Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

The Department of Energy’s latest cost estimate for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., is $18.5 billion – excluding the cost of building and commissioning the High-Level Waste Facilities. The High-Level Waste Facilities at the mammoth plant, to vitrify tank waste into glass, could run another $14 […]

Earnings rose at AtkinsRéalis Group Montreal, Canada in the fourth quarter, which the company attributed to the sustained demand for its engineering services and nuclear capabilities, according to its Feb. 27 press release. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 were (CAN) $95 million (US$69.5 million) or (CAN) $0.57 a share, up from […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Friday Feb. 27 released the highly anticipated request for proposals (RFP) for management and operations (M&O) of the Savannah River Site. The RFP is for a standalone performance-based contract, according to NNSA’s press release on the RFP. The base contract period would be five years, […]

The Department of Energy’s projected cost for cleaning up the radioactive waste legacy of the Cold War and Manhattan Project continues to mount, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report made public this week. “As of May 2025, EM [DOE’s Office of Environmental Management] estimated that the remaining cleanup work at all its […]

Reinhard Knerr, a Department of Energy executive who retired in January after more than a quarter-century federal career, is now vice president of technical services at Navarro Research & Engineering. Knerr announced his new position in a post on his LinkedIn page within the past week. “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new […]

The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee voted largely along party lines Wednesday morning to advance President Donald Trump’s nominees for under-secretary of energy as well as director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) . Both Trump nominees Kyle Haustveit for under secretary of energy as well as Steve Pearce for BLM […]

Texas, home to commercial and government nuclear facilities, must wait until May to learn what Republican will square off against upstart Democrat James Talarico in November’s U.S. Senate election. Longtime GOP incumbent Sen. John Cornyn appears to have edged out state Attorney General Ken Paxton and finished far ahead of Rep. Wesley Hunt in Tuesday’s […]

Kansas-based Kiewit Nuclear Solutions has picked Jeff Leita, formerly of Amentum, as vice president of markets and strategy for its Department of Energy management and operations business line, Kiewit said in a news release this week. Leita has much experience across the nuclear, federal and national security sectors, where he has led complex efforts and […]

The landlord contractor for the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., has agreed to pay roughly $5 million to settle Justice Department litigation alleging the company “fraudulently overcharged” the Department of Energy for hours not actually worked over many years. Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) must pay the feds roughly $3.45 million — including $1.73 […]

Orano USA submitted its environmental report for Project IKE, a planned uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Monday. With the environmental report filed, Orano USA, the U.S. subsidiary of France-based Orano, said the complete facility license submission should occur later this year. “We are pleased to reach this […]

The Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Advisory Board is being discontinued after 30 years, the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) said Tuesday. Members of the Environmental Management Advisory Board (EMAB) were recently informed that DOE during the second Donald Trump administration has decided “to sunset the board,” ECA said in a member email Tuesday. The EMAB […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office has asked Washington state for a permit change that could enable the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) to process up to 20% more tank waste. The feds said in a Wednesday press release they want to use grout to solidify some of the secondary waste generated at […]

Earnings rose, though government operations fell, at BWX Technologies (BWXT), Lynchburg, Va., in the fourth quarter, which the company attributed to naval propulsion and commercial nuclear power awards. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 were $93 million, or $1.01 a share, up from $71 million, or $0.92 a share, in the year-ago […]

A long-running lawsuit brought by an employee over implementation of a federal contractor’s COVID-19 vaccination policy at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee has ended just months before a planned jury trial. A Jan. 30 filing with the federal district court in Knoxville, Tenn., indicate plaintiff Jeff Bilyeu and employer UT-Battelle, which runs Oak […]

The Department of Energy is reviewing responses to a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the Legacy Cleanup Contract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The deadline for responding to the draft RFP was Thursday Feb. 26. The DOE Office of Environmental Management plans to eventually issue a final RFP to continue legacy remediation at […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management said this week it is hiring an executive to help industrial redevelopment at DOE nuclear sites. In a Monday post on LinkedIn, Environmental Management head Tim Walsh said the nuclear cleanup office has appointed Jim Kahler, who Walsh described as a “seasoned adviser and strategist.” Kahler will […]

A Department of Energy contractor has demolished a 175-foot-tall K West Reactor exhaust stack at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., DOE said Friday Feb. 20. Last week’s implosion of the exhaust stack marks another big step by Amentum-led contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company towards cocooning the last of nine Hanford reactors being placed into […]

Battelle Energy Alliance, the Department of Energy’s management contractor for Idaho National Laboratory is seeking expressions of interest from vendors capable of raising the fire alarm strobes in Building 1617. The work will help the prime contractor in meeting safety codes and updated height and visibility requirements, according to a Feb. 24 procurement notice online […]

Virginia-based Amentum holds an ownership stake in about 30 active joint ventures, the company said in a financial filing last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Amentum’s ownership percentages in these joint ventures, typically limited liability corporations or LLCs, “range from 25% to 50%,” the company said in an SEC filing around the […]

More than 100 company and individual attendees took part in a Department of Energy session in December on development plans for an artificial intelligence data center at the Paducah Site in Kentucky, according to an online procurement notice. Amentum, Ameresco, Big Rivers Electric Cooperative, Burns & McDonnell, BWXT, Catawba, Fluor, General Matter, Geosyntec, Global Laser […]

Earnings fell at Fluor, Irving, Texas, during the fourth quarter of 2025, which the engineering and construction company partly attributes to a share buyback program and losing an overseas court ruling. Net earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were a net loss of $1.6 billion or a loss of $9.87 a share, down from […]

Two Washington state lawmakers have introduced legislation that requests the governor pursue the Department of Energy’s state nuclear lifecycle campus inquiry. The bill, House Joint Memorial 4016, was initiated by state Reps. Stephanie Barnard (R) and Mark Klicker (R) on Feb. 14.   The two lawmakers represent districts not far from DOE’s largest nuclear cleanup site […]

The Defense Department and Leidos are negotiating framework agreements for co-investments in key acquisition programs for the company, Leidos CEO Tom Bell said on Tuesday. The forthcoming co-investment opportunities are in areas where Leidos has already increased capital expenditures, and internal research and development spending over the past three years, Bell said during the company’s […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. is in the midst of a winter outage that could last through mid-March, according to a site spokesperson.  During the outage, receipt of transuranic (TRU) waste from various sites across the DOE complex is on hold. The spokesperson could not immediately provide Exchange […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office said this week it is making solid progress on taking down a pair of old Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program prototype facilities at the Idaho National Laboratory. In a Tuesday press release, the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) said it is tearing down 1960s era structures around the […]

This month the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District, began tearing down a half-dozen homes in the Cades Cove neighborhood of Florissant, Mo., as part of the ongoing cleanup along Coldwater Creek. The work is part of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) that targets legacy contamination from the early atomic […]

Earnings fell at Centrus Energy, Bethesda, Md., in the fourth quarter, which the uranium broker attributed to the decreased revenue from its uranium sector.  Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 were $17.8 million, or $0.79 a share, down from $53.7 million, or $3.20 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was […]