Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 8/1/2014 A federal judge this week denied a request from the uranium conversion services ConverDyn for a preliminary injunction to prevent the Department of Energy from moving forward with planned transfers of excess uranium while a lawsuit the company has filed against DOE is pending. ConverDyn was unable to show that […]

Mike Nartker and Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 8/1/2014 AIKEN, S.C.—South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) this week questioned the Department of Energy’s plan to ship German nuclear material to the Savannah River Site for processing. During a visit to Savannah River, where she was accompanied by Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and other DOE officials […]

Court Agrees CHPRC Improperly Solicited Babcock Services Employees Mike Nartker WC Monitor 8/1/2014 Babcock Services has scored a win in its legal battle with Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co., though the company’s lawsuit has yet to be fully resolved. Last week, a Washington state judge granted Babcock Services’ motion for partial summary […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 8/1/2014 As the investigation into the radiological release that shut down the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant continues, investigators are looking at whether a fire event within the room where the release is believed to have occurred was a contributing factor, WC Monitor has learned, though the exact cause of the incident […]

As is our annual practice, Weapons Complex Monitor is taking a summer publication break and will not publish for the next two weeks. The next regular issue will be on your desk Aug. 22. Subscribers to the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing service will receive editions twice-a-week on a Tuesday/Thursday basis during the break. In addition, […]

NNSA Pushing Back Construction Start for RLWTF Upgrade Project WC Monitor 8/1/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration is pushing back the planned start of construction of a new low-level liquid waste treatment facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory based on the results of a peer review that the NNSA is so far declining to discuss […]

SRNS to Assess Emergency Management Program After Drill WC Monitor 8/1/2014 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the managing contractor for the Savannah River Site, is conducting an assessment of its emergency management program after issues were identified in this year’s annual emergency preparedness exercise. Out of six objectives for the exercise, two were graded as “not […]

WC Monitor 8/1/2014 Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board Member Joseph Bader passed away this week at the age of 75. Bader had served on the DNFSB since 2004, and previously held executive and senior management positions at several companies, including Hill International, Inc., Fluor Daniel, Inc., Urenco, Inc., Exxon Nuclear and Westinghouse Electric Corporation. In […]

WC Monitor 8/1/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY ARS Aleut Remediation, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of ARS International, LLC, has received certification to participate in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, the company announced this week. The certification will allow AAR to purse contracting opportunities set-aside for 8(a) firms. “AAR looks forward to the opportunity to […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/25/2014 Ohio Senator Rob Portman (R) pushed the Obama Administration’s choice to serve as the next No. 2 official in the Department of Energy this week on the need for adequate funding for the Portsmouth D&D project in his home state. Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, has recently issued notices warning that as […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/25/2014 Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) is calling on the Department of Energy to perform an Environmental Impact Statement before moving forward with a plan to ship liquid HEU from Canada to the Savannah River Site. DOE is looking to ship approximately 23,000 liters of U.S.-origin material from Atomic Energy of Canada […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/25/2014 As the investigation continues into the cause of the radiological release that shut down the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz is set to travel to Carlsbad, N.M., next month. New Mexico Senators Tom Udall (D) and Martin Heinrich (D), along with Rep. Steve Pearce (R), announced […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/25/2014 A team led by Fluor won the Department of Energy’s new task order to provide deactivation services at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant this week. The Fluor team, which also includes CB&I and LATA, beat out a team of led by AECOM for the new contract, estimated to be worth […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/25/2014 Senate appropriators want to reverse the Obama Administration’s proposed funding cut for Hanford in Fiscal Year 2015, according to additional details released this week of the Senate version of the FY 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. Work managed by the DOE Richland Operations Office at Hanford came in for […]

Department to Extend Credit Monitoring Service for Another Year Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/25/2014 Approximately a year after a significant cyber security breach at the Department of Energy put the personal information of thousands of people at risk, there have been no signs of misuse of data, according to the Department. The breach, which occurred […]

Sen. Graham, Gov. Haley also Expected to Join Tour of Site Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 7/25/2014 Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz will make a trip to the Savannah River Site on July 28, touring the site’s H Tank Farm and H-Canyon facility among other projects at the site. […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 7/25/2014 In a move that could aid the Department of Energy’s cleanup program in tackling difficult waste, Waste Control Specialists filed a petition for rulemaking earlier this week with the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality to allow the disposal of some transuranic waste and Greater-than-Class-C waste in its federal facility. […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 7/25/2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Acquisition and Project Management has selected three teams to provide project management support services, including teams led by two incumbent contractors. WC Monitor has learned that teams led by incumbents TechSource and Longenecker & Associates as well as relative newcomer MOCA Systems, a Newton, […]

Nuclear Management Partners Names New Chair Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/25/2014 Senior URS executive Tom Bishop has been named the new Chair of Nuclear Management Partners, the parent body organization for Sellafield Ltd. Bishop, who manages URS’ European operations, replaces Tom Zarges, who served as NMP Chair for the first five years of its contract […]

DOE Reduces Scope of Transportation Contract WC Monitor 7/25/2014 With operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant shut down for the foreseeable future, the Department of Energy has moved to reduce the workscope of one of its two contractors tasked with transporting waste to the facility. Visionary Solutions has cut the number of its two-person […]

SRNL Vapor Team Makes First Visit to Hanford WC Monitor 7/25/2014 The Hanford Tank Vapor Assessment Team led by the Savannah River National Laboratory arrived late this week for its first visit to Hanford. The team has work planned through July 29 that will include tours, briefings, procedure reviews, observation of work at the tank […]

CHPRC Seeking Companies to Perform Construction Support Services WC Monitor 7/25/2014 CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. is seeking companies to perform “safety significant” construction support services. Late this week, CHPRC issued a Request for Proposals for a planned set of multiple basic ordering agreements to facilitate the award of “NQA-1/Safety Significant services” to be performed […]

DOE Completes Sludge Drum Treatment Campaign WC Monitor 7/25/2014 The Department of Energy and its two main cleanup contractors at the Idaho site have wrapped up a project to prepare thousands of drums of sludge waste for eventual disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The project, which began in November 2012, addressed 6,000 drums […]

DOE Says 700,000 Pounds of Mercury Released at Y-12 WC Monitor 7/25/2014 The Department of Energy has released new mercury numbers that give some additional insight into the size and scope of mercury cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The amount of mercury released during the Cold War lithium operations at Y-12 has been […]

WC Monitor 7/25/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Washington Closure Hanford has named Kliss McNeal as its new Director of the Environmental, Safety, Health & Quality, and Closure Manager. She replaces Bruce Covert, who has accepted an offer to serve as the URS lead manager with Dounreay Site Restoration in the United Kingdom, according to Washington Closure. […]

Legal Fight Continues Over Use of Uranium Transfers to Help Fund Work Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/18/2014 Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, officially announced this week plans to cut the workforce at the Portsmouth D&D project by approximately one-third due to budget issues. As WC Monitor first reported in late June, FBP is looking to eliminate a […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 7/18/2014 As some cleanup work at the Savannah River Site is winding down, the site’s managing contractor, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, is looking to emphasize the role SRS facilities can play in future national security and nonproliferation missions, new SRNS President Carol Johnson told WC Monitor in a recent interview. A […]