Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

For the second time in two weeks, the Department of Energy unveiled plans for a new data center at one of its nuclear installations, this one at the Paducah Site in Western Kentucky. In a Wednesday morning news release, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said DOE is teaming up with several energy organizations to help […]

South Carolinians are split on the federal government’s desire to build a data center at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, with supporters focusing on jobs and technological advances, and detractors expressing concerns about potential environmental impacts.  On July 20, DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that it tasked Amentum with securing […]

Targets in the End State Contract Model the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office started using in fiscal 2020 are often ill-defined and the program needs better record-keeping and oversight, a congressional watchdog said this week. Those are among the takeaways from a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report publicly released Wednesday on the DOE Office […]

South Carolina would consider deep borehole disposal of radioactive spent nuclear fuel as part of a federal nuclear lifecycle hub program, the state Department of Commerce told the Department of Energy earlier this year. That is according to a news release last week from the Savannah River Site Watch nuclear watchdog group, following a response […]

A group that is a vocal critic of the Department of Energy and the nuclear industry in South Carolina said last week it has many questions about federal plans to develop a data center at the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, S.C. DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said last week it plans […]

Washington state’s open primary Aug.4 will decide what two candidates will be on the November ballot to succeed Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) to represent the 4th congressional district, which includes the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. There are 11 candidates running for the office that Newhouse is vacating in January, according to the Spokesman-Review newspaper. […]

With a flammable gas analysis complete, the Department of Energy said Tuesday the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, S.C., could soon be ready to resume shipments of the more radioactive type of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. SRS can soon resume shipping drums of remote-handled transuranic waste […]

A joint venture between Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and BWX Technologies said Tuesday it is meeting its goals for moving legacy transuranic waste from the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. “This fiscal year has been N3B’s most productive year in reducing legacy transuranic […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office in Richland, Wash., plans to award a no-bid contract to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Academy to hold a four-day process safety “boot camp,” according to a recent online procurement notice. In the notice, the Academy is called “the only responsible source that can provide the management […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit this week denied a challenge brought by Beyond Nuclear and the Sierra Club to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) process for reviewing reactor license renewals. “Petitioners argue that the commission did not adequately consider how aging components and climate change affect the risk of […]

After two days of debate, the House’s version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the House floor this week mainly on party lines at 216-212. The defense policy bill, which also sets spending caps for the appropriations bills, would authorize $32.76 billion in funding for the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear […]

About $190 million worth of work remains at the Department of Energy’s Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project at Moab, Utah, bringing the final tab to about $1.16 billion, a congressional watchdog said earlier this month. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a July 15 report the Moab cleanup has already cost $970 million […]

The city of Oak Ridge, Tenn. is still looking for a replacement site for a municipal airport after the original location was tapped for nuclear industry expansion, City Manager Randy Hemann told Exchange Monitor Thursday. In an emailed statement with the Monitor, Hemann said the city is still engaged in considering alternate sites that “meet […]

Amentum has been selected by the Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to negotiate a lease for a data center at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the organizations said Monday. NNSA picked Amentum to enter into “phased” lease negotiations for a data center and accompanying on-site generation, NNSA and Chantilly, […]

For now at least, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has suspended publication of many of the congressional watchdog’s routine reports on safety and operations at Department of Energy nuclear sites.   “The DNFSB is not currently posting technical documents, such as resident inspector weekly, site monthly and other technical reports, while the board works […]

The BWX Technologies-led prime cleanup contractor for the West Valley Demonstration Project near Buffalo, N.Y., is holding an industry day July 30 for vendors that have expressed an interest in the Secant Pile Wall construction project. West Valley Cleanup Alliance (WVCA) recently issued a request for information (RFI) for subcontractors interested in doing the work […]

An updated plan for the Savannah River Site liquid waste mission pushes completion out to 2041 although 2037 is still possible, but would require increases in federal funding, according to environmental contractor Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC).  Steve Howell, a senior vice president for the contractor, said Tuesday during an SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Materials that used to be considered purely radioactive waste are increasingly being recycled into usable products for everything from medical treatments to advanced nuclear reactors, federal officials said last week. That was the word July 15 from the Department of Energy’s Under-Secretary for Science Dario Gil along with DOE Environmental Management (EM) […]

July 30 is the deadline for interested parties to file comments for the Department of Energy’s draft request for proposals (RFP) for the 222-S Laboratory at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. The 70,000-square-foot facility, which recently turned 75, analyzes highly-radioactive samples from Hanford tank waste. It is currently run by Navarro-ATL under a $636-million […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch is requesting feedback from industry on potential reuse of roughly 530,000 gallons of heavy water stored at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) posted a request for information (RFI) July 21 in the Federal Register. “The purpose of this RFI is […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) cranked out reports this week on the Department of Energy nuclear complex. Here is a glimpse at two of the congressional watchdog’s latest reports: A report on streamlining project management at national labs and nuclear sites was made public Thursday. DOE and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) oversees […]

The Department of Energy renewed its contract with UChicago Argonne this week to continue to manage and operate its Argonne National Laboratory. UChicago Argonne, which manages Argonne for DOE’s Office of Science, has a new five-year contract that will go into effect on Oct. 1. UChicago Argonne, a limited liability company formed by the University […]

The liquid waste prime contractor at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has finished key construction stages for the latest jumbo-sized Saltstone Disposal Unit (SDU), DOE said Thursday. The Savannah River Site (SRS) environmental prime Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) and its subcontractors have now installed 208 support columns, 25 wall […]

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee who oversees Savannah River Site in his state, died suddenly Saturday, Graham’s office said Sunday. “On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” Graham’s office said in a statement early […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., has made its first shipment of concentrate from the Effluent Management Facility (EMF) to a nearby plant operated by Perma-Fix for grouting, DOE said this week. The EMF concentrate is a liquid waste byproduct created when Hanford’s radioactive underground tank waste is vitrified into a glass […]

An ex-apprentice electrician at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant in Richland, Wash., has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in federal court against her former foreman and companies in charge of the facility. Madalyn Jennings, of Yakima County, filed the litigation last month in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Jennings […]

While advocates are thankful Congress expanded the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) in 2025, they said Tuesday last year’s action did not go far enough. As a result, James Moylan (R-Guam), a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, and other House members representing atomic veterans and downwinders, plan to propose another RECA expansion […]

The Department of Energy is still being very tight-fisted when it comes to sharing information with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, DNFSB said in a recent letter to Congress. In addition, the congressionally-created safety watchdog said in its July 10 letter that DOE is not living up to the terms of a  2022 memorandum […]