Vol. 34, No. 30 
Weapons complex could go from bombs to cleanup to clean energy, under new DOE effort
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Contracts & Procurement
NNSA will acquire SRNS, Centerra contracts in fiscal 2025
On Oct. 1, 2024, the National Nuclear Security Administration will become the landlord, rather than a tenant, at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina and shoulder responsibility for operation and security of the site, a federal advisory panel heard Tuesday. When the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) takes over from DOE’s […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Biden asks high court to revisit Feds for Medical Freedom vax ruling by 5th Circuit
President Joe Biden’s (D) administration wants the U.S. Supreme Court to declare lower court injunctions blocking COVID-19 vaccinations for most federal employees moot because the executive order at the root of the case has ended. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar filed the petition for a writ of certiorari July 21 asking the high court, an independent […]
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Vitrification & Grout
DOE to start baking cost of grout into upcoming Hanford system plan analysis
At the request of the Government Accountability Office, the Department of Energy will start including costs for grouting some tank waste as part of its long-term planning for the Hanford Site in Washington state, according to a report released this week. In the report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends DOE consider, in consultation with […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
SWPF seeks higher output with new solvent in 2025; SRS liquid waste cleanup expected by 2037
The Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina should treat 4.75 million gallons of salt waste in fiscal 2023, continuing to lag behind its 9-million-gallon annual target, a manager for the site’s cleanup contractor said Tuesday. But implementation of the next generation solvent in fiscal 2024, should […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Bechtel contract at Hanford faces deadline; Centerra starts anew at Savannah River
Bechtel National’s $14.9-billion contract to build the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state was updated last month to keep the company on the job into September 2024, which is still before before the plant is expected to start solidifying low-level radioactive waste. An Aug. 31 contract […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Melter 1 heat up complete at Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, DOE says
The first melter at the Department of Energy’s waste-solidification plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state has reached its operating temperature of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit, the agency and contractor Bechtel National said this week. The milestone for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) completed the heat up process that started June 24, DOE […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Bidders for disputed Hanford contract anticipate second legal round, ask judge to retain records
Parties fighting over a $45-billion Department of Energy radioactive tank waste cleanup contract at the Hanford Site in Washington say there is a good chance of ending up back before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and, with that in mind, want the judge to hang onto key records. The parties made the motion in […]
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Transuranic Waste
Panel interested in advising DOE on issues involving WIPP, in addition to Los Alamos
The Department of Energy’s Northern New Mexico Advisory Board, which provides input on cleanup issues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, asked the acting head of the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management last week about expanding its role to include the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. William (Ike) White, the senior adviser for DOE’s […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
About 90,000 tons of Moab uranium tailings relocated in June
During June, Department of Energy contractor North Wind Portage relocated 89,656 tons of uranium tailings and mill debris from the Moab, Utah site near the Colorado River to a disposal site about 30 miles away, according to a report to the Grand County, Utah Commission. As a result, 13.6 million tons of the 16 million […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
Public hearing set on Oak Ride airport planned on former DOE land
A public hearing is set Aug. 8 on the environmental assessment for an Oak Ridge City airport on land conveyed to the locality by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The hearing under the National Environmental Policy Act is scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern Time at the DoubleTree Hotel located at 215 […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Wrap Up: Aptim wins $68M task order; NDAA passes with Hawley amendment; TSCR starts early outage and more
Aptim Federal Services of Baton Rouge, La., has been awarded a $68-million Department of Energy task order to take down the former Ion Beam Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico, DOE said in a Thursday press release. The task order, announced by the DOE Office of Environmental Management, is to […]