Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/23/2014 Thanks to a boost in funding, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is looking to add more than 100 new staff in “several mission critical areas,” according to a memorandum issued late this week by EM’s new No. 2 official, Mark Whitney. While EM’s workforce has fallen below […]

Hanford Vit Plant Comes in Second Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/23/2014 The Portsmouth D&D project has the most open Department of Energy investigations underway in the DOE cleanup program, according to documents WC Monitor obtained this week. The DOE Office of Enforcement is in the midst of three investigations—that could result in financial penalties— tied to incidents […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/23/2014 Concerns over numerous recent operations and engineering issues at the Savannah River Site are growing in both the Department of Energy and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Operations Office sent a letter last month to the site’s managing contractor, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, […]

House Approved Defense Policy Measure This Week Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/23/2014 Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) was successful in adding a small boost to cleanup funding in the House version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act before the full House approved the bill late this week. An amendment offered by Hastings  to […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/23/2014 Despite White House opposition, the House approved a measure late this week that would significantly lower the maximum number of employees at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The House version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act would cut the maximum number of employees the DNFSB has […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/23/2014 Top Department of Energy and contractor officials from Hanford said this week they are working to achieve “a final answer” to address long-standing concerns over tank vapors at the site. Savannah River National Laboratory has been tasked with conducting a review of the issue after more than 25 workers at […]

Site Will Need $3.6B Next Year, Officials Say WC Monitor 5/16/2014 Hanford will need about $3.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2016 to meet its legal obligations, officials said at the annual Hanford budget meeting this week. That’s $1.5 billion more than the Obama Administration has proposed for FY 2015 and still could not be enough […]

Regalbuto Ranks Cleanup Priorities: 1. WIPP, 2. Hanford, 3. Savannah River Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/16/2014 The nominee to be the next Department of Energy cleanup chief suggested this week that cleanup at Hanford may be a higher priority than the Savannah River Site, raising eyebrows among some stakeholders in South Carolina. Monica Regalbuto, the […]

URS Warns Total Project Cost Could Exceed $300M Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/16/2014 As URS’ potential financial liability at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) D&D project continues to rise, a document obtained by WC Monitor through a Freedom of Information Act request shows the company has, at least on one occasion, asked for its […]

Uranium Producers Oppose DOE View That Transfers Won’t Impact Market Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/16/2014 In a move that could have serious impacts for D&D efforts underway at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, the Department of Energy is revamping how it manages its stocks of excess uranium, with less to be provided to help fund […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/16/2014 As this week marked three months since the Feb. 14 radiation release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant that has left the facility shut down for the foreseeable future, there is still no clear answer as to what caused the release, though officials have found evidence of a reaction that […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/16/2014 Bechtel’s Systems and Infrastructure unit, responsible for the company’s government businesses, is undergoing a reorganization to consolidate “five regionally focused business lines to three global business lines”—Nuclear Security & Operations (NS&O), Environmental (ENV), and Defense & Security (D&S), according to a message sent to employees last week. The reorganization, set […]

Shipments Halted as DOE Examines Potential Reactions In LANL Drums Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/16/2014 With shipments suspended for the past two weeks, it could soon be impossible to meet a high-profile June 30 commitment to New Mexico to remove aboveground transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory. The campaign has been the top priority […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 5/16/2014 Fresh off its defeat at Y-12 and Pantex, Babcock & Wilcox is planning to make a push for an increased role at the Savannah River Site, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Ferland said on a conference call with investors this week. B&W is “working hard on positioning for Savannah […]

Poor Maintenance Found to Be Factor in Incidents at Repository Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/16/2014 With the Department of Energy and Nuclear Waste Partnership, the managing contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, coming under heavy criticism for inadequate maintenance at WIPP, documents obtained by WC Monitor through a Freedom of Information Act request show […]

Local Officials Near Site Want to Block Award of New Contract to TFE, Inc. Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/16/2014 Local officials in Carlsbad, N.M., are pushing the Department of Energy to block the recent award of a $24.5 million Waste Isolation Pilot Plant subcontract to Tennessee-based TFE, Inc. URS-led M&O contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership last […]

Agreement Originally Envisioned Cleanup to be Done in 30 Years Staff reports WC Monitor 5/16/2014 Hanford cleanup is possibly a third complete after the Tri-Party Agreement was signed 25 years ago this week, officially starting a work plan to clean up the site in 30 years. Now officials are looking at continuing cleanup work into […]

DOE Transfers 25 Acres for Reuse WC Monitor 5/16/2014 The Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management this week transferred 25 acres at the East Tennessee Technology Park—the scene of major demolition of old uranium-enrichment facilities and cleanup projects—to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee. It was the 12th time since 1995 […]

WC Monitor 5/16/2014 IN DOE The Department of Energy late this week issued a draft performance work statement for the planned new Paducah infrastructure support services contract. According to a DOE notice issued May 14, the Department expects to issue a draft Request for Proposals for the procurement within the next 30 days, and a […]

Officials Focus on Reaction in Los Alamos Drums as Possible Cause of Release Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/9/2014 It could be two -to-three years before operations fully resume at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant following the Feb. 14 radiation release at the facility, the head of the recovery effort for contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership said […]

Fluor-B&W Past Halfway Point of Removing Cells from Former Enrichment Process Building Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/9/2014 Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, has reached a significant milestone in cleaning out one of the three former enrichment process buildings at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, but funding challenges currently appear set to prevent FBP from reaching a goal […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/9/2014   Oak Ridge cleanup chief Mark Whitney has been tapped to serve as the new No. 2 official in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. Effective May 18, Whitney will hold the position of EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, replacing Jim Owendoff, who will return to his previous […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/9/2014 During the protracted shutdown of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, sites with transuranic waste, including Oak Ridge and Idaho, are coming up with solutions to storage issues in order to keep processing waste. While waste from those sites was being disposed of at WIPP to meet agreements with Idaho and […]

Contract to be Set-Aside for Small Businesses, Official Says Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/9/2014 While the schedule for release of a Request for Proposals for the new contract to operate the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center is uncertain, the Department of Energy expects to be able to make an award decision by the time […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 5/9/2014 The House Appropriations Committee formally unveiled its subcommittee allocations for Fiscal Year 2015 this week, and lawmakers on the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee will have a little less funding to work with this year. The committee set the Energy and Water allocation at $34.010 billion, $50 million less […]

Bill Reported Out of Committee Late This Week Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/9/2014 Members of the House Armed Services Committee dropped funding for a new federal contribution to the Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund from the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act before reporting the bill out of committee late this week. As originally drafted, […]

DOE-State Working Group Again Met This Week to Discuss Issues Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/9/2014 While a Department of Energy and Nevada working group met again this week to discuss controversial proposed shipments of uranium-233, there is still no timeline for disposal of the material at the Nevada National Security Site, a DOE official said […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/9/2014 Former URS executive Carol Johnson has been picked as the new head of Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the managing contractor for the Savannah River Site, WC Monitor has learned, after President and CEO Dwayne Wilson announced this week that he is transferring to another post within Fluor. SRNS’ choice […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/9/2014 Numerous issues handled by the Savannah River Site’s two cleanup contractors so far this year have impacted productivity at the site, including the temporary suspension of operations at H-Canyon, according to a recently released Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board site representative report. “During the first quarter of 2014, the site […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/9/2014 With numerous cleanup milestones at risk due to insufficient budget requests, the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management’s set of ECitizens Advisory Boards are emphasizing that DOE should ask for adequate cleanup funding to meet commitments. “The Environmental Management Site Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB) believes the fiscal year […]