Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Third-quarter earnings fell slightly at Honeywell, Charlotte, N.C., the company, which is involved with management of several defense-nuclear sites, reported this week.  Net earnings for the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, were roughly $1.4 billion, or $2.16 a share, down from about $1.5 billion, or $2.27 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was […]

Ty Blackford, the president and project manager of the Department of Energy’s Amentum-led cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory, told an advisory board Wednesday that he is leaving. At a meeting of the Idaho Cleanup Project’s Citizens Advisory Board, Blackford said this would be his last time meeting with the panel. “I will be […]

Since it resumed operations in late August, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has treated more sodium-bearing waste than it did during its first year of operations, an advisory board heard Wednesday. Since exiting a long-running outage this summer the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) has solidified about […]

The Department of Energy said this week the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project in Moab, Utah has successfully moved away from the Colorado River a total of 15 million tons of tailings. This time last year, a total of 14 million tons had been moved.  Contractor North Wind Portage still has about 1 million […]

Oak Ridge, Tenn.,-based AtkinsRéalis US Nuclear said Thursday it has selected a top legal officer, Jeff Kendall as its interim president replacing Joe McBrearty, who was chosen as acting president this summer. Kendall joined the AtkinsRéalis subsidiary in 2017 as general counsel and has also served as acting chief operating officer and vice president for […]

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday said it indefinitely reopened a public comment period on the Department of Energy’s July request to expand the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. “A request for an extension to the comment period was received from several stakeholders, most recently at the Agency’s informal public meetings held in […]

The BWX Technologies-led team taking over the Hanford Site on Wednesday made public introductions of five senior leaders. After getting the go-ahead from the Department of Energy last week, Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) began the four-month process of formally taking over management of Hanford’s liquid-waste programs from the Amentum-led incumbent, Washington River […]

Attorneys for a married couple employed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory last week asked a federal appeals court to overturn a trial court’s unfavorable ruling in their lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccinations. A brief U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit was filed on behalf of Jeffrey Bilyeu and Jessica Bilyeu […]

A Department of Energy advisory board Wednesday endorsed DOE’s preferred cleanup plan for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The DOE Idaho Cleanup Project Citizens Advisory Board endorsed the $70-million cleanup option in a public meeting.  The public comment period on remediation of the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric […]

A U.S. District Court judge in Washington state this week accepted a guilty plea from the owner/operator of a small contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site and scheduled sentencing for March.  The U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington state asked a federal district judge to accept a plea agreement from a subcontractor at the […]

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. […]