Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

URS Names New Head of WIPP Contractor in Response to Incidents Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/14/2014 Additional releases of radiation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant are possible because the repository’s ventilation system is not a “credited safety system,” according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. When an underground monitor at WIPP detected a radiation […]

DOE IG Opens Investigation into Busche Termination Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/14/2014 Lawmakers expressed skepticism this week that the Department of Energy is adequately ensuring workers at one of its largest projects—the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant—are free to raise concerns without fear of retaliation. The dismissal in recent months of two contractor managers who have […]

Only Three Bids Submitted for New ETEC Contract Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/14/2014 Despite recent procurements that attracted limited interest, the top acquisition official in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management said last week that he does not believe DOE’s efforts to better balance risk and reward with its contractors are so far […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/14/2014 Bechtel National is soon set to begin moving forward with additional work at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s High-Level Waste Facility. In late February, the Department of Energy authorized Bechtel National to begin performing “limited production engineering” activities at the facility, and DOE and Bechtel National are working to a […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/14/2014 A National Nuclear Security Administration official last week outlined a host of concerns with the way NNSA and Department of Energy small business contracting is impacting industry, including in the list reverse auctions, restrictive size standards, acquisition strategies and underutilization of contract vehicles. One concern is the consequence of using […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/14/2014 Los Alamos National Laboratory will continue a short-term campaign approach based on risk with future cleanup efforts after the success so far of the aboveground transuranic waste campaign, officials said here last week. New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn called for the continuation of such an approach in September […]

Unclear Who Will Head DUF6 Contractor BWCS Going Forward Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/14/2014 George Dials, a senior executive at Babcock & Wilcox, is leaving the company at the end of this month. Dials first joined B&W in 2006, when he served as president and CEO of B&W Y-12, LLC, and since late 2010 he has […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/14/2014 Investigations are underway into three recent incidents at Sellafield—two contamination events and an issue that caused the shutdown of the Magnox Reprocessing Plant. “On the 23 February the Magnox Reprocessing Plant underwent a controlled shutdown as a result of an anomaly in the chemical process. Initial investigations suggest that this […]

STATE UNHAPPY WITH NEW DOE PUMPING PLAN WC Monitor 3/14/2014 A Department of Energy plan to wait at least two years to pump waste from a damaged double-shell tank at Hanford is unacceptable, according to the state of Washington. DOE’s plan “demonstrates the federal government’s lack of commitment to set a firm, near-term schedule for […]

DOE CHANGING WASTE HAULING PRACTICES WC Monitor 3/14/2014 The Department of Energy is making changes to improve the safety of how it moves mixed waste on 12.3 miles of roads open to the public on Hanford land and in north Richland, Wash. They include closing all lanes of those roads when waste shipments are moved […]

DOE BEGINS IWTU READINESS ASSESSMENT WC Monitor 3/14/2014 Efforts to start up the Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit took another step forward this week, with the Department of Energy launching a readiness assessment expected to take two weeks to complete. The purpose of the assessment is to help evaluate whether the facility is ready for […]

REMOVAL OF K-25 DEBRIS COMPLETE WC Monitor 3/14/2014 The Department of Energy’s unprecedented D&D effort at the Oak Ridge K-25 plant reached another milestone this week with the removal of all demolition debris from the site that once produced the majority of the nation’s enriched uranium. The demolition of the K-25 building—a U-shaped structure that […]

WC Monitor 3/14/2014 IN CONGRESS This year’s set of House Cleanup Caucus briefings on the Department of Energy’s cleanup program is scheduled to get underway March 27, with an overview presentation from DOE cleanup chief David Huizenga. The briefing is scheduled to be held in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building in Washington […]

Wash. Closure Removes Chromium Source WC Monitor 6/6/2014 The largest source of chromium contamination near the Columbia River at Hanford has been removed after workers excavated contaminated soil down to groundwater 85 feet deep. Over the years Hanford officials had talked about finding the mother lode of chromium in the soil that was contaminating groundwater […]

Martin Schneider ExchangeMonitor Publications CEO 6/6/2014 Exactly 25 years ago today, the FBI raided the Rocky Flats site, symbolically kicking off what would become the largest environmental cleanup project in the world—the cleanup of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex run by the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. The last two-and-a-half decades have seen […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/6/2014 Twenty-five years after federal agents conducted a raid on the Rocky Flats site in Colorado—widely seen as the symbolic start of the Department of Energy’s cleanup efforts—DOE has “come of age” when it comes to transparency, a former Department cleanup chief told WC Monitor this week. “I see a tremendous […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/6/2014 Monica Regalbuto, the White House’s choice for the next head of the Department of Energy’s cleanup program, is soon set to get an early start in the senior management of the Department’s Office of Environmental Management. Effective June 16, Regalbuto will serve as Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, where she […]

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 […]