Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Lance Moore WC Monitor 6/26/2015 Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) denounced the Department of Energy for its recent attempt to delay cleanup of tank waste at the Hanford site by an additional year to 2022. Washington filed a motion late last week to strike further proposed delays by the DOE in the consent […]

The following interview with Ken Rueter, president and project manager of Oak Ridge cleanup contractor UCOR, was conducted by Weapons Complex Monitor Senior Editor Kenneth Fletcher on June 17. It came just before this week UCOR wrapped up demolition of the K-31 former gaseous diffusion plant, a milestone in the cleanup of the East Tennessee […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 6/26/2015 The Department of Energy plans to complete by the end of this year the Environmental Impact Statement on the preferred alternative for the disposal of Greater Than Class C waste and GTTC-like waste, DOE-EM’s Director of the Office of Disposal Operations Doug Tonkay said last week at the EPRI […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 6/26/2015 A defense-only repository would prove cost effective and time efficient compared to comingling it with commercial waste, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said in a May 15 letter to House Energy leaders, released this week. House lawmakers previously questioned the wisdom behind the decision to “de-comingle” the two waste […]

Lance Moore WC Monitor 6/26/2015 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted a request for information (RFI) on behalf of the Office of Environmental Management (EM) to aid in the acquisition of qualified contract support services. These support services will ultimately serve to provide Assistance Developing Policy and Guidance on Regulatory Compliance and Assistance […]

WC Monitor 6/26/2015 The transition of contractors at the Department of Energy’s Transuranic Waste Processing Center is scheduled to take place by September, according to a DOE spokeswoman. As reported earlier, DOE awarded the management contract, valued up to $123.9M, to North Wind Solutions LLC. Lynette Chafin of DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said […]

IN THE INDUSTRY Roger Petrie, a mainstay in the state of Tennessee’s oversight of Department of Energy cleanup programs for many years, has taken a job with UCOR — DOE’s cleanup manager in Oak Ridge. Petrie served as the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s project manager for the Federal Facility Agreement in Oak Ridge. […]

From Staff Reports WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The Department of Energy this week selected North Wind Solutions LLC from among seven bidders to manage and operate the agency’s Transuranic Waste Processing Center in Oak Ridge. The contract has a potential value up to $123.9 million if all options are chosen. The performance period has a three-year […]

Nominee Grilled on EM Issues at Senate Hearing Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/19/2015 Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) plans to block a Senate vote on the nomination of Monica Regulbuto to be the next Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Assistant Secretary, he said at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to consider […]

Hearing First in Congress Since WIPP Events Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/19/2015 Members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations called for Department of Energy oversight reform late last week after issues came to light following the February 2014 radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The hearing marks the […]

Alissa Tabirian WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration have agreed to perform a joint review requested by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board on safety issues at DOE nuclear facilities, according to a letter sent to the DNFSB last week by NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz. The DNFSB proposed in […]

Alissa Tabirian WC Monitor 6/19/2015 Following the Babcock & Wilcox Company spin-off that will separate the power generation business unit from the rest of the company as of July 1, the newly renamed BWX Technologies shared the procurements and contract extensions it is focusing on in a presentation given during Investor and Analyst Day this […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The Department of Energy this week awarded the contract for infrastructure support services at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant to incumbent Swift & Staley. The largely firm-fixed-price contract has a three month base period with a 22-month option period. The follow-on contract was set-aside for small businesses, with a size […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 6/19/2015 Studsvik and AECOM have separated their partnership in the THOR Treatment Technologies joint venture, the company announced this week. The two companies had worked together for 13 years, but Studsvik President Howard Stevens said it believes the technology and the company can stand on its own. “There are several […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The Department of Energy late last week awarded a nearly $4 million firm fixed price contract to CTI and Associates for demolition services at Oak Ridge’s K-732 switchyard in the East Tennessee Technology Park. The contract for the minority owned business falls under the 8(a) program. The contract also includes […]

Hanford ORP Tank Farm Work Slows WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The gear that is protecting Hanford tank farm workers from chemical vapors also is significantly slowing work, according to documents filed in Eastern Washington District Federal Court. A Department of Energy analysis found that the reduction in efficiency ranges from 30 to 70 percent, with an […]

Hanford Advisory Board Concerned About Future Budgets for Richland WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The Hanford Advisory Board is concerned that the Department of Energy is planning to significantly underfund Hanford cleanup in budgets currently under development, the Board said in advice to DOE and Hanford regulators. The board acknowledged that after years of budgets that failed […]

Sewage Treatment Plant Cleanup Progressing WC Monitor 6/19/2015 The Department of Energy-funded cleanup of an Oak Ridge sewage treatment plant is continuing, with no immediate end in sight. The Rarity Ridge facility became contaminated early last year – and possibly even earlier – when radioactive technetium seeped from the K-25 demolition project and ultimately infiltrated […]

IN DOE The Department of Energy has named retired Air Force Col. Barton Barnhart as the Office of Environmental Management’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Program Planning and Budget, effective this week. The position was previously held in an acting capacity by Connie Flohr. “His previous positions included serving as Director of Installations at the U.S. […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/12/2015 The Department of Energy should implement external reviews to help resolve disputes with regulators at the Paducah site to avoid delays and cost increases for cleanup work, according to a DOE Office of Inspector General report released this week. Numerous issues have delayed completion of the C-400 groundwater cleanup project, […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/12/2015 The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is on track to release in the coming weeks its plans for new cleanup procurements at Los Alamos National Laboratory, EM Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Project Management Jack Surash said at a Business Opportunity Forum EM held this week. DOE […]

WRPS Reaches Settlement With Whistleblower WC Monitor 6/12/2015 A settlement agreement has been reached between Hanford whistleblower Shelly Doss, a former environmental specialist at the tank farms, and Washington River Protection Solutions. Neither side has revealed the details of the settlement, which was approved by administrative law Judge Scott Morris of the U.S. Department of […]

DOE, Contractor, Expect Work to Fully Resume in ‘Early’ Summer Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/12/2015 Some design-related activities have been suspended at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant after the Department of Energy raised concerns with procedures developed by project contractor Bechtel National. The suspended activities include “work related to nuclear criticality safety design” and “nuclear […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/12/2015 A fee-related provision that has raised industry concern in the draft Request for Proposals for the new contract to operate the Department of Energy’s two depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion plants has been taken “out of context,” a DOE procurement official said this week. At issue is a clause in […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/12/2015 Amid pressure from lawmakers and reports regarding the huge amount of excess facilities awaiting transfer to the Department of Energy’s cleanup program, a DOE working group on the issue expects to complete a comprehensive report by the end of the year, officials said this month. The Energy Secretary’s office formed […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/12/2015 Noting the “unprecedented” amount of Department of Energy procurements scheduled in the next few years, a recent report by the Energy Communities Alliance is urging a discussion with DOE on potential changes to its contracting policies and processes. The report notes that at least 17 major DOE contracts could expire […]

Alissa Tabirian WC Monitor 6/12/2015 The split of Babcock & Wilcox into two separate companies will go into effect July 1, B&W announced this week. The split will result in the creation of BWX Technologies, which will consist of B&W’s nuclear operations, technical services, nuclear energy, and mPower businesses; and Babcock & Wilcox, which will […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/12/2015 The proposed shipment of a batch of German highly enriched uranium to the Savannah River Site would violate both German and European law, according to a complaint Greenpeace Germany filed this week with the European Commission attempting to stop the plan. The 900 kilograms of U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium comes […]