Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/27/2015 In preparation for a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board hearing this spring on last year’s incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, DNFSB Members Sean Sullivan and Daniel Santos plan to visit Carlsbad, N.M. next week. While the date and agenda for this spring’s public meeting have not yet been […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 2/27/2015 The Department of Energy is considering establishing a committee to help prioritize infrastructure needs across the DOE complex, a senior Office of Science official told a panel examining the effectiveness of the Department’s national laboratories this week. Joseph McBrearty, the Office of Science’s Deputy Director for Field Operations, stressed that […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 2/27/2015 Operating income for B&W’s Technical Services Group took a significant dip in the fourth quarter of 2014, dropping to $345,000—$10 million less than during the fourth quarter of 2013—as B&W dealt with the loss of its Y-12 and Pantex management and operating contracts and lower fee from weapons complex sites […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/27/2015 The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is searching for a new director after the previous nominee for the slot withdrew from consideration this week. Last month, the DHEC Board tapped Eleanor Kitzman for the post following the resignation of director Catherine Templeton. But at Kitzman’s confirmation hearing […]

Remaining Cleanup Costs at Hanford Total Approx. $110 Billion WC Monitor 2/27/2015 An estimated $110.2 billion is needed to complete the remaining cleanup at Hanford, plus some post-cleanup oversight, according to the fifth annual lifecycle report since they became an annual requirement added to the Tri-Party Agreement in 2010. The price tag is down from […]

WC Monitor 2/27/2015 IN MEMORIAM Larry Kelly, manager of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge office, passed away late this week following a two-year battle with cancer. He was 58 years old. Kelly had more than 30 years of federal service and had worked at DOE’s Oak Ridge operations since 1990. He was named Manager […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/20/2015 With the Department of Energy facing cleanup-related fines in numerous states, some state officials are balking at the Office of Environmental Management’s position that any penalties will come out of cleanup dollars. Notably, New Mexico recently levied $54 million in fines against DOE and has warned of potentially $100 million […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/20/2015 Gearing up for the upcoming procurement for a new contract for legacy cleanup work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Department of Energy plans to hold an industry day March 3 in Pojoaque, N.M. DOE announced last fall plans to shift management of the legacy cleanup work at LANL […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/20/2015 A senior Fluor executive late this week questioned the Department of Energy’s recent decision to issue a fine of almost a quarter-of-a-million dollars against Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, for a data falsification incident at the Portsmouth D&D project. Saying that some DOE enforcement decisions “don’t make a lot of sense to […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The long-drawn-out search for a new support services contractor for the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management hit a new roadblock this week, with DOE now facing two challenges to its latest award decision. Portage and a team led by Wastren Advantage each filed a protest with the Government […]

Contract Initially Valued at Approx. $67 Million Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The total cost to complete D&D activities at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) site could approach $400 million, project contractor AECOM reported last week. To date, the contractor has incurred a total project cost of approximately $300 million, and “due to significant […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/20/2015 West Valley Demonstration Project cleanup contractor CH2M Hill B&W West Valley earned about 60 percent, or $175,000, of its available award fee for the second half of Fiscal Year 2014, according to a fee determination scorecard the Department of Energy released this week. CHBWV’s score was slightly better than what […]

EM Releases Field Office-Level Results From 2014 Employee Survey Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/20/2015 Federal employees at the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office appear to be the most concerned across the entire DOE cleanup program of potentially being punished for raising concerns, according to data the DOE Office of Environmental Management recently provided to […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board needs to do more to further improve internal procedures and controls, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released late this week. Before 2013, the Board had few written policies and procedures for its five members and its technical staff, according to the […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The highest level CH2M Hill Hanford Group official accused of aiding timecard fraud calls the civil fine he agreed to in exchange for having criminal charges dropped extortion. More than 20 months after Ryan Dodd, a former vice president for CH2M Hill, was charged with 34 felony counts, the Department […]

About 1,300 Sellafield Workers Walk Off Job Twice This Week Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/20/2015 About 1,300 workers at the U.K.’s Sellafield Site walked off the site twice this week as part of a labor dispute, site license company Sellafield Limited confirmed. The workers first left the site on Feb. 16 only to return two […]

DOE, Wash. State Argue in Court Over Proposed Consent Decree Changes WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The state of Washington would inappropriately expand the Hanford consent decree beyond what the parties signed onto in 2010, including adding new double-shell tanks, the Department of Justice argued in Eastern Washington District U.S. Court late this week. “We have a […]

K-25 Museum Won’t Include Original Equipment WC Monitor 2/20/2015 The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Environmental Management office has confirmed that the upcoming displays planned as part of a K-25 historical park and museum will not include any of the original uranium-processing equipment as part of the exhibit. According to Mike Koentop, the executive officer […]

WC Monitor 2/20/2015 IN THE DNFSB The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is seeking a funding level of approximately $29.2 million for next year, an increase of approximately $650,000 from current funding levels, according to the Board’s recently released FY 2016 budget request. The Board’s request includes an additional $1.76 million to hire additional employees […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 Given years of delays in the Department of Energy’s audits of contractor costs for non-M&O (management and operating) contracts, DOE should develop a risk-based comprehensive plan to undertake the reviews, the Department’s Office of Inspector General said in a report released this week. The IG review focused on delays in […]

Mike Nartker and Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 Lawmakers this week questioned the Department of Energy’s proposed funding cut next year for cleanup work at the Portsmouth and Paducah gaseous diffusion plants. DOE’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request would provide $167 million funding for D&D work at Portsmouth, a cut of approximately $49 million from […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 The New Mexico Environment Department this week warned that it plans to levy additional penalties of more than $100 million against the Department of Energy due to violations at Los Alamos National Laboratory if DOE does not accept accountability for past violations and work with the state on recent compliance […]

The following interview with House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee Chair Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) was conducted last week by Weapons Complex Monitor Editor Kenneth Fletcher. WC Monitor 2/13/2015 I’d like to talk a bit about the Department of Energy’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request and what some of your priorities will be going forward in […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 Though the radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant a year ago this week exposed major issues in the nation’s transuranic waste program, local, state and federal officials are emphasizing progress while acknowledging the remaining substantial hurdles to fully resuming waste operations. On Feb. 5, 2014, a salt haul […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/13/2015 With the competitive landscape for the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract still in flux, the Department of Energy appears likely to push back the release of a final Request for Proposals for the new contract as it continues to work to address industry concerns that may ultimately lead […]

Feb. 14 will mark the one-year anniversary of the radiation release that has shut down the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and brought the Department of Energy’s once-successful national transuranic waste program to a sudden, devastating halt with no clear end in sight.  The last year has brought more than its share of finger pointing, shoulder […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/13/2015 A draft Request for Proposals for a new cleanup contract for the Los Alamos National Laboratory could be issued in the next several months, acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Mark Whitney said late this week. The new contract is intended to cover work currently performed by the lab’s […]

Talks Extended Another Month  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/13/2015 In a step forward in resolving discussions between South Carolina, the Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Savannah River tank closure milestones, the parties have agreed to a 27-day extension on one tank and will continue discussions one more month. The issue […]