Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

DOE Silent on Potential Actions Against Contractor Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/19/2014 Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions is challenging a preliminary order from the Department of Labor to reinstate a former employee who has charged she was terminated for raising concerns. Late this week, close to the end of a 30-day deadline, […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/19/2014 Limited storage capacity is a major hurdle for Oak Ridge’s transuranic waste program during the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s current shutdown, and though the site is taking steps to continue progress, it is at risk of missing regulatory milestones. With storage nearing its limit at the site’s TRU Waste Processing […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/19/2014 A second transuranic waste drum in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground contains a “unique combination” of materials, including a discarded glove, that is believed to have contributed to a reaction and radiation release at WIPP, a Los Alamos National Laboratory official said this week. Only two remediated drums have […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 9/19/2014 The Department of Energy announced this week that it plans to issue in the next 15-to-45 days a draft Request for Proposals for a new contract to manage Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed facilities at the Idaho site, as well as the Fort St. Vrain facility. The new contract would cover […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 9/19/2014 With work on the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Authorization Act pushed back until after the November Congressional elections, House and Senate Armed Services Committee members began meeting this week for “pre-conference” talks, but Senate authorizers were absent when House members of the Strategic Forces subcommittee gather for discussions. According to […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/19/2014 Uranium conversion services company ConverDyn late last week filed a motion for summary judgment in a case that aims to limit the Department of Energy’s ability to transfer stocks of excess uranium to help pay for activities such as D&D work at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. ConverDyn has argued […]

DOE Submits Plan to DNFSB to Upgrade Tank Farm Ventilation WC Monitor 9/19/2014 The Department of Energy has submitted reports on upgrading ventilation for Hanford’s double-shell tanks and new examination technologies in response to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recommendation on flammable gas safety at the tank farms. “This report proposes using portable exhausters […]

More Contractors Shift to Four-Day Work Week WC Monitor 9/19/2014 Two more of the major Hanford contractors switched to four-day work weeks starting this week. Employees are working 10 hours a day Monday through Thursday with Fridays off at Washington River Protection Solutions and Mission Support Alliance. Together they employ about 3,300 workers. CH2M Hill […]

Leak in ORNL Research Reactor Fuel Pool Still Under Investigation WC Monitor 9/19/2014 More than a week after a leak was discovered at an old research reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the investigating team is still trying to pinpoint the location and come up with a plan to fix it. The Department of Energy’s […]

WC Monitor 9/19/2014 IN DOE The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board will meet in late October in Augusta, Ga. to discuss the Department of Energy’s activities at the Savannah River Site. “Topics that will be discussed at the meeting include issues related to storage of DOE SNF at the L Basin at SRS, alternatives for […]

Leak Found at ORNL Research Reactor Pool WC Monitor 9/12/2014 A leak was discovered this week at the Oak Ridge Research Reactor, a nuclear research reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The leak was found at the reactor pool, which is still used to store some irradiated reactor components and other tools and equipment, but […]

Workers Enter PFP’s McCluskey Room WC Monitor 9/12/2014 Workers entered the McCluskey Room, the site of one of Hanford’s worst radiological accidents, this week after a year of preparation. The room still contains the glovebox where a 1976 chemical explosion shattered the thick glass windows of the box. Radioactive concentrated nitric acid and shards of […]

Schedule Slips in DOE Plan for Flammable Gas Safety at Tank Farms WC Monitor 9/12/2014 The Department of Energy’s schedule has slipped for completion of several aspects of a plan responding to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recommendation on flammable gas safety at the Hanford tank farms. The DNFSB’s 2012 recommendation, Hanford Tank Farms […]

Design Review Finds Vulnerabilities At a Number of Facility Systems Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/12/2014 In a significant step forward toward completing one of the main portions of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, Bechtel National has received approval to resume “full production engineering” at the vit plant’s High-Level Waste Facility. As a result, Bechtel National […]

Deputy Energy Sec. Nominee Clears Senate Energy Panel Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/12/2014 Monica Regalbuto’s nomination to serve as the next Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management appears to have hit a roadblock in the Senate because of one lawmaker’s concerns over DOE’s uranium transfer policies. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso (R) has placed a hold […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/12/2014 SUMMERLIN, Nev.—Though the shutdown of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant shook the national transuranic waste program, the Department of Energy, state regulators and industry are seeking ways to still make progress toward milestones, officials said here last week. The sole disposal site for transuranic waste, WIPP was shut down by […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 09/12/2014 As the Department of Energy pursues yet another new mission for H-Canyon involving Belgian material, questions remain on Savannah River tank space issues and whether a new dissolver will be funded for the facility. The Department of Energy is pursuing a host of international nonproliferation missions for the nuclear chemical […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 09/11/2014 SUMMERLIN, Nev.—Though operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant remain shut down for the foreseeable future, recovery work by contactor Nuclear Waste Partnership has picked up significantly in recent weeks, NWP WIPP Recovery Manager Jim Blankenhorn said at the RadWaste Summit last week. WIPP has been closed since a February […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/12/2014 The Department of Energy is moving forward with competing the first of four planned cleanup contracts for the Idaho site, announcing this week that a draft Request for Proposals for the new Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core contract is set to be released within the next 15-to-45 days. The ICP […]

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 […]