Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Nuclear cleanup managers at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina expect to complete liquid waste remediation sometime between 2037 and 2041, according to an updated federal plan. The DOE Office of Environmental Management and contractor Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), a BWXT-led joint venture, issued the latest update of the site’s […]

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)  vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, says the Donald Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 nuclear cleanup budget for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site is “a slap in the face to the Tri-Cities, threatening the Hanford cleanup mission and the community with this absurd budget request.” “This proposal is completely unacceptable,” […]

The Department of Energy said Wednesday it has deposited its first big batch of glass logs, made from liquid radioactive tank waste, at the Hanford Site’s Integrated Disposal Facility at Richland, Wash. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and contractor Central Plateau Cleanup said in a press release that the Integrated Disposal Facility received the first […]

Energy Capital Partners, a multi-billion-dollar energy-focused investment firm, will re-acquire EnergySolutions from TriArtisan Capital Advisors for an undisclosed price, the companies said this week. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close this year. EnergySolutions said in a press release. The investment firm said the decision to buy EnergySolutions again […]

The Donald Trump administration rolled out its very high-level budget proposal for fiscal 2027 this Friday, April 3, which includes $8.2-billion for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), which would be a haircut of $386 million. It should be noted that in recent years House and Senate Appropriators have been willing to […]

Department of Energy contractors confirmed Friday morning that a temporary work stoppage occurred Thursday at the Hanford Site’s tank farms in Richland, Wash. The Tri-City Herald newspaper reported Friday April 3 that a labor organization, the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council, initiated the work stoppage over emergency response concerns following the on-the-job death of a […]

Urenco USA has hit the halfway mark in its U.S. enrichment capacity expansion program after installing the fourth new cascade of gas centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico, the company said Thursday. Urenco USA, an affiliate of the European Urenco Group, said in a press release that the fourth cascade began producing […]

Jeff Brunell, a longtime energy and defense executive, is now vice president of markets and strategy at Kiewit Nuclear Solutions. Brunell, who announced his new position last week on LinkedIn, was previously with AtkinsRealis as a vice president of business development. He was with Atkins two years working on business deals with the Department of […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is looking at using a major facility at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory for treatment of some of NNSA’s future waste streams, according to a safety board report. On Feb. 17, NNSA and members of the Amentum-led environmental cleanup contractor for Idaho National Laboratory met “to discuss […]

The Department of Energy and its cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory have now solidified a third of the high-level sodium-bearing radioactive waste at the site, DOE said Tuesday. According to a press release from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management  and Amentum-led Idaho Environmental Coalition, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) has processed about […]

The first phase of relocating Department of Energy’s headquarters staff to a new location in Washington, D.C., could get started by the end of 2026, although it might not be finished until early 2028, a source said this week. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told a staff town hall-style meeting Wednesday April 1 the department […]

While the United Steel Workers (USW) union supports advanced nuclear projects for its members, it wants to ensure that employee health and safety remain protected at advanced reactor projects That’s the gist of supplemental comments filed with the Department of Energy in March by the union. “USW represents workers across the Department of Energy nuclear […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office in Richland, Wash., intends to issue a sole source contract to Mercia Advisors, LLC for Highly Specialized Strategic Budgeting and Congressional Liaison Support Services, according to a March 27 procurement notice. DOE’s Hanford Field Office intends to retain the firm’s services for up to one year without going […]

The Department of Energy will relocate its Washington, D.C. headquarters from the James V. Forrestal Building to the Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) building, which currently houses the Department of Education. That is according to a Thursday announcement from DOE and the General Services Administration. The Education Department, which has undergone significant cuts under the Donald […]

The Department of Energy’s Northern New Mexico Site-Specific Advisory Board heard March 19 DOE is facing $16 million in potential civil penalties for multiple violations assessed under a February compliance order from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) that proposes. The fines were assessed by the state under a Feb. 11 administrative compliance order partly […]

The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Wednesday released its final site-wide environmental impact statement and its record of decision to implement an “expanded operations alternative” at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. “Expanded operations” means exactly what it sounds like: all activities at Los Alamos will continue as they […]

Knoxville-based Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve) is now a 100% employee-owned company, the Department of Energy contractor said in a Monday news release. In addition to reaching the 100% staff-owned milestone, through its Employee Stock Ownership Plan, Pro2Serve also announced some newly appointed board members. Every employee can own a stake in Pro2Serve by participating in […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office is on track for substantial completion of its liquid waste mission at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina by 2037  if sufficient funding is authorized, the local field office boss said Tuesday. On March 5, high-level radioactive tank 14 “achieved preliminary cease waste removal status” on March […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — While Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), is unenthused about the Department of Energy’s interest in rebranding its Office of Environmental Management (EM), Rep Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) is fine with the idea. Exchange Monitor asked both DOE weapons complex lawmakers about their thoughts on the issue this week between Congressional hearings.  “What they […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the Department of Energy, with help from Congress, could save billions of dollars over time by clarifying how high-level radioactive waste (HLW) is defined in statute. While this is a longstanding issue, GAO urged Congress to set up a Blue Ribbon Commission of experts to tackle the matter, in […]

Uranium production is ramping up at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS), with plans to produce nearly 23 metric tons of high-level uranium for fuel production,and other purposes for the DOE nuclear complex. That was the message that the SRS Citizens Advisory Board heard Tuesday during the panel’s regular bimonthly meeting at the […]

The org chart is in flux at the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Los Alamos National Laboratory field office where Jessica Kunkle will be rotating out to fill another supervisory role within DOE, the Northern New Mexico Site-Specific Advisory Board heard Thursday evening. Stanley Pyram, previously chief engineer at the Savannah River Site in South […]

PHOENIX – The chair of an industry working group on waste management hopes sponsors of new nuclear projects will soon start sharing details on how they plan to deal with the resulting waste. “We have got SMRs [small modular reactors] … popping up, micro reactors, uranium enrichment, spent fuel recycle, “ said Firewater President and […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States needs to reestablish a robust domestic uranium enrichment program in order to meet future nuclear goals, Department of Energy Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy Ted Garrish said here Thursday. “When I first came onboard, I recognized this really is the biggest risk to the nuclear industry,” Garrish said of […]

PHOENIX – The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) will be recouping some of its lost staff positions, developing power plans for its nuclear sites, all while seeking to speed nuclear remediation, Tim Walsh said here last week. At the Waste Management Symposia last week in Phoenix, Walsh, the DOE assistant secretary for […]

Citizen groups that are frequent critics of the Department of Energy nuclear weapons complex greeted news of a possible name change for the DOE Office of Environmental Management with a shrug. DOE Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Tim Walsh told the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix last week that EM could soon be rebranded  as […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., has completed an annual maintenance outage that started in January, while managers plan an even longer one next year.  The outage that ran from Jan. 5 through March 13 is finished and the underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste is once again […]