Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 11/7/2014 The Energy Facility Contractors Group is eliminating nine of its 13 working groups and cutting its December semi-annual meeting following a Department of Energy request for the restructuring. The changes come as part of efforts by DOE and EFCOG to bring a greater focus to the group’s efforts and ultimately […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 11/7/2014 With storage space running out for vitrified high-level waste canisters at the Savannah River Site, “double stacking” the canisters in the current storage building could be an interim solution, according to a proposal by the site’s liquid waste contractor, Savannah River Remediation. Currently the canisters are housed in a storage […]

Draft ‘Transition Plan’ Says New EM Los Alamos Field Office Could Open by January Mike Nartker WC Monitor 11/7/2014 As the Department of Energy prepares to shift management of the remaining legacy cleanup work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Office of the Environmental Management from the National Nuclear Security Administration, DOE anticipates […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 11/7/2014 EnergySolutions is looking to hire Danny Nichols, who currently leads Idaho Treatment Group, LLC, from Babcock & Wilcox to oversee the company’s waste treatment facilities in Tennessee, WC Monitor has learned. Notably, B&W and EnergySolutions, along with URS, help make up ITG, responsible for the Idaho Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 11/7/2014 Babcock & Wilcox is moving ahead with a plan to separate its power generation business from its government and nuclear operations group, the company said this week as it released its third quarter financial earnings. The split is expected to be completed by mid-2015, and will result in the creation […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 11/7/2014 Wastren Advantage Inc. received 68.5 percent of the maximum fee for the six-month performance period that ended July 31 in its latest performance review from the Department of Energy for managing the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center. In an Oct. 28 letter to WAI, Sue Cange, DOE’s acting environmental […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 11/7/2014 Potential bidders on the Department of Energy’s new contract to manage Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed facilities are raising questions about the skill mix required in the recently issued  draft Request for Proposals for the planned small business contract. Industry officials last week completed a site tour of one of the facilities […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 11/7/2014 During the restart of a ventilation fan last month at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a very minor amount of radioactive contamination was detected outside of the mine. The release was not unexpected, and the amount detected is not believed to impact human health or the environment. On Oct. 21, […]

Lab Director Stepping Down WC Monitor 11/7/2014 After leading the Idaho National Laboratory for almost a decade, Director John Grossenbacher is stepping down in time to have a new director in place by Sept. 30, 2015, the lab announced earlier this week. The search for a replacement for Grossenbacher, who has served as INL Director […]

DOE Issues Proposed Plans for D&D, Waste Disposition WC Monitor 11/7/2014 The Department of Energy issued this week proposed plans for D&D and waste disposition at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant that call for an on-site disposal capability. The two formal proposed plans are a required step in the regulatory process for records of decision […]

Leak Source Identified at ORNL Research Reactor Pool WC Monitor 11/7/2014 A month-long investigation has pinpointed the apparent source of leaking water from an old reactor pool at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and discussions are now under way about how to best deal with the problem. Mike Koentop, the executive director of the Department of […]

SRNS Completes Replacement of Freeze Damaged Cooling Coils at Lab WC Monitor 11/7/2014 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the managing contractor for the Savannah River Site, recently completed the replacement of 68 heating and cooling coils that were damaged in an unusual cold snap in January. The coils at two analytical buildings at Savannah River’s F […]

WC Monitor 11/7/2014 IN DOE The Department of Energy has awarded a $3.6 million grant to Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet for regulatory oversight of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The grant covers a period from Nov. 1 through Oct. 31, 2015, with options for four one-year extensions. The grant aims to have Kentucky “provide […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/31/2014 Oak Ridge cleanup contractor URS CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC, earned $3.2 million in award fee out of an available $3.4 million available, almost 94 percent, for the period from Oct. 1, 2013, through March 2014, according to the Department of Energy’s latest fee determination. UCOR’s fee includes $609,749 in project […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 10/31/2014 G4S Government Solutions, the G4S subsidiary formerly known as the security contractor Wackenhut, will be sold to private equity firm Alvarez & Marsal Capital Security Holdings, LLC, WC Monitor has learned. The firm is an affiliate of Alvarez & Marsal, a global professional services company. G4S, the massive international security […]

DOE Plans to Conduct New Assessment at Hanford This Winter Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/31/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—While the Department of Energy currently plans to conduct a new safety culture assessment at Hanford this winter and has warned of consequences if that review does not show improvement, top DOE and contractor officials at the site […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/31/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—A senior official in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management defended here last week EM’s use of cost caps on a set of troubled cleanup projects, though acknowledged that the best time to implement such measures was not in the middle of projects but rather more […]

Contractors: DOE Should Incentivize Maintenance Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/31/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—Maintenance and infrastructure will play an “explicit part” in the budget planning process at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management in future years, acting  Assistant EM Secretary Mark Whitney said last week. Deferred maintenance and infrastructure have been in the spotlight […]

Member Sullivan Voted Against Emergency Preparedness Recommendation Mike Nartker and Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 10/31/2014 Over the past two years, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board members have clashed on a number of issues, from a recent recommendation on emergency preparedness to the scope of the Board’s jurisdiction and access to Board information, according to notational […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/31/2014 West Valley Demonstration Project contractor CH2M Hill B&W West Valley has improved schedule planning and addressed issues with its water treatment system after receiving about 53 percent of available award fee from the Department of Energy in the latest available period, CHBWV President Dan Coyne told WC Monitor this week. […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/31/2014 In the latest hurdle to getting the Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit up and running, startup testing has been on hold for most of this month because of an equipment issue, and it remains to be seen when the testing will resume. Since Oct. 3, the IWTU has been shut […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/31/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.–While the Department of Energy’s two depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion plants did not meet a goal to reach 100 percent operational design plate capacity by the end of Fiscal Year 2014, the facilities are seeing improvements  in production rates, DOE Portsmouth Paducah Project Office Manager Bill Murphie […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/31/2014 AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.–While the schedule for downblending some of Oak Ridge’s stockpile of uranium-233 remains uncertain due to delays in disposal of other portions of the material, the site is making progress on preparations for the processing, an Oak Ridge official said here last week. The Department of Energy and […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/31/2014 The Department of Energy late last week issued a draft Request for Proposals for the new contract to manage Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed facilities at the Department’s Idaho site and in Colorado. The new contract, which is being set aside for small businesses, would cover the Fort St. Vrain facility; the […]

Two GAO Protests Still Pending Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/31/2014 Navarro Research and Engineering has survived the first challenge filed over its win of the new Nevada National Security Site environmental programs services contract, with the Small Business Administration having determined that Navarro did meet the size standard used for the small business set-aside procurement. […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/31/2014 The Department of Energy should take more steps to strengthen its cybersecurity program, DOE’s Office of Inspector General said in a report released this week. Cybersecurity has been a growing area of concern for the Department, especially after a 2013 breach of personal information of over 104,000 individuals. The IG […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 10/31/2014 Project Enhancement Corporation, the contractor protesting a Department of Energy technical and security support services contract for what was formally known as the Office of Health, Safety and Security, added several new complaints to its protest late last week, challenging DOE’s decision to quickly award the contract to Link Technologies […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/31/2014 The Department of Energy is paying the vast majority of surveillance and maintenance costs for former commercial uranium mill sites that are supposed to be covered by fees charged to the mill operators, the DOE Inspector General ‘s Office said in a report released this week. The “Title II” uranium […]