Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Rik Geiersbach was just appointed chief strategy officer for BWX Technologies and will report directly to CEO Rex Geveden, the nuclear fuel company announced Monday on its website. “As chief strategy officer, Rik will lead the development, execution and integration of BWXT’s enterprise strategy and merger and acquisition initiatives,” Geveden said in the release. “His […]

The Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Paducah Project Office and a contractor are installing a new system meant to cut downtime at depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) plants The current DUF6 conversion process makes use of small vacuum pumps to take out residual uranium hexafluoride (UF6) from heated cylinders, DOE said in a Sept. 2 press release. […]

Roger Jarrell II has parted company the Department of Energy and as a result is no longer the top federal supervisor at the Office of Environmental Management, DOE confirmed Monday afternoon. Jarrell, the principal deputy assistant secretary for Environmental Management, or EM2, “is no longer with the department,” a spokesperson for DOE headquarters said in […]

The House passed its version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 231-to-196 Wednesday, after two days of debating around 300 amendments. Four Republicans voted against the bill, while one did not vote. Meanwhile, 17 Democrats voted for the bill, while four did not vote. The House version would authorize $7 billion for Defense […]

The Senate Thursday, after a couple tries and failed attempts, finally voted 53-43 to invoke cloture on restoring en bloc consideration of President Donald Trump’s nominations. The move has implications for the president’s nominees to head nuclear-related offices within the Department of Energy, all of whom have cleared committee but await floor votes. Brandon Williams […]

An amendment to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act by an Arizona Republican would require a study into the idea of siting small modular reactors (SMRs) at defense installations. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) has proposed an amendment, adopted by voice vote on the House floor, directing the secretary of defense to do […]

Veteran nuclear cleanup executive Reinhard Knerr is now acting manager of the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Paducah Project Office (PPPO) in Lexington, Ky. PPPO manager Joel Bradburne has moved up to acting head of its Office of Environmental Management (EM) as of Wednesday following the departure of Roger Jarrell. With Bradburne’s new posting, the Portsmouth […]

For the next two weeks the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory will depressurize four Flanged Tritium Waste Containers, the lab announced. The work, which has angered tribal groups and the state of New Mexico, will start this Saturday Sept. 13, laboratory officials said in a press […]

The Department of Energy has published a request for application seeking deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and power generation projects at its Idaho National Laboratory site. Applicants will be responsible for constructing, operating and decommissioning each infrastructure project and must secure utility interconnection agreements for new electricity generation and storage systems, according to […]

The U.S. Department of Justice, representing the Department of Energy, this week urged a federal magistrate in Oregon to throw out a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by Columbia Riverkeeper. Columbia Riverkeeper sued DOE in mid-June in the U.S. District Court of Oregon alleging FOIA violations over the Joe Biden administration’s Cleanup to […]

After an eventful couple of days, the Department of Energy turned to a longtime nuclear cleanup boss to serve as acting head of its Office of Environmental Management (EM) following the departure of Roger Jarrell. At the same time, the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations, Patty Murray of Washington, said she has placed a […]

Oklo announced Thursday it will build and operate a $1.68 billion nuclear fuel recycling facility that could employ 800 people at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee.  The fuel facility is the first phase of an advanced fuel center supporting recycling and fuel fabrication, according to Oklo’s Thursday press release. The facility […]

The new William Wilcox Jr. K-25 Interpretive Center has been dedicated at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the department announced this week.  Visitors to the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant can view the entire footprint of what was once the world’s largest building, K-25. The 1940’s-era uranium enrichment facility helped […]

In a nail-biting finish, the House passed its version of the fiscal 2026 Energy and Water Appropriations bill on the floor Thursday 214-213 after two days of debate and amendments. The House bill would curb Department of Energy nuclear remediation funding by about three-quarters of a billion dollars.  The four Republicans that voted against the […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has tackled all but a few third-party recommendations to improve its culture over the past decade but suffers from a depleted board, according to a new report.  Progress is tough with the five-person board probably slipping to one member, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in its report […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) officially said alternatives to construction of a new 14-mile powerline would not be a “reliable or redundant” electrical upgrade for Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to its floodplain statement of findings. The document outlined alternatives, including using wind, solar, a gas turbine, and even a small […]

The Department of Energy’s current orders for national low-level and mixed low-level commercial waste treatment are scheduled to expire Dec. 3, according to a DOE Office of Environmental Management website. The nuclear cleanup office announced last week it has awarded five-year basic ordering agreements for five companies: EnergySolutions; Perma-Fix Environmental Services; Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal […]

The Department of Energy said last week it will shop around for qualified small businesses capable of doing general support service work at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. The DOE Office of Environmental Management published a sources sought notice Aug. 26 on Sam.gov and on the Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center website. The DOE […]

The Department of Energy’s cleanup field office at the Oak Ridge Site intends to modify its current deal with United Cleanup of Oak Ridge (UCOR) for more transuranic waste processing and treatment at the Tennessee complex. “The services include the safe, compliant, and cost-effective operations and maintenance of the Melton Valley Solid Waste Storage Facilities […]

Greg Sosson, one of the top feds at the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office, took part this month in the ninth annual forum on decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan. The annual gathering brings together international cleanup specialists to discuss nuclear remediation and track the progress of remediation following the […]

Five companies were picked this week by the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office to receive basic ordering agreements to handle nationwide low-level and mixed low-level commercial waste treatment services. The companies announced Thursday by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management are: EnergySolutions of Salt Lake City, Utah; NAC Philotechnics Ltd. of Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Perma-Fix […]

The Reuters news service reported last week that President Donald Trump’s administration plans to tap plutonium left over from dismantled nuclear weapons to help power commercial nuclear reactors in the United States. The news service reported Trump could have the Department of Energy make 20 metric tons available for U.S. nuclear power plants. The article […]

The Department of Energy has turned to an executive with a contractor running an analysis laboratory to become the next manager of its Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. Ray Geimer, who manages Hanford’s 222-S laboratory for contractor Navarro-ATL, and will take over as the new permanent Hanford Site manager effective Sept. 7, DOE said this […]

A 2018 wildfire that burned large sections of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties did not spread large amounts of radiological contaminants beyond the Department of Energy’s portion of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California, according to a new report. DOE Radiological Assistance Program field teams took environmental samples during and after the Woolsey fire […]

The Department of Energy’s former chief of staff during President Joe Biden’s administration last week announced the formation of a new DOE alumni network. The group, which will hire an executive director, is being created following “hundreds of survey responses and many dozens of conversations” with ex-DOE feds, former DOE chief of staff Tarak Shah, […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch says it needs more time to put together a detailed response on infrastructure replacement and refurbishment at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. The current top executive at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management requested a 45-day extension to the current Oct. 16 due date in […]

Liquid waste work at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina resumed recently, following an annual maintenance outage.  While major waste treatment facilities at the 310-square-mile complex have resumed operations, some outage tasks have not yet been completed, according to DOE.  Liquid waste contractor Savannah River Mission Completion began the outage on […]