Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/6/2015 In the latest move to address industry concerns over the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract, the Department of Energy plans to hold a new round of one-on-one sessions next week with potential bidders. The sessions will be held via teleconference on Feb. 11, according to a DOE notice. […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/6/2015 With only two teams likely to be in the running for the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said this week he is “concerned” about the lack of competition for the work. Initially, four teams were believed to be considering the procurement, but potential bidders […]

Latest in a Series of Assessments Raising Culture Concerns Within Board Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/6/2015 A “divisive and dysfunctional relationship” among the members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board appears to be playing a significant role in the poor morale plaguing the DNFSB staff, according to a new independent report released late last […]

The following interview with Stacy Charboneau, the new Manager of the Department of Energy’s Richland Operations Office at Hanford, was conducted last week by ExchangeMonitor Publications Editor-in-Chief Mike Nartker. WC Monitor 2/6/2014 You’re coming on as the RL Manager as Hanford is reaching the end of what DOE has called its ‘2015 Vision’ for the […]

DOE Has Acknowledged Proposed Funding Cut Could Lead to Layoffs Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/6/2015 The Department of Energy’s proposed Fiscal Year 2016 funding cut for D&D efforts at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which is set to make workers there worried about the fate of their jobs for another year, is already hurting employee […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/6/2015 Lawmakers and state officials largely saw mixed news this week in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, which seeks to boost tank waste cleanup funds but proposes cuts to many other cleanup efforts across the complex. Hanford’s Office of River Protection saw the […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/6/2015 The “Project Reach” campaign at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, intended to help determine the exact cause of a radiological release that occurred last year at the facility, wrapped up late last week and officials say they have not discovered anything unexpected. The completion of the effort is expected to […]

New Delay Could Challenge DOE’s Ability to Meet 2017 Commitment Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/6/2015 In a move that appears set to place a key regulatory commitment at the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) site in California in increased jeopardy of being missed, the Department of Energy is again pushing out the schedule for completing […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/6/2015 Hanford support services contractor Mission Support Alliance earned 87 percent of its Fiscal Year 2014 award fee, for a total of $16.5 million in fee earned out of about $19 million total available, according to a fee determination scorecard the Department of Energy released this week. That falls slightly below […]

DOE Reviewing Material Differences Submitted by Contractor Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/6/2015 About three-and-a-half years into the West Valley cleanup contract, the Department of Energy is still incorporating material differences into the contract to set a final schedule for the demolition of the site’s main plant, DOE this week. Contractor CH2M Hill-B&W West Valley submitted […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/6/2015 Restoration Services, Inc., the environmental technical services contractor at the Portsmouth site, earned 92 percent of its available award fee in Fiscal Year 2014, according to a scorecard posted by the Department of Energy this week. The contractor earned $322,828 out of a total available fee of $349,708. RSI achieved […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/6/2015 Though the Department of Energy’s purchase card program generally follows established guidelines, there were several issues with proper documentation at the Office of Environmental Management’s Consolidated Business Center, according to a DOE Office of Inspector General report released this week. The Department uses the General Services Administration’s SmartPay2 program with […]

DNFSB Raises Concerns Over Ventilation System at WTP Facility WC Monitor 2/6/2015 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board expressed concern this week over the ability of the confinement ventilation system to be used at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s High-Level Waste Facility to effectively perform its safety function in the event of a seismic incident. […]

DOE to Fine FBP Approx. $250,000 For Data Falsification Incident WC Monitor 2/6/2015 Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, the D&D contractor at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, is facing a proposed fine of almost a quarter-of-a-million dollars from the Department of Energy in connection with a 2013 data falsification incident. Late last week, the DOE Office of […]

SRNS Improperly Destroyed Necessary Waste Canister Records WC Monitor 2/6/2015 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the managing contractor for the Savannah River Site, improperly destroyed thousands of records last year that are required to send canisters of vitrified high-level waste  from the site to an eventual repository, according to a Department of Energy occurrence report. SRNS […]

WC Monitor 2/6/2015 IN CONGRESS Lawmakers are set to begin considering the Department of Energy Fiscal Year 2016 budget request next week with separate hearings planned in the House and Senate. On Feb. 11, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz is scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power beginning […]

WIPP Recovery to Continue on Schedule Despite Proposed Funding Cut Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/2/2015 Within the next two months, the Department of Energy plans to release the Accident Investigation Board report into the root cause of last year’s radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said today. The […]

DOE Budget Request Proposes Significant Funding Cut Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/2/2015 Workers at the Portsmouth D&D project may again face the threat of potential layoffs next year, with the Department of Energy’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, released today, proposing a significant funding cut for the site. For next year, DOE is seeking approximately […]

Request Proposes Overall Funding Boost for Savannah River Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/2/2015 Several missions at the Savannah River Site’s H-Canyon facility could be significantly impacted next year through the Department of Energy’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, released today. For Savannah River cleanup work overall, the request would provide approximately $1.34 billion, an increase […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 2/2/2015 With an overall Fiscal Year 2016 budget request for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management set at $5.82 billion, roughly matching enacted levels, DOE’s  cleanup program is poised to reach “major achievements” in the coming year, acting Assistant EM Secretary Mark Whitney said in a call with reporters […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/30/2015 The Department of Energy is analyzing alternatives to constructing a new exhaust shaft at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, an upgrade called for in the plan for bringing the plant back to full operations. The WIPP recovery plan released last October calls for two capital asset project line items for […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/30/2015 The Department of Energy is in talks with Bechtel National on a potential financial settlement to collectively resolve a number of outstanding safety findings at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, WC Monitor has learned. The settlement reportedly would entail Bechtel National agreeing to pay at least $1 million in fines […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/30/2015 Will the third time be the charm for the Department of Energy’s long-running effort to award a new support services contract for the Office of Legacy Management? That’s the question to be answered in the wake of DOE’s decision late this week to shift course and award the new contract […]

Claims Comes On Top of 2013 USEC Suit for $38 Million Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/30/2015 The United States Enrichment Corporation (now a subsidiary of Centrus Energy Corp.) late last week filed suit against the Department of Energy demanding $42.8 million for costs related to pension benefits the company paid to workers at the Portsmouth […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/30/2015 The lifecycle cost estimate for the Department of Energy’s cleanup mission at the Savannah River Site has been extended 23 years and increased in cost by $25.2 billion due to declining budgets and the lack of a national repository for spent fuel and high-level waste, DOE officials said this week. […]

Opposition to German Shipments Continues, Greenpeace Questions Legality  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/30/2015 The Department of Energy and Belgium’s National Institute for Radioelements have signed a statement of intent on potentially processing in the United States highly enriched uranium targets that are residue from the production of molybdenum-99 for medical use, the National Nuclear Security […]

GAO Denied Protest Filed by Portage Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/30/2015 Navarro Research and Engineering is set to begin a 30-day transition period early next week to officially take over the new Nevada National Security Site environmental programs services contract. The move comes after the Government Accountability Office this week denied a protest Portage filed […]