Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/12/2014 Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) has dropped his hold on Monica Regalbuto’s nomination to serve as the next Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management, but it remains to be seen if she’ll be confirmed by the Senate before the current Congress goes out of session, expected next week. Barrasso chose […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2014 After New Mexico levied $54.3 million in fines for violations this year at Los Alamos and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and warned of potentially even larger fines down the road, the Department of Energy is examining its path forward. The New Mexico Environment Department levied a $17.7 million fine […]

Still Uncertain, Though, When Facility Will Begin Operation Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/12/2014 The Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit reached a significant milestone in its startup process last week, but it could be well into 2015 before the facility begins processing actual radioactive waste. On Dec. 2, a waste simulant was introduced into the IWTU […]

Unsuccessful Bidder Has Challenged Winner’s Ability to Meet Size Standard Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/12/2014 A lengthy dispute over a small Department of Energy support contract may now be over, with the Small Business Administration’s Office of Hearings and Appeals denying this week a second appeal filed by an unsuccessful bidder challenging the contract winner’s […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy is gearing up for the procurement for a new contract to operate DOE’s two depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion plants, announcing Dec. 8 that a draft Request for Proposals for the contract is expected to be released within 45 days. DOE also released this week a draft […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy this week released a sources sought notice for 8(a) small businesses interested in performing scope planning work for upcoming transition contracts for legacy cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory. DOE is looking to transition administration of the cleanup work from National Nuclear Security Administration management […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy this week released a final Request for Proposals for a small business contract for infrastructure support services at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. “A firm-fixed-price, labor hour, cost reimbursement, and indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract will be awarded from this Final RFP. The total estimated value of […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy is planning to develop a new secretarial determination regarding its uranium transfers to cover cleanup work at Portsmouth and the downblending of highly-enriched uranium, releasing last week a request for information from the public about potential impacts on the uranium markets. The move comes after industry […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2012 The Department of Energy has suspended a small business procurement for a Natural Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan for Los Alamos National Laboratory pending the outcome of a challenge to the size standard used. The firm Environment International Ltd. filed the appeal of the 500 person size standard to […]

Criticism Goes Back and Forth on Proposals to Modify Consent Decree Staff Reports WC Monitor 12/12/2014 New Hanford milestones the state of Washington has asked a federal judge to approve would require an extra $18 billion by Fiscal Year 2029, jeopardizing other Department of Energy cleanup projects across the nation, according to the federal government. […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2014 With Congressional Nuclear Cleanup Caucus Chairman Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) set to retire next month, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) this week announced that he will be leading the group.  The caucus is comprised of lawmakers with Department of Energy cleanup sites in their districts, and Fleischmann said he is looking […]

URS Changes Top Person at Hanford Waste Treatment Plant WC Monitor 12/12/2014 URS is changing out its top executive at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Mark Lindholm has been named Chief Operating Officer for Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions, effective Jan. 5, 2015, the contractor announced this week. He replaces Wyatt Clark, […]

AMWTP Contractor Earns $3.3 Million in Fee for FY 2014 WC Monitor 12/12/2014 Idaho Treatment Group, LLC, which is responsible for the Idaho Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project, earned $3.3 million out of an available $5.3 million in Fiscal Year 2014, according to information the Department of Energy released this week. ITG’s fee was based […]

CSC Ordered to Pay Back Wages to Two Former Hanford Workers WC Monitor 12/12/2014 Computer Sciences Corp. has been ordered to pay back wages to two former Hanford employees that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found were laid off in violation of whistleblower laws. The former contractor at Hanford has been ordered to pay […]

WC Monitor 12/12/2014 IN CONGRESS The Republican-led 114th Congress will retain the current chairs of the House Armed Services subcommittees on Strategic Forces, Seapower and Projection Forces, Tactical Air and Land Forces and Readiness. Reps. Mike Rogers (Ala.), J. Randy Forbes (Va.), Mike Turner (Ohio) and Rob Wittman (Va.) will head the respective groups, according […]

Dounreay Agrees to Improvements After Fire and Possible Release Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 Site license company Dounreay Site Restoration Limited has agreed to take steps to improve operations after a fire and potential radiological release at the Scottish cleanup site’s tank farms, the company said last month. The incident occurred on Oct. 7 at […]

Incumbent to Receive Another Extension, To End of March Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The long-running search for a new support services contractor for the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management may now stretch into 2015, with DOE asking bidders this week to again extend their proposals’ expiration dates, this time by another six […]

Company Part of Incumbent CH2M-WG Idaho Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/5/2014 As industry officials await the release of a final request for proposals for the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract, a major shakeup appears to be in the works among the teams that have reportedly formed to go after the job should the […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/5/2014 A survey of employees in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has found that approximately 60 percent are satisfied with their jobs, but less are satisfied with the organization as a whole, according to information EM recently provided to WC Monitor. The results of the 2014 Federal Employee […]

Fines Connected to Both WIPP Incident and Los Alamos Cleanup Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The New Mexico Environment Department is planning in the next 10 days to take enforcement actions against the Department of Energy that could include about $35 million in fines related to cleanup issues at Los Alamos National Laboratory, with a […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The Senate moved forward late this week with approving a handful of pending Department of Energy nominations, but the White House’s choice to serve as the next head of the Office of Environmental Management still appears to remain in confirmation limbo. Franklin Orr was confirmed to serve as the new […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The Department of Energy this week officially released the details of plans for the 18-to-24-month period for the transition of management of legacy cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Office of Environmental Management from the National Nuclear Security Administration. As previously reported by WC Monitor, DOE plans […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/5/2014 In apparent response to requests from potential bidders, the Department of Energy late this week pushed back the deadline for bids for the new contract to operate the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center, for a second time, to Dec. 23, from Dec. 11. The new extension was contained in […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 Industry officials called on the Department of Energy late last month to take a number of steps to improve small business contracting, including promoting more meaningful prime and subcontract opportunities that encourage business growth. A contracting task force formed by the Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association discussed its recommendations […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 12/5/2014 Former Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director Beth Sellers and her husband, Bill, have been suspended from doing work with the government and have been proposed for debarment, government records indicate. Sellers resigned as Los Alamos’ deputy director in March after an investigation by the Department of Energy’s Inspector General […]

Mike Nartker and Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board would see a cut of approximately 15 percent in the maximum number of employees it can have under the final version of the Fiscal Year 2015 defense authorization bill unveiled this week. The bill would limit the DNFSB to 130 employees, […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 A strategy plan for dealing with mercury contamination at Oak Ridge has been completed by the Department of Energy and regulators, and DOE is moving forward with design work for a new treatment plant in hope of stating of construction in 2017, according to acting DOE Oak Ridge EM Manager […]

Portage Protest Still Pending Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/5/2014 INTERA has dropped its pending challenges against Navarro Research and Engineering’s win of the new Nevada National Security Site environmental programs services contract. INTERA had filed a protest over Navarro’s win with the Government Accountability Office, and was in the midst of appealing a determination by […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The completion of a risk reduction plan for Building 235-F at the Savannah River Site will be delayed 29 months due to budget setbacks, the Department of Energy told the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board last week. The DNFSB formally urged action to reduce risk at the former plutonium processing […]