Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Measure Contains Provisions to Address Funding Issues at Portsmouth, WIPP Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/12/2014 House lawmakers this week unveiled a stop-gap funding measure to continue to fund the federal government at the start of Fiscal Year 2015 beginning Oct. 1, but pushed back action on the bill until next week due a last-minute request […]

Move Could Send Issue to Federal Court Staff Reports WC Monitor 9/12/2014 Hanford is a step closer to possibly having a federal judge make key cleanup decisions, after the state of Washington said late last week that it would not extend a deadline for discussions on proposals to modify a 2010 consent decree that governs […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/12/2014 Moving ahead in its procurement for a follow-on contract for receipt, handling and treatment of low-level and mixed low-level waste, the Department of Energy plans to release a request for proposals within 30 to 60 days. The current set of Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contracts for waste treatment services ends in […]

Carlsbad Field Office Undergoes Reorganization WC Monitor 9/12/2014 The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office is undergoing a reorganization that will include a focus on contractor oversight and will significantly increase the number of federal employees at the site. The reorganization became effective in July, and CBFO is in the process of hiring for vacancies […]

WC Monitor 9/12/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Canadian firm WSP Global has reached a deal to purchase Parsons Brinckerhoff from parent company Balfour Beatty for approximately $1.35 billion. The deal, announced last week, entails an enterprise value of approximately $1.24 billion and a “cash consideration” of up to $110 million, according to a release. The terms […]

2013 Marks Lowest Radioactive Air Emissions Rate in Decades WC Monitor 9/12/2014 In 2013 Los Alamos National Laboratory measured the lowest radioactive air emissions rate in 20 years, according to results released this week. Last year’s offsite dose rate, measured by the 40 air monitoring stations in the area, was 0.21 millirem, compared to the […]

DOE Considering Request for WTP LAW Facility Design Change  WC Monitor 9/5/2014 In a decision that could have significant schedule impacts for one of the main facilities to make up the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, the Department of Energy is considering a request from contractor Bechtel National to move forward with a new safety system […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/5/2014 SUMMERLIN, Nev.—While a working group of officials from the state of Nevada and the Department of Energy put together for a controversial batch of uranium-233 has made significant progress, according to officials, nearly a year after the effort was launched there is no timeline yet as to when a decision […]

State Wants to See NNSA Out of Los Alamos Cleanup Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/5/2014 SUMMERLIN, Nev.—New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn this week outlined several conditions the state of New Mexico wants the Department of Energy to meet before moving forward with the restart of operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, ranging from […]

EM Procurement Chief Says Decision on Possible Rebid Coming ‘Soon’ Mike Nartker and Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/5/2014 The Department of Energy appears to be in the final stages of deciding whether to rebid the Portsmouth D&D contract or exercise the five-year option remaining in Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC’s current contract. Jack Surash, Deputy Assistant Secretary […]

Compliance Actions Could Come Within 60 Days Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/5/2014 SUMMERLIN, Nev.—Warning of “significant penalties” coming to the Department of Energy in the wake of the incidents that occurred earlier this year that have closed the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, New Mexico regulators are also looking to go after DOE for cleanup-related concerns […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/5/2014 A final Request for Proposals for the new contract to operate the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center is set to be released within the next month, the Department of Energy said late this week. DOE is looking to issue the final RFP by “end of September 2014/early October 2014,” […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 9/5/2014 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is calling on the Department of Energy to strengthen its emergency response capabilities and this week issued its first formal recommendation in nearly two years. The recommendation was prompted, in part, by DOE’s response to a truck fire and radioactive material release at the […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/5/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration appears to need a little more time to make a decision on who should win the new Nevada National Security Site environmental services contract. The NNSA has asked bidders on the new contract to extend their proposals’ expiration dates to Sept. 30, WC Monitor has […]

AMWTP Contractor Will Now Focus on Mixed Low-Level Waste Disposition Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/5/2014 In response to the ongoing shutdown at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the contractor in charge of the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site will now focus on disposition of mixed low-level waste, rather […]

New DOE Idaho Cleanup Chief Says ‘Iterative’ Approach Underway for Facility Startup Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/5/2014 With the schedule for the start of waste processing at the Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit still uncertain, the Department of Energy has informed Idaho regulators that it won’t meet a commitment to have all of the remaining […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/5/2014 In a move that could lead to fines for the Department of Energy, South Carolina and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rejected late last week DOE’s request for a five-month extension for the closure dates for two high-level waste tanks at the Savannah River Site. After DOE cut requested funds […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/5/2014 Senior URS executive Randy Wotring will head up AECOM’s work in the federal marketplace, including in the Department of Energy, once it completes its acquisition of URS, according to information released earlier this week. AECOM and URS outlined the planned management structure of their combined organization in messages to employees. […]

NDA Completes Formal Award of Magnox Contract to Cavendish-Fluor Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/5/2014 The Cavendish Fluor Partnership has named its executive leadership team after the U.K.’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority this week formally completed the share transfer for the new contract to manage 10 Magnox sites and two research reactor sites. That includes Managing Director […]

HAMTC Workers Reject New Contract Offer From PNNL WC Monitor 9/5/2014 Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council workers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory overwhelmingly rejected a contract proposal by Battelle in a vote late this week. The total was 186 workers opposed and 11 workers in favor of the proposed five-year contract. “This certainly sends a […]

City Bringing in Consultants to Evaluate DOE’s Proposed Landfill  WC Monitor 9/5/2014 The city of Oak Ridge, Tenn. has hired a team of consultants to assess the potential impacts of a new proposed nuclear landfill at the government’s Oak Ridge reservation and help the city decide whether it should accept and support the disposal facility. […]

SRNS Expands Mentor-Protégé Program WC Monitor 9/5/2014 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the managing contractor for the Savannah River Site, is expanding its mentor-protégé program with the award of longer-term contracts to up to three small businesses, the company announced this week. The program aims to build relationships and experience working with small businesses. Previously the […]

WC Monitor 9/5/2014 IN DOE The chairs of the EM Site-Specific Advisory Boards are scheduled to hold a meeting later this month in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Topics to be discussed at the Sept. 17-18 meeting are set to include “News and Views” from DOE headquarters and updates on EM acquisition and procurement and waste disposition […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 8/29/2014 With the latest round of talks between the Department of Energy and Washington state on a new path forward for the cleanup of Hanford’s tank waste set to come to an end next week, DOE is believed to be leaning toward accepting—at least in some small part—the state’s call for […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 8/29/2014 As the Department of Energy continues to struggle to get into operation the Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, the Department appears to be planning for the facility to still be in operation in late 2015—almost a year beyond a current commitment to the state of Idaho to have all of […]

Site Facing Impending Layoffs Set to Reduce D&D Workforce by One-Third Mike Nartker WC Monitor 8/29/2014 As the clock ticks down on impending layoffs at the Portsmouth D&D project, Ohio Senator Rob Portman (R) held what he described as “frustrating” discussions with Department of Energy officials during a visit to the site late this week. […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 8/29/2014 The Department of Energy appears to be on track to meet a goal to have a final cost and schedule baseline for D&D efforts at the Separations Process Research Unit completed by the end of September, a DOE official told WC Monitor this week. The new baseline could help finally […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 8/29/2014 After a two-and-a-half-month summer vacation, former acting National Nuclear Security Administration chief Bruce Held returned this week to the Department of Energy. Held’s title will apparently remain the same—associate deputy secretary—but his duties have not been fully defined. “Governance issues have long been my central concern so I hope to […]