Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/30/2015 The House of Representatives on Oct. 20 through a suspension of the rules approved legislation that was proposed in response to an Energy Department plan to in 2016 start transporting highly enriched uranium from Chalk River, Ontario, to the Savannah River Site via an automobile bridge that connects Canada to Buffalo, […]

WC Monitor 10/30/2015   Bechtel Seeks Subcontractor to Detect Underground Leaks at Hanford WTP Bechtel National is seeking companies interested in providing underground leak detection services at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant, according to a posting on FedBizOpps on Monday. The sources sought notice states that Bechtel, the lead contractor for WTP, and the […]

WC Monitor 10/30/2015   NSTec Names New President The company that manages the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) on Wednesday announced that it was promoting an executive to the position of president. National Security Technologies (NSTec) Vice President for Program Integration Christopher Deeney will replace Raymond Juzaitis, who is retiring. Deeney for a limited time […]

WC Monitor 10/30/2015   UCOR Recognized in DOE Safety Initiative URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, the Department of Energy’s cleanup manager in Oak Ridge, has been recognized with Star Status in DOE’s Voluntary Protection Program – a safety initiative that has taken on high priority within the federal agency’s nuclear industrial complex. In a ceremony Thursday a […]

WC Monitor 10/30/2015   ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT Centrus Energy and the Kazakhstan government-owned nuclear holding company KazAtomProm have signed a memorandum of cooperation that specifies the development of “mutually beneficial relations” on competitive supplies of Kazakhstan’s uranium to the world market, the Kazakhstan Embassy in Washington, D.C., announced Saturday. The document, which has not been released, […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/23/2015 Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee member Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is considering whether to block the confirmation of Victoria Baecher Wassmer to be under secretary of energy for management and performance, largely because of what on Tuesday he said were broken commitments by Energy Department leadership to commit adequate funding […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/23/2015 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. – The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management plans to award more contracts with a five-year minimum award term, and that incorporate increasingly more fixed-price work scopes, Jack Surash, EM deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and project management, said here yesterday. “I’m going to be looking for […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 10/23/2015 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla – The Department of Energy is considering options for increasing above-ground storage of transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) while it works to reopen the underground mine in New Mexico, a senior official said this week. WIPP has not accepted new shipments of waste […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 10/23/2015 House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) has called for greater predictability in the funding and operation of the Department of Energy’s environmental management program. Simpson, a longtime advocate for the cleanup of DOE legacy defense nuclear sites, offered his thoughts earlier this month during […]

Alissa Tabirian and Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/23/2015 President Barack Obama yesterday vetoed the fiscal 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that authorized his $611.9 billion request for defense discretionary spending, including $5.1 billion for defense environmental cleanup. The NDAA also proposed boosting authorized cleanup funds for the Hanford Site in Washington state to $915.8 […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/23/2015 The Energy Department has chosen Spectra Tech, among six total bidders, for a $31.6 million contract to manage Nuclear Regulatory Commission-regulated spent nuclear fuel storage facilities and licenses for four to five years, according to an announcement this week from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. The contract will encompass management […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/23/2015 The 242-A Evaporator at the Hanford Site has completed a planned series of four operating campaigns over the last year after improvements were made to the facility. The evaporator plant is central to work to empty waste from Hanford’s single-shell tanks into newer double-shell tanks for storage until the Waste […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/23/2015 The Savannah River Site’s H Canyon is expected to enter deliberate operations next week, and HB Line should start deliberate ops by the end of November, SRS announced on Wednesday. Site contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions entered a company-wide operational pause of all nonessential nuclear and non-nuclear operations on Sept. […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/23/2015 A recent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board staff report indicated several areas for improvement within the Savannah River Site’s L Area Complex safety basis, although the Energy Department’s Savannah River Operations Office did not break any DOE requirements. DNFSB Chairwoman Joyce Connery referenced those findings in an Oct. 20 letter […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/23/2015 The U.S. has agreed to assist Spain in cleaning up plutonium, uranium, and americium that was spread across at least 24 acres along the European nation’s southern coast after a B-52 carrying nuclear cargo for U.S. Strategic Air Command crashed with another U.S. military aircraft over the Mediterranean city of […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/23/2015 Savannah River Site workers recently relocated 156 canisters of glassified waste from Glass Waste Storage Building (GWSB) 1 to GWSB 2, starting the modification process for double-stacking canisters at the site and potentially opening the possibility for actual double-stacking to begin in 2016, SRS said in a press release on […]

WC Monitor 10/23/2015 Washington State Recognizes Hanford Contractor The state of Washington has recognized Hanford Site tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions for recruiting, hiring, and promoting individuals with disabilities. It received an outreach award on Tuesday from the state’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. “We’ve put together a highly skilled, safety-conscious workforce at WRPS […]

WC Monitor 10/23/2015 WIPP Emergency Ops Center Complete Workers recently completed construction on a 4,000-square-foot, “state-of-the-art” emergency operations center at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, according to a WIPP press release. The Skeen-Whitlock Building, which houses the Energy Department’s Carlsbad Field Office, was remodeled over the past several months to make room for the center. […]

WC Monitor 10/23/2015 Hanford Union Workers Approve Wage Increase Wages for workers represented by the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council (HAMTC) at several Hanford Site contractors would increase 2 percent in 2016, 2017, and 2018 under agreements approved in worker votes Thursday. HAMTC, an umbrella group for 14 affiliated unions, reported that agreements passed for […]

WC Monitor 10/23/2015 SRNS Receives Letter of Intent for M&O Contract Extension The Energy Department last month sent SRS management and operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions a letter of intent to extend its current contract beyond the September 2016 expiration date, SRNS President and CEO Carol Johnson said at the ExchangeMonitor Decisionmakers’ Forum this […]

WC Monitor 10/23/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY Frazer Lockhart, vice president for waste operations at Stoller Newport News Nuclear, has been appointed to the Energy Department’s Environmental Management Advisory Board, SN3 parent company Huntington Ingalls Industries announced on Oct. 16. "I hope to use my experience in project management and acquisition to provide meaningful assistance to […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/16/2015 The Savannah River Site’s K Area Complex will move to deliberate operations on Monday, after facility contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions on Sept. 11 halted all nonessential nuclear and non-nuclear operations, Energy Department Savannah River Field Office spokesman Jim Giusti said by email this week. “All of the requirements for […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/16/2015 A Russian official on Tuesday signaled Moscow is willing to allow the U.S. to choose a different plutonium disposition method than the mixed-oxide approach mandated in a bilateral deal from 2000. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) calls for each nation to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapon-usable […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/16/2015 A federal judge has declined to dismiss a complaint filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Washington Closure Hanford and other businesses over subcontracting practices at the Hanford Site. U.S. Judge Edward Shea ruled against defendants’ request for summary judgment on the complaint brought by the federal government, but […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 10/16/2015 The state of New Mexico is losing patience with the failure to yet finalize settlements with the Department of Energy over high-profile incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and waste management problems at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, state Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn told WC Monitor. DOE in April […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/16/2015 The Government Accountability Office on Oct. 8 denied Aerostar Perma-Fix TRU Services LLC’s (APT Services) protest of the Energy Department’s June 18 award of a three- to five-year, $123.9 million support services contract for operation of the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center to North Wind Solutions, LLC, according to […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/16/2015 A former employee of a Los Alamos National Laboratory subcontractor who reportedly stole radiation-contaminated lab tools from the lab last month was subsequently involved in an Oct. 1 two-vehicle rollover crash while seemingly impaired by a “controlled substance,” according to the accident report obtained by Weapons Complex Monitor yesterday. The […]

Alissa Tabirian WC Monitor 10/16/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) have approved a memorandum of understanding that dictates the responsibilities of each entity in the transition of legacy environmental cleanup work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), according to a Defense Nuclear […]