Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/17/2014 With no time frame yet as to when uranium-233 from Oak Ridge may be sent to the Nevada National Security Site for disposal, the Department of Energy still has not submitted a Congressionally-mandated analysis that was due in April on options for the material. Concerns from Nevada officials led DOE […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/17/14 Infrastructure modernization and deferred maintenance are a “special concern” in the Department of Energy Inspector General’s latest annual report on DOE management challenges, released late last week. Infrastructure modernization was not listed as a management challenge, but instead on a lower level watch list. However, the topic is a “special […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/17/14 The Department of Energy this week released a final Request for Proposals for the follow-on contract to operate the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center. The new contract is being set aside for small businesses that meet $38.5 million size standard, and is expected to be worth $100 million to […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/17/14 With the Department of Energy and South Carolina in dispute over extensions for tank closure milestones at the Savannah River Site, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control is urging DOE to take steps to increase waste processing rates. DOE has requested an extension to the 2015 closure milestone […]

Penalty As Much As $10,000 Per Week Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/17/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency has begun to fine the Department of Energy up to $10,000 for each week it fails to start moving radioactive sludge away from the Columbia River at Hanford. The Tri-Party Agreement required DOE to begin removing sludge from the […]

New Judge Named in Consent Decree Suit WC Monitor 10/17/2014 U.S. Judge Fred Van Sickle has recused himself from continuing to hear the Hanford consent decree case and Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson has been assigned. Van Sickle, who was the judge in the case when it was filed by the state in 2008, notified Eastern […]

Wash. Closure Works to Backfull Excavated Areas WC Monitor 10/17/2014 Washington Closure Hanford is in the midst of a major backfill campaign as much of the Hanford river corridor cleanup nears completion. In the last 20 months, workers under a DelHur Industries subcontract have placed 3 million tons of backfill. That’s enough to fill an […]

UCOR Says It’s Saved $90 Million to Date WC Monitor 10/17/2014 URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR), the Department of Energy’s cleanup manager in Oak Ridge, says efficiencies and accelerated missions have saved the federal government about $90 million over the past three years. UCOR President Ken Rueter, who assumed the top position a few months ago, […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/10/2014 The state of Washington and the Department of Energy  have each filed motions asking the federal court to intervene in the 2010 Hanford consent decree and set new milestones  after they failed to reach agreement by an Oct. 5 deadline. “While the department and the State of Washington share the […]

K-31 Demolition Moving Forward WC Monitor 10/10/2014 URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC, the cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge site, reached a new demolition milestone this week as the contractor began taking down the skeleton of the former K-31 uranium enrichment facility. The equipment inside the 750,000-square-foot building was removed a decade ago, along with most […]

DOE Agrees to Pay Boeing $4.5 Million in Rocky Flats Legal Fees WC Monitor 10/10/2014 After nearly 10 years of dispute on the matter, the Department of Energy last week agreed to pay Boeing $4.5 million for legal fees the company paid fighting claims related to the Rocky Flats Nuclear Plant. In 1996 Boeing merged […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/10/14 The Department of Energy is still spending more than necessary on software maintenance licenses, according to a DOE Inspector General report released this week that follows up on a previous investigation finding issues with the acquisition and management of desktop software. “Although the Department had made progress in addressing our […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 10/10/2014 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chairman Peter Winokur announced to staff late this week that he will not seek re-nomination as the agency’s top official. Winokur said in an Oct. 9 meeting with staffers that he planned to serve until Daniel Santos (nominated to replace Joseph Bader) is confirmed as […]

Acting DOE Cleanup Chief Says Yes, DNFSB Appears Skeptical Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/10/2014 In the face of at times tough questions from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, acting Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Mark Whitney said this week that he believes DOE’s cleanup program is a “leader” when it comes to ensuring […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/10/2014 As the Department of Energy seeks milestone extensions for Savannah River high level waste tanks, liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation is “optimistic” that it can close the next tank by its milestone date. The Department is entering dispute resolution with South Carolina on its request to extend the closure […]

Contractor Earned 63 Percent of Total Available Fee Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/10/2014 Bechtel National achieved a significant boost in fee for its performance at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in the first half of this year, according to information the Department of Energy released late this week. The contractor earned 63 percent of the […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/10/2014 AECOM expects to wrap up its purchase of URS next week with votes by shareholders of both companies, according to a message sent to URS employees. The two companies have received all necessary regulatory approvals to complete the transaction, and both AECOM and URS have scheduled voted with their respective […]

FBP Warns Worse Layoffs Could Come if Needed Funding Isn’t Obtained Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/10/2014 Hundreds of workers at the Portsmouth D&D project can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now, with contractor Fluor-B&W Portsmouth announcing late this week that it is suspending planned layoffs that could have cut the project’s total […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/10/2014 B&W Conversion Services fell just short of achieving its Fiscal Year 2014 production goals at the Department of Energy’s two depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion plants. BWCS reported a total production of 22,596 metric tons, compared to a goal of 22,700 metric tons, according to the DOE Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/10/2014 While new technologies could potentially reduce the Department of Energy’s cleanup costs by billions, given flat budgets and pressing milestone commitments, securing enough technology development funding is a major challenge, officials said this week at a Secretary of Energy Advisory Board task force meeting. The panel convened to discuss technology […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/10/2014 A new approach to how the Department of Energy manages its projects is set to be rolled out in the coming weeks, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said this week, though he provided few concrete details about what changes may be in the works.  DOE has been looking at “redoing […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/10/2014 While contractors have made management changes in connection with the current shutdown of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the federal government doesn’t appear likely to follow suit anytime soon. Both WIPP’s managing contractor and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where waste processing issues are suspected of being a factor in […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/10/2014 CH2M Hill has been selected as the “most highly qualified” contractor in the procurement for design of the Sludge Processing Facility Buildouts project at the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center. The project will address about 2,000 cubic meters of remote-handled transuranic waste sludge and associated supernate. DOE is seeking […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/10/2014 INTERA is the firm behind a pending size standard challenge filed against Navarro Research and Engineering over its recent win of a new contract to perform environmental program services at the Nevada National Security Site, the Small Business Administration confirmed this week. At issue in the challenge, WC Monitor has […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 10/10/2014 Companies interested in competing for the Department of Energy’s new Paducah infrastructure support services contract currently have until Nov. 20 to submit bids, according to a final Request for Proposals issued this week. Among the changes in the final RFP from a draft issued this summer, according to DOE, is […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 10/10/2014 The top manager at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Site Office improperly utilized her position to force employees to perform work on personal matters and created a “negative work environment” before being terminated, DOE’s Inspector General said in a report released late last week. The publicly released version of […]

Former Hanford Occupational Med. Doctor Agrees to Monitoring WC Monitor 10/10/2014 A former Hanford occupational medicine doctor has agreed to be monitored by the Washington State Department of Health for 30 months after prescribing painkillers to a dancer he met at an adult club. Dr. Steven Angerbauer, 61, also agreed to pay a $1,500 fine […]

Idaho Regulator Cites CWI for Five Violations WC Monitor 10/10/2014 The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality cited Idaho Cleanup Project contractor CH2M-WG Idaho for five violations last month and is considering levying a small fine for the non-compliances, according to CWI. The violations involve failing to remove a damaged Accelerated Retrieval Project-V containment pan from […]

DOE Releases Sources Sought for West Valley Technical Assistance Contract WC Monitor 10/10/2014 The Department of Energy this week released a sources sought notice for a potential new small business contract to provide technical assistance to the West Valley Demonstration Project. The market research effort is open to small businesses with a size standard of […]