Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

ARLINGTON, VA — The new acting head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch reiterated here Wednesday DOE remains committed to start making glass in mid-October from the radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Following his address to the National Cleanup Workshop, Joel Bradburne, acting assistant secretary for DOE’s Office […]

The Department of Energy nuclear cleanup office has awarded $15-million in financial help to the Georgia-based Southern States Energy Board to provide technical assistance in moving transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The agreement, announced Thursday by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, starts Nov. 1 and runs five years through […]

Uncertainty over a potential government shutdown is rising after the Senate last Friday Sept. 19 rejected a House-passed stopgap funding bill that also included spending flexibility for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons activities.  After the House earlier in the day narrowly approved a GOP-led continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open through Nov. […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — Two Department of Energy cleanup properties are expected to issue solicitations for artificial intelligence (AI)-related data centers soon, federal officials said here Wednesday. The Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee could issue a request for proposals in early November for a potential data center, Rob Seifert, director of infrastructure disposition and regulatory policy […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., expects to meet its fiscal 2025 target of receiving 425 shipments of transuranic waste within days, a DOE manager said here Wednesday. As of this week, WIPP has received 419 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste from across the weapons complex, […]

Over the past seven-plus years, the Department of Energy’s legacy waste cleanup contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has shipped more than 20,000 cubic meters of waste offsite. That figure, which reflects the period between April 30, 2018 and Aug. 31, 2025, was posted as part of a Sept. 10 slide […]

The rules Department of Energy nuclear sites follow when transporting radioactive and hazardous wastes short distances can be confusing and sometimes contradictory, DOE recently told the Defense Nuclear Facilities and Safety Board (DNFSB). “Onsite transfers can vary widely depending on the materials, distance, routes, equipment, ability, to implement controls, and natural phenomena hazards at a […]

Environmental health officials reemphasized Tuesday that the radioactive wasp issue at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, one that made national headlines last month, is not currently considered a concern to the public. During a bimonthly meeting with the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB), site officials fielded questions about the July 3 discovery of […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and its Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) failed to provide “real-time monitoring data” on its radioactive tritium venting to the local community, local environmentalist groups said this week. A Sept. 18 statement by Communities for Clean Water (CCW), a coalition of organizations in Los Alamos that includes Concerned Citizens […]

WASHINGTON – House Republicans Friday morning passed a short term stopgap spending bill to run through Nov. 21 that would keep funding at fiscal 2025 levels aside from exceptions including the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons activities. The final vote was 217-212, with two Republicans voting against the bill and one Democrat voting for the […]

BWX Technologies (BWXT) announced Tuesday the award of a contract valued at $1.5 billion to support national defense-focused domestic uranium enrichment for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Lynchburg, Va.-based nuclear company will begin tackling the list of requirements for building the Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment (DUECE) pilot plant, the […]

A new org chart from the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management makes it official – longtime DOE hand Joel Bradburne now heads the $8-billion nuclear cleanup branch. The new chart lists Bradburne, most recently manager of the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, as acting assistant secretary of Environmental Management, or EM-1. The chart dated Sept. […]

Most of President Donald Trump’s picks to be leaders in the Department of Energy nuclear complex were finally confirmed Thursday 51-47, some after waiting on the bench since May after being voted through at the committee level. The nuclear weapons complex nominees confirmed en bloc this week are: Brandon Williams, the nominee to head DOE’s […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 55 waste shipments in August.  That’s slightly more than the 50 shipments sent to the facility in August 2024, and the 48 WIPP received in July. The figures are according to DOE’s public website for the underground salt mine disposal site.  Of […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) prime at the Savannah River Site is seeking to speed construction on the plutonium pits facility in South Carolina. Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) said in a Monday press release it is working with its partners to accelerate the major NNSA project. The release said crews are opening […]

Crews at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state have relocated 430,000 gallons of liquid radioactive and chemical waste from an old single-shell underground tank into a newer double-shell one, DOE said Tuesday. BWX Technologies-led contractor Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) oversaw the transfer to a newer double-shell tank from Single-Shell […]

The Department of Energy is continuing its own brand of urban renewal at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, with plans to tear down more dilapidated, contaminated structures. In a Tuesday news release, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and its Amentum-led prime United Cleanup Oak Ridge announced plans to demolish aging infrastructure at the Oak […]

The Department of Energy has issued a decision to clear the way for a multi-billion-dollar plant to start turning radioactive sludge into a solid glass form at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement late Wednesday she was glad DOE […]

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 […]