Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

ARLINGTON, VA — Contractor and federal managers from across the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex are using technology to help predict issues from workplace accidents to infrastructure failure, these people said at a meeting here Tuesday. Using technology to help school new hires on potential hazards in a nuclear workplace is important amid the […]

The U.S. Senate made some parliamentary moves that could pave the way for a Department of Energy manager from the Savannah River National Laboratory, Patricia Lee, to receive a voice vote on her nomination to the Defense Nuclear Facilities. A cloture motion was presented in the Senate Thursday on Lee’s nomination to become a member […]

Jack Anderson and Sandra Fairchild, two experienced hands around the Department of Energy’s weapons complex, have joined the advisory board for Las Vegas-based contractor Longenecker & Associates, the company said this week. Anderson logged more than 30 years with DOE and its national laboratories, including tours with Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York and the […]

Harry Boston, founder of Boston Government Services, is stepping down as CEO and being succeeded by chief operating officer Doug Freund, the Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Department of Energy contractor said May 31. Boston, who started Boston Government Services (BGS) in 2007, sold his ownership stake to Louisiana-based Bernhard Capital Partners in 2022, according to the […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is commencing market research for its cyber security needs in Cincinnati and Washington, D.C. In a May 30 notice, DOE issued a request for information for technology and cyber security needs at the cleanup office’s Washington, D.C., headquarters and the Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in Ohio. […]

An executive at American Demolition and Nuclear Decommissioning, John (Rick) Dearholt has died, the head of a Knoxville-based nuclear trade organization confirmed by phone Tuesday morning. A memorial service for Dearholt, a longtime board member for the Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association, is set for Friday June 21, said the executive director of the […]

The Department of Energy nuclear cleanup branch has issued its final solicitation for a five-year, potential $90-million Consolidated Technical Support Services contract for field offices and sub- offices. The final request for proposals (RFP) for the small business set-aside contract was published Thursday June 6 in the government’s online System for Award Management (SAM.gov), by […]

Environmental crews at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory have discovered three broken ceramic filter elements are to blame for stalling operations at a plant built to solidify liquid sodium-bearing radioactive waste. In March, DOE and its Jacobs-led contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition, decided to suspend restart of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU). While […]

The Department of Energy and its Nevada National Security Administration Wednesday announced the selection of a solar developer to pursue a carbon-free electric project at the Nevada National Security Site. Under the Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have selected Estuary Power LLC & NV Energy as the […]

Although 11 months have elapsed since the Department of Energy awarded a new $5.9-billion environmental cleanup contract at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, DOE’s cleanup office still isn’t saying when the new contractor will take over from Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth. In an email reply Monday to Exchange Monitor, a DOE spokesperson declined to say when Southern […]

A baker’s dozen of contractors joined Department of Energy representatives May 29 to learn more about the draft solicitation for a new small business landlord contractor at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. The DOE Office of Environmental Management issued a draft request for proposals (RFP) last month for a small business to act as a […]

The Idaho National Laboratory has accounted for about 71% of shipments to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., over three years, the manager of DOE’s Idaho Cleanup Project told an advisory board Wednesday. Under Idaho’s updated spent fuel settlement agreement with DOE and the U.S. Navy, the lab is supposed […]

California-based Deep Isolation has appointed Rod Baltzer as its new chief executive officer effective Jane 1, the company said May 31. Baltzer has been chief operating officer of Deep Isolation since 2018, the company said in a press release. Baltzer was previously president and CEO of Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, Texas. Baltzer helped […]

The Department of Energy Wednesday announced the selection of two companies that will potentially develop hundreds of megawatts of electricity from solar power at the Idaho National Laboratory. NorthRenew Energy Partners and Spitfire propose to install a combined total of 400 megawatts of carbon-free electricity at Idaho National Laboratory under DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy […]

The Department of Energy should finish soil remediation this year at the former K-25 gaseous diffusion complex at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, and turn to groundwater now that regulators have signed off on written decisions. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management said last week in a press release the Tennessee […]

With the Nuclear Regulatory Commission moving toward updated regulations on disposal of  both low-level waste and Greater Than Class C waste, the governor of Texas is reluctant to allow the latter in his state. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in a May letter to the head of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said his […]

LOUISVILLE, KY. —A readiness assessment should occur by December for the new ventilation system at the Department of Energy’s disposal site in New Mexico for defense-related transuranic waste, a manager for the prime said here Tuesday. That review and a DOE safety assessment should clear the way the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to start […]

LOUISVILLE, KY. — The Department of Energy’s former chief information officer warns the federal government will become more demanding on cyber security requirements for contractors, and that it’s likely to be costly and time-consuming. “Agencies are updating policies,” Rocky Campione, vice president of cybersecurity and technology solutions for Boston Government Services, said here Wednesday. Campione […]

The bipartisan-supported Radiation Exposure Compensation Act will expire today June 7 barring last minute reauthorization, and some lawmakers continue to voice their dissatisfaction with an extension that would not expand the number of nuclear workers who might qualify. “I am disappointed that Speaker [Mike] Johnson sent the House home without taking action on RECA before […]

LOUISVILLE, KY —The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup branch will put out its updated Master Asset Plan, sometime between late summer and the end of the year, the acting  director of infrastructure told the Radwaste Summit here Tuesday. “What is the future use of these facilities,” is an ongoing issue at the DOE Office […]

The Department of Energy is turning to longtime federal hand Candice Robertson to oversee the Office of Environmental Management after President Joe Biden announced plans to nominate William (Ike) White to a federal nuclear safety board. The personnel move was announced Tuesday morning in a “colleagues” email to stakeholders from Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. […]

A federal judge will soon hear arguments in a Washington, D.C., courtroom in litigation over a $45-billion Department of Energy liquid-waste contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state. According to online court documents, a “sealed” or closed proceeding on June 14, U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank Horn will consider cross-motions for […]

Bechtel National has made its second batch of test glass at the Department of Energy’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the company said in various social media posts. “Our team poured molten clean test glass into a container from Melter 2 for the first time,” Bechtel said in […]

When pressed during a Senate hearing to say when the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state might be cleaned up, William (Ike) White, longtime DOE Environmental Management acting boss, said a “best-case” might be 2060. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who chairs the Senate Armed Forces Committee’s Strategic Forces subcommittee, appeared surprised by White’s […]

Louisiana-based Bernhard Capital Partners is adding another government contractor to its portfolio, announcing Tuesday it has purchased technology solutions provider Apogee Engineering for an undisclosed price. In a Tuesday press release, Bernhard said Apogee has a 20-year record of providing program management, cybersecurity and other technology needs to the U.S. government. “As the government seeks […]

After multiple incidents and two recordable injuries this spring, the prime contractor has tried a “safety stand-down” for both surface and underground work at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, according to a safety board report. Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, made up of Bechtel and subcontractor Los Alamos Technical Associates, […]

The Department of Energy is giving prospective providers of carbon-free power at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico an extra month, until June 27, to submit proposals. The revised deadline was included in an online notice in the federal government’s System for Award Management. The previous deadline was Wednesday May 29. This is […]