Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

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 […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/12/2015 After delays and cost increases at Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant were highlighted last fall in a report prepared by the Department of Energy’ Office of Inspector General, cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company aims to implement a host of corrective actions, according to a plan recently released by DOE. […]

WC Monitor 6/12/2015 IN DOE Following the revelation last week that the confidential personal information of millions was breached in a cyber-security event months ago, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has advised that “Department of Energy employee data has potentially been compromised in this incident,” according to a June 4 message to employees. The U.S. Office […]

WC Monitor 6/12/2015 An article in the June 5 edition of WC Monitor incorrectly reported that more than 450 gallons of contaminated liquid was discharged into the soil in central Hanford during plutonium production activities at the site. The correct amount is more than 450 billion gallons. WC Monitor regrets the error. An article in […]

DOE Releases Updated Draft RFP Sections for Industry Comment Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/5/2015 A provision in the draft Request for Proposals for the new contract to operate the Department of Energy’s two depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion plants that would give DOE wide discretion in how fee can be provided is prompting concern among […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 6/5/2015 The Department of Energy this week issued seven Basic Ordering Agreements for the treatment of Low-Level Waste and Mixed Low-Level Waste. Included among the seven BOAs are: Babcock Services, Environmental Dimensions, EnergySolutions, Omega Consultants, Perma-Fix Environmental Services, UniTech Services Group, and Waste Control Specialists. Each BOA covers a five […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/5/2015 The Department of Energy expects to complete within “the next several weeks” an evaluation of options for adding additional oversight capability at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management Mark Whitney said late this week. In the wake of calls for DOE to enlist […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 6/5/2015 Kurion and AREVA announced this week a joint partnership to provide decommissioning and remediation services for the Department of Energy’s cleanup complex. The companies said that the alliance’s initial emphasis centers on cleanup and closure work at the Hanford site in Washington state, but they indicated that it could […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/5/2015 Portsmouth D&D contractor Fluor B&W Portsmouth, LLC, is placing a renewed focus on deactivation of the X-326 facility after pushing the project’s completion date from March 2016 to June 2017. The contractor this week instituted an organizational change for X-326 work, including a dedicated project team to focus on accelerated […]

Grouting Begins at Tank 16 Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/5/2015 The Savannah River Site is seeking an additional high-level waste tank treatment capability as part of a deal struck with regulators, this week releasing a draft request for proposals seeking companies able to remove cesium from tanks. The draft RFP and expression of interest comes […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/5/2015 As the Department of Energy continues to evaluate bids for the follow-on contract to operate Oak Ridge’s Transuranic Waste Processing Center, DOE this week again extended by six months the current contract held by incumbent Wastren Advantage. The contractor received its first extension in January that ran through mid-July, and […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/5/2015 The South Carolina Senate this week confirmed Catherine Heigel as the next director of the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Heigel, currently the General Counsel for accounting firm Elliot Davis Decosimo, LLC, was formerly the president of Duke Energy South Carolina. She takes over as director of DHEC […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/5/2015 Uranium conversion services company ConverDyn is still pushing a federal court to restrict the Department of Energy’s ability to transfer excess uranium to help pay for other work after DOE recently cut the level of those transfers, according to a court filing this week. ConverDyn sued DOE last year alleging […]

Will Long-Running Procurement Finally Come to an End? Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/5/2015 In a move that could bring the Department of Energy’s multi-year search for a new support contractor for the Office of Legacy Management to an end, the Government Accountability Office late last week denied two protests filed against DOE’s most recent decision […]

First Phase of Breeder Rod Shipments from Dounreay to Sellafield Done  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/5/2015 Scotland’s Dounreay site recently completed the last shipment of an 11-ton batch of breeder reactor rods to the Sellafield site for storage in an effort to consolidate U.K. used fuel, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced this week. While plans […]

WIPP Panels Containing Nitrate-Bearing Waste Closed WC Monitor 6/5/2015 Two previously open panels in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground that had contained nitrate salt-bearing waste linked to last year’s radiological release have now been closed and sealed, officials announced this week. The actions come after the New Mexico Environment Department issued an Administrative Order […]

Lawmaker Wants DOE to Commit to Completing EIS for WTP Gas Pipeline WC Monitor 6/5/2015 Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) is asking top Department of Energy officials for a written commitment to complete work on an environmental impact statement for a proposed natural gas pipeline to serve the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. He wants the commitment […]

Work Underway to Upgrade Pump-and-Treat Plant to Address Uranium WC Monitor 6/5/2015 Equipment is being installed in what’s already the most sophisticated groundwater treatment plant at Hanford to expand its capabilities to address another contaminant. By the end of the calendar year, the new system is scheduled to be tested and starting to remove uranium […]

DOE Reaches Agreement With Regulators on Mercury Treatment Facility WC Monitor 6/5/2015 The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Environmental Management Office has reached a resolution in the dispute with environmental regulators over the proposed mercury-treatment facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The dispute had reached formal dispute status after DOE filed paperwork regarding a […]

WC Monitor 6/5/2015 IN DOE Bruce Held retired from his position as Senior Advisor at the Department of Energy late last week. Held assumed the position of senior advisor last May, and before then, served as acting Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and acting National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator. “Bruce provided exceptional leadership over a […]

Saltstone Operations Shut Down After Elevated Mercury Levels Found WC Monitor 5/29/2015 Operations at Savannah River’s Saltstone facilities remain shut down after the site’s liquid waste contractor, Savannah River Remediation, found elevated mercury levels in tank waste salt streams. Saltstone receives lower activity waste from Savannah River’s tank farms, mixing it with grout and disposing […]

FBP Undergoes Safety ‘Stand-Down’ After String of Incidents WC Monitor 5/29/2015 After a series of minor recordable safety incidents this month at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, the site undertook a “safety stand-down” this week to review and focus on safety tenets. The May 28 stand down came when, after two months without a recordable […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/29/2015 Bill Vantine has been named the next President and CEO of LATA, effective Aug. 1.  He will replace Bob Kingsbury, who is retiring after more than 35 years at LATA. “I’ve had a good long career here,” Kingsbury told WC Monitor late this week. “I think he [Vantine] will do […]

The following exit interview with Department of Energy Savannah River Operations Office Manager Dave Moody, who is retiring this week after nearly five years as site manager, was conducted May 27 by ExchangeMonitor Senior Editor Kenneth Fletcher. WC Monitor 5/29/2015 What would you like to be seen as Savannah River’s major achievements during your five-year […]