Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

The Department of Energy is teaming up with Leidos and the Conductive Group to develop a plant at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio to recycle radiologically surface-contaminated nickel, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), said in a press release this week. DOE previously sought expressions of interest for parties interested in developing such a facility at the […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico received more shipments of transuranic waste during fiscal 2024 than fiscal 2023, although traffic was down in September 2024 compared to a year earlier. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad received at least 37 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during September with […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday told a BWX Technologies-led team to proceed with the takeover of the Hanford Site’s liquid waste cleanup mission under a $45 billion contract. The 120-day transition from Amentum-led incumbent Washington River Protection Solutions will begin Oct. 21, more than a year after DOE first awarded the Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition […]

Jeff Allison’s retirement from his deputy manager position at Savannah River Field Office was announced Tuesday at the South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council meeting. A spokesperson from the Savannah River Field Office told the Monitor that Allison will retire at the end of the calendar year. Allison has served as the deputy manager since January […]

This Friday, Oct. 18, will mark the end of the official term for Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chair Joyce Connery, but Connery will stay on longer to prevent the panel from losing a quorum, a spokesperson said Wednesday. A “quorum saving provision” in Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) rules allows Connery to stay […]

Although a BWX Technologies-led team was told to start a 120-day transition to become the new liquid waste contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, the losing bidder for the work is not abandoning its legal fight. U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank Horn is weighing a motion for […]

Former Rep. David Hobson (R-Ohio), who as a leader of the House Appropriations Committee helped shape Department of Energy nuclear programs for nearly 20 years, died Sunday at 87, media reported this week. Ohio Gov. Mark DeWine (R) released a statement about Hobson’s death on Sunday. Hobson retired in 2008 after nine terms in the House of […]

The city of Oak Ridge, Tenn., could delay development of a long-sought airport on remediated Department of Energy land after Orano-USA selected Oak Ridge as its preferred site for a new uranium enrichment plant. The September announcement by Orano means the city could pause development of the general aviation airstrip and reconsider the proposed location, according to a Sept. […]

The prime contractor for the Hanford Site’s primarily solid-waste cleanup program on the complex’s central plateau laid off 60 people on Oct. 1, the company’s president said. Amid a six-month hiring freeze “we made the difficult decision to lay off approximately 60 CPCCo employees as part of a necessary restructuring to align our workforce with […]

The Amentum-led nuclear cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee had yet to reply to a recent federal lawsuit by a former heavy equipment operator who claims he was unfairly fired in November 2021 for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. As of Friday, United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) had […]

The Department of Energy believes the winner of a fiercely litigated, $45-billion Hanford Site liquid waste contract trumped its rival’s technical approach to a decade-spanning cleanup program and picked better people to do the job, a legal opinion unsealed this week shows. The opinion by Judge Marian Horn in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims […]

More than a week into becoming publicly traded over the New York Stock Exchange, common shares of Amentum Holdings were trading at about $27 on Friday afternoon. Amentum Holding shares opened at $26.00 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and were hovering close to $27 a share that price during the first half […]

Two years after a St. Louis-area school was closed following reports of radioactive contamination, Missouri lawmakers are laying groundwork for new state laws about risks from legacy nuclear-weapons. Missouri House Speaker Rep. Dean Plocher (R) announced the formation of the committee in a statement dated Oct. 3. The eight-member Special Interim Committee on the Impact […]

Savannah River Site returned to its normal operations Monday after the site was limited to essential personnel in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, a spokesperson told the ExchangeMonitor. “Phased resumption of workers returning back to the site began [in the] middle of last week,” the spokesperson told the Monitor in an email. “During the storm itself and immediate […]

By John Stang The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site should again consider reclassifying high-level radioactive wastes into something that existing technology can legally treat, a recent Government Accountability Office report recommended. The recommendation was part of a Sept. 26 report by Congress’ investigative arm, titled “Hanford Cleanup: Alternatives for Treating and Disposing of High-Level Waste […]

For the first time in a while, the Department of Energy and its contractor have reached full operation of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Facilities in Ohio and Kentucky, the agency said Tuesday. The Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio recently completed a planned maintenance outage, during which plant upgrades were made, including upgraded control systems to […]

The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration was set to become landlord of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina effective Tuesday, Oct. 1. The nuclear-weapons agency will take over management of the 310-square-mile federal complex near the Georgia line from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, which cleans up shuttered nuclear-weapons production sites. […]

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge will hear oral arguments Oct. 10 at the request of an AtkinsRéalis-led team that the judge ruled against last month in a $45-billion legal dispute over award of the Department of Energy’s liquid waste contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Senior Claims Court Judge Marian Blank […]

As of Tuesday, there was only one field office serving the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, the department’s largest nuclear cleanup job. As previously reported, DOE consolidated its Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office into the Hanford Field Office effective Oct. 1. The Richland Office opened in the 1960s while […]

The Department of Energy has awarded a Knoxville business a $1.6-million contract to make upgrades to a pond on former uranium enrichment plant land at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, according to a recent online procurement notice. SES Constructors LLC was awarded the contract to repair or replace the P1 Pond Weir Dam and […]

A woman driving westbound on the main thoroughfare through Los Alamos left her lane and ran head-on into an SUV driven by Charles McMillan, killing him, the Los Alamos Police Department said. Charles McMillan, 69, was the only person to die in the crash in Los Alamos, N.M. Sept. 6. His wife Janet McMillan, and […]

Steven Becker, Allen Croff, Tissa Illangasekare and Kenneth Peddicord left the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board Friday as part of a major membership facelift finalized last week by President Joe Biden. A board spokesperson confirmed the four people had left in an email sent Tuesday to the Exchange Monitor. The White House on Friday said it […]

WASHINGTON — Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told a room of Navajo Nation members this week that the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act would pass by supermajority, but that the House speaker hadn’t “committed” to giving it a vote. “’l just thank Speaker Johnson for being very involved,” Hawley said Tuesday at a press conference on […]

A Department of Energy report to Congress about cleaning up excess nuclear weapons facilities will be a few months late next year, the Government Accountability Office reported Tuesday. DOE’s report will arrive by June 30 instead of March 31 as required by law, according to an attachment to a letter signed by Candice Robertson, senior […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee this week recommended that the Senate vote on William “Ike” White’s nomination to join the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Tuesday’s approval by the committee, which received White’s nomination in May, clears the way for the full Senate Senate to send the former head of the Department of Energy’s Office […]

The mega-merger of Amentum Services, Chantilly, and the government and cyber businesses of Jacobs Solutions, Dallas, was scheduled to close Friday, after deadline for Weapons Complex Monitor. The was to be finalized by 4:10 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, according to Jacobs’ press release, creating a new, publicly traded government and defense behemoth that would […]