Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Initial Tests at Los Alamos Inconclusive  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/6/2014 Efforts continue to determine the cause of the radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant after initial tests at Los Alamos National Laboratory so far have not been able to confirm a leading theory. After the discovery last month of a breached Los […]

Jessie Roberson to be Renominated as Vice-Chair of Defense Board Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/6/2014 The Obama Administration has tapped an official at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to fill an open vacancy on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The Administration announced late this week its intent to nominate Daniel Santos  to the Board as […]

Questions Come as Congress Prepares Appropriations Bills  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/6/2014 The Department of Energy has yet to formally ask Congress for additional funds to help reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, leading to questions from lawmakers and Hill staff as preparations for Fiscal Year 2015 appropriations bills move forward. DOE asked for $220.5 […]

Staff reports WC Monitor 6/6/2014 The clock ran out June 3 on a 40-day dispute resolution period for Hanford’s court-enforced consent decree. The Department of Energy would like to continue discussions on proposed amendments to the 2010 consent decree, it said. The state of Washington said it is considering its options but that no decision […]

Unclear if Current Goal to Have All Waste Treated This Year Can be Met Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/6/2014 As the Department of Energy and contractor CH2M-WG Idaho move forward this week with the next step in getting the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit in full operation, it is unclear whether DOE will be able to […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/6/2014 The Department of Energy officially announced late last week that it will not meet the high profile June 30 deadline for removing 3,706 cubic meters of aboveground transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory. The move was expected, after a radiological release shut down the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in […]

New System Plan Prompts Concerns  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/6/2014      South Carolina’s regulator is again threatening penalties after the Department of Energy’s newest Savannah River tank closure plan pushes out deadlines to 10 years beyond regulatory commitments with the state. The Department last week released the latest revision of the site’s liquid waste […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/6/2014 In a move that has raised some eyebrows, the Department of Energy is competing a new contract for technical management and administrative services at the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management on a full-and-open basis, rather than keeping the work set aside for small businesses. The work is currently being […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/6/2014 As the Moab uranium mill tailings remediation project in Utah continues progress on shipments, the Department of Energy is wrapping up contract modifications for a new year-round work schedule for contractor Portage. When Portage took over the contract in 2012 an annual three-month work curtailment was planned due to funding […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/6/2014 Funding for the Department of Energy’s defense environmental cleanup activities would be authorized at a level largely matching DOE’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request under the Senate version of the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, details of which were made public this week. The Senate bill would authorize a […]

Mike Nartker and Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 6/6/2014 Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) late last week criticized the Department of Energy’s latest determination that its transfers of uranium for cleanup and other purposes are not hurting the domestic uranium industry. Noting that the Department’s latest market analysis shows a 10 percent drop in the spot price […]

Final RFP Out for New 222-S Lab Contract WC Monitor 6/6/2014 The Department of Energy this week issued a final Request for Proposal for the new contract to provide analytical and testing services at Hanford’s 222-S Laboratory. The final RFP, which is being set-aside for small businesses, contains few changes from a draft version issued […]

WC Monitor 6/6/2014 IN DOE The Department of Energy  later this month plans to hold an industry day event for the new Paducah infrastructure services contract. During the week of June 23, DOE plans to hold “a pre-solicitation conference, site tour, and one-on-one sessions with interested parties,” according to a recently posted notice. A draft […]

More Details on Plans for German HEU Processing WC Monitor 6/6/2014 The Department of Energy has released more details on plans to process highly enriched uranium from Germany at the Savannah River Site. The 900 kilograms of U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium comes in the form of graphite spheres from the pebble bed AVR gas-cooled research […]

David Huizenga to Return to NNSA Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/07/2014 After more than two-and-a-half years, the Obama Administration is moving to officially fill the position of Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management, late this week nominating Monica Regalbuto from DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. WC Monitor first reported in November that Regalbuto was the […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/07/2014 CARLSBAD, N.M.—After criticism from state and local officials over a lack of communication following recent incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Department of Energy cleanup chief Dave Huizenga apologized at a town hall meeting held here late this week and promised improvements. This week, New Mexico Environment Department Secretary […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/07/2014 PHOENIX, Ariz.—As the Department of Energy examines alternatives for its transuranic waste program, it has pledged to the state of New Mexico to complete on time a high-profile Los Alamos disposition campaign despite the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant shutdown, officials said here this week. The clock is ticking on the […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/07/2014 PHOENIX, Ariz.—The Department of Energy is going forward with two separate procurements to recompete the infrastructure support services contracts for the Paducah and Portsmouth sites, DOE officials said here this week at the 2014 Waste Management Symposia. While DOE had previously considered combining the two contracts for the recompete, there […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 3/07/2014 The state of Hanford’s aging double-shell tanks, which are intended to store waste for the foreseeable future until it can be processed for disposition, came under new scrutiny this week, after the Department of Energy announced that more waste has been found to be leaking between the shells of the […]

Half of Bechtel National’s Fee Tied To Self-Identifying Issues Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/07/2014 PHOENIX, Ariz.—A new approach to how Bechtel National can earn fee at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant that seeks to encourage the contractor to do more to identify issues and concerns is paying dividends, Department of Energy and contractor officials said here […]

Department Expects Facility to Begin Full Operations In May Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/07/2014 PHOENIX, Ariz.—With the Idaho Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility now operating at its normal temperature and pressure, the Department of Energy is “cautiously optimistic” that the start of actual waste processing can get underway this spring as currently planned, a senior DOE Office […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/07/2014 PHOENIX, Ariz.—While the Department of Energy works on implementing a new rule counting some subcontracts awarded by M&O contractors toward DOE’s small business goals, officials said here this week that DOE will continue focusing on prime small business contracting opportunities. The FY 2014 appropriations bill passed in January allows DOE […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 3/07/2014 Spending at Department of Energy cleanup sites is proposed to be cut under the Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request in part because some work is being completed, the director of the Office of Management and Budget said at a Senate Budget Committee hearing held this week. But Committee […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/07/2014 The Senate Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight is set to hold a hearing early next week on the safety culture at Hanford and whether workers there can raise safety concerns without fear of retaliation. The hearing appears to have been prompted by the recent decision of URS, a major […]

DOE ISSUES DRAFT RFP FOR NEW 222-S LAB CONTRACT WC Monitor 3/07/2014 The Department of Energy has released a draft Request for Proposals for a new small business set-aside contract to provide analytical services and testing work for five years at the Hanford 222-S Laboratory and operate the lab. DOE is proposing that the type […]

URS TO STUDY BENEFITS OF SMR FOR HANFORD WC Monitor 3/07/2014 URS Corp. has been picked by the Tri-City Development Council to study the possible benefits of building a small modular nuclear reactor system on leased land at Hanford to possibly produce power for the site. The study is expected to be completed in five […]

UCOR REASSIGNS SOME TOPS WORKERS WC Monitor 3/07/2014 Oak Ridge cleanup contractor URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC, has reassigned to other subcontractors about 25 workers of Transportation, Operations and Professional Services, Inc., (TOPS) a protégé firm to UCOR. “TOPS, in addition to providing waste hauling services to UCOR, also provides professional services to UCOR,” UCOR spokesman […]

Hanford Targeted For Significant Funding Cut Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/04/2014 The Department of Energy is seeking a total of approximately $5.6 billion for the Office of Environmental Management in its Fiscal Year 2015 budget request, the initial details of which were released today. DOE’s FY15 request for EM is largely in line with what […]