Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The U.S. Department of Energy expects within 15 to 60 days to issue a draft request for proposals for remediation at the 33,000-acre Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee. The agency posted its plans for the solicitation July 2 on a federal procurement website. Vendors should expect a 100% full and open competition with a pre-solicitation […]

A federal appeals court decided last week it does not need to hear oral arguments about whether the U.S. government violated environmental law when it sent half a metric ton of weapon-usable plutonium to the Nevada in 2018. In what could be a sign that judges will rule swiftly on Nevada’s appeal of a lower […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s energy subcommittee is scheduled next Tuesday to consider legislation to reauthorize Energy Department cleanup at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York. The West Valley Reauthorization Act, H.R. 1138, passed the full House of Representatives by voice vote on March 5. The legislation from Rep. Tom Reed […]

The Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published Thursday, in observance of Independence Day. Look for our next issue in your inbox on Monday, July 8. In addition, the weekly Weapons Complex Monitor, Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, and RadWaste Monitor will be published this afternoon in advance of the holiday.

Duke Energy has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to rule by the end of this year on its application to transfer licenses for its shuttered Crystal River nuclear plant to another company for decommissioning. Duke filed the license transfer application on June 14, about two weeks after it announced it had hired Accelerated Decommissioning […]

BWX Technologies has finished a uranium conversion contract for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the agency confirmed this week. The semiautonomous Department of Energy weapons agency awarded the roughly $30-million contract in 2011 and extended it through June 30, 2019, at no cost. The NNSA wanted BWX Technologies to hold on to some converted […]

Bechtel and the Energy Department are accepting public comment through Aug. 30 on a proposed modification to the Washington state Department of Ecology hazardous waste permit for the Low-Activity Waste and Effluent Management facilities being built at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The permit revision will provide operational details for the two facilities in […]

Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have determined that the Vermont state government is largely ready to assume regulatory authority over some radioactive materials. The only significant issue was with certain state regulations that require revision, the agency said Tuesday in a Federal Register notice. Vermont has said it will address those issues. In […]

The Pike County, Ohio, General Health District recommends using Solutient Technologies for an independent third-party assessment of contamination levels around the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site. The program is an effort to allay public concerns that in may led to temporary closure of a middle school near the nuclear remediation operation. The Canton, Ohio-based firm is […]

The Chief of Naval Operations on Tuesday said the U.S. must move faster on new capabilities to support its nuclear deterrent, such as finding a “cost-effective, credible” replacement for the Trident II ballistic missile, adding the Navy can no longer rely on a readiness advantage in the strategic weapon space. Adm. John Richardson told attendees […]

The door to a muffle furnace at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Analytical Chemistry Facility “blew open” after a “violent reaction” in May, according to a Friday report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). A chemist working near the muffle furnace in Y-12’s Building 9995 was not harmed when the equipment ejected glass vials […]

Holtec International said Monday it has completed the acquisition of the retired Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey for decommissioning. The announcement was no surprise, after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last month approved the transfer of the site’s reactor and spent-fuel storage licenses from then-owner Exelon to the New Jersey energy technology company. […]

Two class-action lawsuits have now been filed against companies doing work at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio since a nearby middle school was closed due to the potential spread of radioactive contamination. On Friday, two individuals who have long lived within 2 miles of the former gaseous diffusion plant filed suit against Centrus […]

FirstEnergy Solutions said Monday it would reconsider closing two nuclear power plants if the Ohio legislature by July 17 passes a bill that would raise electricity rates in the state to provide financial assistance for those facilities and two coal-fired plants. The Akron-based power provider’s previous deadline was Sunday, which went by with the rate-increase […]

The New Mexico Court of Appeals expects a status report by July 31 on mediation between the parties in litigation over changes to the way the Department of Energy calculates the underground volume of transuranic material at its Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad. The mediation began last month between representatives of DOE, the […]

Finalized state legislation to financially support two nuclear power plants in Ohio failed to materialize by the Sunday deadline set by owner FirstEnergy Solutions (FES), the Columbus Dispatch reported. It was unknown Sunday whether FES would give state lawmakers more time to complete the bill or would now lock in plans to retire the facilities. […]

The California State Lands Commission on Friday voted unanimously to approve a resolution to support two pieces of federal legislation that would prioritize removing used reactor fuel from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). None of the three commissioners commented on the resolution. The bills are the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in May spent just $639 of its remaining balance from the federal fund for development, construction, and operation of a repository for the nation’s nuclear waste. “While there are no significant actions to report for the month, the NRC provided limited program planning and support activities that resulted in nominal […]

Repackaging of radioactive sludge waste at the site of an April 2018 drum breach at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory is nearly complete, according to a monthly report filed with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Site cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho has completed processing all material except three waste trays inside the Accelerated […]

The New Mexico Environment Department will kick off the first in a series of public outreach meetings a week from today with a discussion of its oversight of the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The July 9 meeting will focus on the mission of the state agency’s Energy Department Oversight Bureau, and possible […]

South Carolina and the Department of Energy said last week they had failed to settle a $200-million lawsuit over the federal government’s failure to begin removing weapon-usable plutonium from the state by Jan. 1, 2016. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims case had been on hold for about a year, during which DOE made only […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans through fall to hold 11 public meetings in communities near nuclear power plants that have closed or are nearing the end of the service life. The purpose of the meetings is to discuss best practices for community boards that would provide advice on decommissioning of the facilities, as required […]

Parsons has provided quality management at the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), with little need for improvement, according to a recent assessment from the U.S. Department of Energy. Agency officials further concluded the contractor has successfully implemented processes and procedures that fall in line with DOE’s Conduct of Operations for facilities in […]

The U.S. Senate is set to vote today on its version of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which would allow appropriators to provide the White House’s requested level of funding for nuclear-weapon modernization programs at the Department of Energy and the Pentagon. The bill also would authorize the roughly $5.5 billion requested for defense […]

Contractors at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state have won praise, for the third year in a row, for their efforts to limit the environmental impact of their computers and other electronic equipment. In 2018, over 95% of the electronics bought by all DOE contractors at Hanford were environmentally friendly, according to […]