Vol. 34, No. 43 
Federal judge declines to certify class action in COVID suit against UCOR
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Cleanup & Remediation
Organizational ‘culture’ challenges remain at DNFSB, Inspector General finds
The federal agency that provides outside safety advice to the Department of Energy still struggles with a “sustainable organizational culture and climate,” the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of Inspector General said last week. Organizational culture leads the list of the most serious challenges facing the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) in fiscal 2024, the […]
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Defense Low-Level Waste
DOE takes comment on disposing of calcine storage bins as low-level waste
The Department of Energy is taking public comment until Dec. 12 on its draft finding that certain radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory can be disposed of there as low- rather than high-level waste. The draft document “demonstrates that the Calcined Solids Storage Facility (CSSF) at closure after waste retrieval is not high-level radioactive […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford to start testing second low-activity-waste melter in December
Trials on the slate for this winter will follow-up successful tests, announced last week by the Department of Energy, of the first melter at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. Conducted on Oct. 26 and Oct. 30, the tests consisted of melting glass beads together to be poured into a cylindrical canister. The […]
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Contracts & Procurement
North Wind appoints Driggs as new CEO
Richard Driggs, most recently chief operating officer for Michael Baker International, has been appointed the new president and CEO OF Idaho Falls-based North Wind Group, the company said Monday. Driggs is a seasoned hand in the engineering and construction industry and brings more than 30 years of experience as chief executive and chief operating officer […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRDC curbs its nuclear watchdog role amid reported belt-tightening
While it remains a critic of nuclear energy, the Natural Resources Defense Council confirmed Wednesday it is scaling back its legal work on nuclear issues. “While NRDC is paring back our nuclear litigation work, we will continue to advocate for better, safer, cheaper solutions to climate change,” Mark Drajem, a spokesperson for the Natural Resources […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
Man arrested in South Carolina after after-hours breach of Oconee nuclear plant grounds
A 66-year-old Arkansas man who allegedly drove his car through an outer gate at Duke Power’s Oconee nuclear plant in South Carolina and tried to run over security staff was arrested and charged with attempted murder, local law enforcement said over the weekend. Doyle Wayne Whisenhunt, of Lockesburg, Ark., was arrested Saturday evening, at an […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Federal judge in Idaho considers whether to toss county suit over INL waste storage
A judge could decide by December the fate of a lawsuit about the Department of Energy’s years of allegedly illegal long-term nuclear-waste storage near Butte County. After hearing oral arguments Oct. 30 from the county, the state of Idaho and the U.S. Department of Justice on the government’s motion for dismissal of the county’s suit, […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hundreds of feral hogs killed; eaten by vultures at Savannah River Site
The U.S. Forest Service killed roughly 1,200 wild hogs on the grounds of the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina during fiscal 2023, many of which were eaten by vultures, the site’s Citizens Advisory Board heard Monday. During his presentation to the Savannah River Site advisory board, forest manager DeVela Clark, also […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hawley wants EPA urgency on West Lake Landfill cleanup
During a Senate hearing last week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) pressed an Environmental Protection Agency official to prioritize remediation of radioactive contamination at the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site in Bridgeton, Mo. “It’s probably no coincidence that the folks who live in this area are not big-time donors to political parties, they’re not big-time party […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Amentum manager, 55, dies in auto accident in Washington state
William (Bill) Badger, director of nuclear and environmental business development at Department of Energy contractor Amentum, drowned in Richland, Wash., after the car he was driving went into a local marina, according to the coroner in Benton County, Wash. The fatal accident was first reported Wednesday by the Tri-City Herald newspaper, which said the accident […]
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Transuranic Waste
Wrap Up: Cleanup office explores AI; WIPP’s new permit takes effect; GAO planning H Canyon report; Centrus delivers first HALEU
The Department of Energy’s $8-billion-plus nuclear cleanup branch is getting positive results from its early forays into artificial intelligence and machine learning, Jeff Avery, the No. 2 at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, told a National Academies panel Tuesday. New technology is playing a growing role at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, Avery, principal deputy […]