Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/24/2015 A Congressional hearing could be on tap on former Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman’s new position as CEO of uranium enrichment firm Centrus Energy Corp., House Oversight and Government Reform Interior Subcommittee Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said this week. The House panel launched a probe in late March questioning whether […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/24/2015 Legislation could be on the table to cap the Department of Energy’s transfers of excess uranium if DOE does not limit the transfers on its own, Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said this week at a House Oversight Interior Subcommittee hearing on DOE’s uranium management program. DOE uses the transfers to […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/24/2015 Discussions have been “productive” between the New Mexico Environment Department and the Department of Energy on state compliance orders, NMED Secretary Ryan Flynn said last week, adding that he hopes to soon reach a resolution. In December, NMED levied compliance orders that included a total of $54 million in fines […]

Sellafield Workers Vote to Back Strike Action   Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/24/2015 More than 1,000 Sellafield workers may strike after workers represented by the Unite union late last week voted to back industrial action. At issue is the Sellafield Contractor Group’s “refusal to allow a full time union shop steward and a more proactive […]

Pencil Tanks Gone from PFP WC Monitor 4/24/2015 CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. workers have removed all the highly contaminated pencil tanks from the Plutonium Finishing Plant, a key step toward having the plant torn down to slab on grade in 2016. “This was really a significant achievement,” said Mike Swartz, vice president in charge […]

UCOR Moving Forward K-31, K-27 Demolition Efforts WC Monitor 4/24/2015 URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) has made significant progress in demolishing the K-31 Building and expects to complete the job – including the removal of the big building’s concrete pad – by November, several months ahead of schedule. More and more of the Department of Energy […]

Schedule Unclear for Resuming IWTU Startup Tests WC Monitor 4/24/2015 As new details have been made public on the latest set of technical issues experienced during startup efforts at the Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, the Department of Energy is staying quiet on whether additional time may be needed before testing efforts can resume. The […]

WC Monitor 4/24/2015 IN DOE The Department of Energy has extended by one week the deadline for bids for the new contract to manage Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed facilities at the Department’s Idaho site and in Colorado. Bids are now due by May 8, instead of April 30, under an amendment to the final Request for […]

Details Failures by WIPP and Los Alamos Contractors and DOE Oversight Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/17/2015 After nearly a year of focusing on the root causes of the 2014 radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Department of Energy’s Accident Investigation Board released a report this week declaring the release “preventable” and detailing […]

WC Monitor 4/17/2015 IN DOE Chip Lagdon, the Department of Energy’s Chief of Nuclear Safety, is preparing to retire from federal service, WC Monitor has learned. Langdon’s retirement request was recently approved by senior DOE officials, though the exact timing of his departure remains unclear. Langdon has served as Chief of Nuclear Safety since January […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/17/2015 A coalition of 22 representatives from advocacy groups sent a letter to the Department of Energy this week calling for a nuclear nonproliferation impact assessment on a new processing method at the Savannah River Site proposed for German spent fuel. The 900 kilograms of U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium comes in […]

Rep. Pearce Has ‘Deep Concerns’ With Breidenbach’s Link to 2011 Incident Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/17/2015 The choice of Idaho National Laboratory’s Phil Breidenbach as the next head of Nuclear Waste Partnership , the managing contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, is being met with questions this week given his link to a previous […]

At Least Two Bidders Going After Job Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/17/2015 With a little less than a month to go before bids are due for the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract, it appears that the Department of Energy will see some competition for the job. At least two bidders are believed to […]

House Appropriators Also Move to Increase Hanford Budget Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/17/2015 As House Appropriators this week moved to boost funds for the Portsmouth site, Department of Energy Portsmouth Paducah Project Office Manager Bill Murphie emphasized the need for a stable funding level at Portsmouth. Cleanup funding at Portsmouth has been impacted by both […]

Board Vice Chair Roberson, Though, Says Judgement May be ‘Premature’ Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/17/2015 Members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board appear to be divided over whether or not the Department of Energy is making improvements in improving the safety culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant and across the DOE complex. In […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/17/2015 Waste Isolation Pilot Plant M&O contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership earned only 7 percent of its available fee in Fiscal Year 2014 after incidents shut down the repository, for a total of $561,266 out of $8.2 million in maximum fee available, according to recently released fee information. WIPP was shut down […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 4/17/2015 House lawmakers are seeking more definitive answers from the Department of Energy regarding its decision to separate commercial and defense high-level radioactive waste into two repositories, sending a letter Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz this week. Following the Department’s announcement last month that it planned to “de-comingle” the two […]

Former Hanford Supervisor Sentenced in Time Card Fraud Case WC Monitor 4/17/2015 A former Hanford supervisor was sentenced this week to 30 days incarceration, three months of home detention and a fine of $34,146 after pleading guilty to timecard fraud. Daniel Niebuhr was the first defendant to be sentenced in Hanford cases related to timecard […]

Advisory Panel Calls for Conservative Approach for Central Area Cleanup WC Monitor 4/17/2015 The Hanford Advisory Board is recommending that the Department of Energy take a conservative approach as it prepares to make plans to clean up the innermost 10 square miles of Hanford. Unlike much of the rest of the 586 square miles of […]

Los Alamos Issues Sources Sought for Chromium Injection Wells WC Monitor 4/17/2015 Los Alamos National Laboratory is seeking companies able to drill and install six groundwater wells as part of a pump-and-treat system to address the Lab’s chromium groundwater plume, according to a sources sought notice posted this week. The subcontract award is expected to […]

DOE Submits Revised Draft Study for New Landfill WC Monitor 4/17/2015 The Department of Energy’s Environmental Management team in Oak Ridge has submitted a revised draft of the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) for a proposed new CERCLA landfill. The new landfill will be called the Environmental Management Disposal Facility and replace the current facility – […]

H Canyon Spent Fuel Campaign Moves Into Next Phase WC Monitor 4/17/2015 A long-term spent fuel downblending campaign at H-Canyon has moved into the next phase, resuming processing operations in portions of the canyon that had lain dormant for years, the Savannah River Site announced this week. In September, the site’s managing contractor, Savannah River […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/10/2015 NuVision Engineering Inc. last week took over ownership of the company from the U.K.-based investor group Vision Capital, qualifying it to compete for small business set-aside contracts, the company announced this week. The investor group, which acquired NuVision in 2006, exited the business April 1 in a long-anticipated round of […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/10/2015 The long-awaited final Department of Energy Accident Investigation Board report on last year’s radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant appears set to be released by late next week, as DOE has set a public meeting for April 16 in Carlsbad, N.M., to discuss the report. The third and […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/10/2015 Despite marking an upturn in fee performance after years of steady decline, Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, is considering challenging its Fiscal Year 2014 award fee determination for the Portsmouth D&D project, WC Monitor has learned. At issue is DOE’s decision to give FBP a rating of only “satisfactory” in one of […]

CBFO Manager Joe Franco to Take Senior Post at DOE Richland Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/10/2015 With the announcement this week that Joe Franco is stepping down as Manager of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office for a senior position at DOE’s Richland Operations Office, officials said that a replacement would need to maintain […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/10/2015 With construction of Savannah River’s Salt Waste Processing Facility currently on track to be completed months ahead of schedule in May 2016, efforts are also focusing on integrating the plant into the site’s existing liquid waste system. The SWPF is designed to significantly increase processing rates of liquid waste in […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 4/10/2015 President Barack Obama made it official this week, announcing that he intends to nominate White House nuclear energy official Joyce Connery and nuclear industry veteran Bruce Hamilton to serve on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. WC Monitor first reported last week that the two were the top candidates to […]