Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

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 […]

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 […]