Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

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 […]

Twenty-five years after the Department of Energy contracted Bechtel National to build a plant to vitrify radioactive sludge into a glass form, the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) began operation this week at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said Wednesday Hanford’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Facility (DFLAW) at WTP […]

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 […]

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 […]

Holtec International has canceled plans to build an interim nuclear waste storage facility in New Mexico, months after an U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made way for such projects in New Mexico and Texas. “After discussions with our longtime partner in the HI-STORE project, the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance [ELEA], and due to the untenable path […]

The current government shutdown should not affect startup and early operation of a new multi-billion-dollar plant to convert radioactive tank waste into glass at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site at Richland, Wash., an Oregon panel heard Tuesday. Separately, the Tri-City Herald newspaper reported Thursday that the Hanford tank waste contractor, BWXT-led Hanford Tank Waste […]

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments concerning litigation brought by two sisters who claim their cancer is connected to radioactive contamination in the St. Louis area dating back to the Manhattan Project.  In a notice made public Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court “invited” the U.S. Solicitor General to file written arguments […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration will move into “emergency shutdown procedures” Friday if the government does not reopen, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said last week on Fox News. “We have about eight more days of funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration [NNSA],” Wright said in an Oct. 2 interview with […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office said last week it has taken down a major 1960s era contaminated facility at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). After three years of labor intensive work, crews directed by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) have dismantled Test Cell C at the Nevada site’s Area 25, according […]

Tim Walsh, a combat veteran and Colorado real estate developer, was confirmed by the full U.S. Senate Tuesday to head the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management. Walsh was confirmed 51-to-47 by the Senate Tuesday as part of a bloc of dozens of nominees from President Donald Trump who have been awaiting a […]

For the time being at least, the Department of Energy plans to hold a virtual meeting of the chairs for its Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Boards later this month. The online meeting is currently scheduled from  10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, Oct. 28. That is according to a Sept. 25 Federal Register notice. […]

Thomas Summers, the acting chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), is scheduled to see his tenure on the safety watchdog for Department of Energy defense nuclear sites come to an end later this month. Summers, a retired Air Force colonel who has also served as a senior adviser in the Office of […]

Veolia said this week it has selected Nadège Petit as CEO of the North America Zone, effective Dec. 1. Petit will join the group’s executive committee in a move to support Veolia’s expansion efforts in the United States. Petit is a prominent international executive with much experience in energy, new technologies and business development, Veolia […]

The Department of Energy acknowledged Thursday morning that the first liquid radioactive and chemical sludge from underground tanks at the Hanford Site is being transferred into the new Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) in Richland, Wash. “With radioactive tank waste now being transferred to Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant, the Low Activity Waste Facility hot […]

Last week, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) introduced the Emergency Relief for Federal Contractors Act to allow federal contractors working without pay to withdraw pay from their retirement savings without penalty. Cortez Masto’s district includes the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Nevada National Security Site. It is the largest NNSA site that […]

Dae Chung, a longtime senior federal manager who retired from the Department of Energy earlier this year, has accepted a post as executive vice president at HukariAscendent. According to its website, HukariAscendent is a technical consulting and engineering company that works with DOE as well as the nuclear industry and power generation business. Chung announced […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is weighing a new strategy for moving transuranic waste stuck for years at Waste Control Specialists (WCS) in Texas, a federal manager said Thursday Sept. 25.  The prior plan declared several acres inside the WCS property in Andrews, Texas a temporary […]

The contractor in charge of a major laboratory at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state said this week it has appointed Mark Hughey as its new general manager. Navarro-led Navarro-ATL announced it has turned to Hughey to run Hanford’s 222-S laboratory. He will replace Ray Geimer, who became manager of DOE’s Hanford […]

If the government’s lapse in appropriations lasts five days or less, “there would be no disruption” to Department of Energy operations, according to DOE’s shutdown contingency plan. “DOE has historically had sufficient previously appropriated funds that remain available to support operations during a short term lapse,” according to the plan made public Wednesday Oct. 1. […]

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) cited the potential impact on in-state military installations as well as the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site as her reason for supporting a Republican-led continuing resolution Tuesday night. “A government shutdown would force tens of thousands of Nevada military personnel, union members, law enforcement agents and military nurses […]

Top management for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office should use available information to identify the scope and cost of remediating contaminated soil and legacy landfills, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last week.  DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) should also use that information to prioritize work at nuclear sites, GAO said in […]

Teresa Robbins, until recently acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, is taking a deputy field manager position at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.  Robbins was removed from the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) leadership page. She updated her LinkedIn page this week to indicate she […]

The state of Washington said Wednesday the Department of Energy has its final authorization to start turning radioactive tank waste into glass at the Hanford Site’s Low-Activity Waste Facility.  DOE faces an Oct. 15 deadline to begin operating the facility that state officials had recently feared the feds might walk away from.  The Washington state […]

Construction of a new fire hall at the Hanford Site in Washington state gets underway in October and could be finished sometime in spring 2027, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. In a news release, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said the long-planned new fire station will have enough room, 22,000-square-feet, to sleep 12 firefighters […]

The final 1 million tons of uranium mill tailings from a pile near the Colorado River at Moab, Utah has been removed, the Department of Energy said this week. In a Tuesday announcement, DOE said work crews for contractor North Wind Portage have successfully removed all 16 million tons of tailings and other contaminated material […]

AtkinsRéalis-led Mission Conversion Services Alliance is now handling landlord work at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth and Paducah Sites, a company executive said Wednesday. Meanwhile, an Amentum-led team, Southern Ohio Cleanup, has taken over remediation at the Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio. Southern Ohio’s contract is worth nearly $5.9 billion over 15 years. As for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and its Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) have completed treating four flanged tritium waste containers, according to a Sept. 26 press release by the New Mexico Environment Department. The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous branch in charge of maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile informed the New Mexico Environment Department […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Tuesday published a request seeking proposals from contractors looking to build and power artificial intelligence (AI) data centers at Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. The notice calls for “entities interested in entering a long-term lease” located at Savannah River Site. Interested parties would be involved […]