Vol. 37, No. 34 
DOE review looks at Hanford glass-making plant
-
Cleanup & Remediation
DOE cites training shortcomings for H2C maintenance program at Hanford
Although the maintenance program at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site tank farms and liquid waste facilities is satisfactory, there are a couple of issues that demand attention, according to a recent DOE report. The facilities at the complex are overseen by BWX Technologies-led contractor Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C), which needs to […]
-
National Laboratories
Mexican national sentenced for impersonating SRS worker
A Mexican national living illegally in the United States has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for identity theft and passport fraud after working at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, S.C., under a false identity. The South Carolina division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that Ricardo […]
-
News & Analysis
25 years ago, DOE, NRC reacted to Sept. 11 attacks
Twenty-five years ago, after terrorists flew airplanes into New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Virginia, then-Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham ordered all Department of Energy facilities be placed in high security status. “All non-essential DOE personnel are evacuated and sent home,” according to a DOE webpage on Sept. 11, 2001. As for […]
-
Transuranic Waste
SRS resumes shipping remote-handled TRU waste to WIPP
The Department of Energy has sent its first shipment of remote-handled transuranic waste since 2009 from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) using a new shipping container. Remote-handled waste is more radioactive than contact-handled transuranic (TRU) waste, which accounts for the vast majority of TRU waste disposed […]
-
Transuranic Waste
DNFSB resident inspector checks out emergency drill at Hanford
A Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) resident inspector watched an emergency drill at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state in August to see how crews might handle an earthquake that damaged facilities within the tank farms. “An RI [resident inspector] observed an emergency preparedness event-scene limited drill simulating a seismic event […]
-
National Laboratories
N3B drills borehole for chromium plume monitoring well
The Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for Los Alamos National Laboratory recently drilled a borehole more than 1,000-feet deep for a new groundwater monitoring well to help keep tabs on a hexavalent chromium plume. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management announced Sept. 1 that legacy cleanup contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) had finished drilling […]
-
Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Groups seek NEPA review of plan to issue surplus plutonium to private companies
The South Carolina Environmental Law Project (SCELP) is demanding the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) conduct a public environmental review of plans to provide 19.7 metric tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium to private nuclear companies. SCELP published the letter of demand Sept. 8 on behalf of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, […]
-
Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Wrap Up: West Va. in mix for nuclear hub; DNFSB manager takes ethics job; BWXT plans Investor Day; more
West Virginia has been selected as a finalist to host a nuclear campus under a high-profile Department of Energy program Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) announced in a Tuesday press conference. West Virginia is now the sixth state to be considered for a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus, joining Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah, which were […]