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority wrapped up most spent fuel reprocessing during 2022, one of the major advances for the agency charged with cleaning up the kingdom’s early nuclear sites, according to a new report. The U.K. National Decommissioning Authority (NDA) “strategy is to bring the reprocessing programme to an end,” according to the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: TSCR sub deadline extended; Amentum hires international boss; mining exec goes on Bechtel board
Washington River Protection Solutions, tank prime at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, has extended its bid deadline until Thursday for subcontractors to assist with quality assurance on the Tank Side Cesium Removal project. Responses to the request for proposals were originally due on Monday, Dec. 12. But in a Dec. 8 […]