Vol. 36, No. 39 
Decades in the making, Hanford WTP makes first glass
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Vitrification & Grout
WTP to start operations with one of two melters
The Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington is expected to start operations this week with only one melter in operation, an Oregon panel heard last week. The plant, designed to vitrify radioactive liquid tank waste into a glass-like solid, will start up this week operating only […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Elected officials react to startup to vit plant startup
Lawmakers from Washington state reacted this week to news that the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) has finally turned some of its less-radioactive tank waste in glass form for disposal at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. “It’s difficult to overstate how important this milestone is in the Hanford cleanup effort,” Washington Gov. Bob […]
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Budget & Policy
Departing DNFSB acting head cautiously optimistic on watchdog’s future
While sad to see what is designed as a five-person panel of experts fall to a lone member, the departing acting chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) feels cautiously optimistic about its future during a time of government cutbacks. During an interview Thursday with Exchange Monitor, DNFSB Acting Chair Thomas Summers said […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP caps off fiscal 2025 with 61 shipments in September
The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 61 shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste during September, marking its highest monthly total for the 2025 fiscal year and the calendar year thus far. Last month’s total is six more than the 55 shipments of TRU waste sent in August, and the […]
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Data Centers & Energy Demand
Oak Ridge industry day highlights data center potential
The Department of Energy will consider the potential return to the government when it weighs proposals for developing data centers and power plants around the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, a DOE official said during a virtual meeting Wednesday. DOE will be looking at the “financial capability” of the applicants, Marla Larson-Williams of Oak Ridge […]
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Budget & Policy
Federal judge temporarily blocks layoffs during the shutdown
A federal district judge in California has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from laying off thousands of additional federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown, various news organizations reported Wednesday. Following a hearing, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco agreed to a request from unions, such as the American Federation of Government […]
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Budget & Policy
Wrap Up: ‘House of Dynamite’ opens; Undersecretary in limbo; DOE hand joins L&A; meetings and more
“House of Dynamite,” a major motion picture about a potential nuclear strike on a major U.S. city, has opened in theatres and streams on Netflix Oct. 24. The thriller, directed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow, known for movies “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” centers around the U.S. Strategic Command, the White House Situation Room […]