Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

PHOENIX —One year into its new 10-year deal at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge has finished demolishing some key structures at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the remediation prime’s CEO said Wednesday. All of the old contaminated buildings at Y-12 and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory […]

The origins of what became the West Valley Demonstration Project in Western New York can be traced back to 1949 when the then-Soviet Union held its first successful nuclear weapons test, Craig Rieman, a Department of Energy deputy manager at the site told a Waste Management Symposia panel Thursday in Phoenix. “That was a big […]

The Department of Energy plans to extend, by five more years until April 11, 2028, business deals with two privately-held disposal sites that occasionally take radioactive waste from the federal agency, according to procurement notices published Monday. The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management published a “justification for other than full and open competition” for certain […]

PHOENIX – Winning support for a new low-level radioactive waste landfill at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee took a lot of time and friendly arm-twisting, a member of the House Appropriations Committee told the Waste Management Symposia Monday via electronic hookup from Washington, D.C. “For over 10 years we have needed […]

PHOENIX – DOE is still deciding the longer-term fate of a landlord services contract for the Paducah Site in Kentucky after a federal appeals court ruled in December that incumbent Swift & Staley exceeded the size limits for the small-business set aside award, an agency official said here Tuesday. “We are working through a decision-making […]

PHOENIX— Planning by the Department of Energy and its contractors allowed the Hanford Site in Washington state to withstand the impact of recent wind gusts in excess of 80 miles per hour, the boss of the landlord services provider said here Wednesday. “The massive windstorm” on Feb. 20 knocked out of service about 13 miles […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., continues to study fire safety and other potential hazards that might arise from use of electric vehicles powered by big lithium-ion batteries, a federal safety panel said this month. “These hazards include fire, smoke, and combustion products, including hydrogen fluoride associated with the large […]

Hundreds of employees evacuated the National Nuclear Security Administration’s main factory for nuclear-weapon secondary stages in Tennessee this week after a fire there, a spokesperson said. “There was a fire at approximately 9:15 involving uranium in Building 9212, a production facility onsite,” a spokesperson for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., wrote […]

The Department of Energy needs to “prioritize” a 2019 policy change that said much high-level radioactive waste is not hazardous enough to require deep underground disposal, a Washington-based group said in a report Thursday. “DOE should re-energize its use of the HLW [high-level waste] interpretation, including pursuing a pilot implementation at Hanford for a single-specific […]

Earnings fell at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the fourth quarter and 2022 as a whole, which the nuclear services company in a Thursday press release and conference call attributed partly to a tight labor market. The company also rattled off a list of big Department of Energy contracts it is pursuing.  Net earnings for […]

The Department of Energy on Thursday solicited bids for an Occupational Medical Services provider for the 10,000-plus federal and contract workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Questions on the final request for proposals should be sent to the DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center by 11:59 p.m. on March 2. Bid packages are […]

Uranium broker and enrichment-technology developer Centrus Energy Corp., Bethesda, Md., took a hit on the bottom line for 2022, though its core operations reported good health and revenue was nearly level year-over-year. Centrus’ net income fell 70% to about $52 million for 2022, according to the company’s Wednesday 10-K filing with the Securities & Exchange […]

Earnings improved at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the fourth quarter, which the engineering and construction contractor for the Department of Energy attributed Tuesday to improved efficiency and certain financial adjustments. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 were $9 million, or a loss of $0.01 a share, up from a net loss of […]

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited expects to kick off a competitive bidding process this spring and host interested suitors next month for a new long-term management contract for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. Since September 2015, the Canadian labs have been run by Canadian National Energy Alliance, a team made up of SNC-Lavalin, Jacobs and Fluor, said […]

Over a year’s time, it is common for Department of Energy weapons complex sites to experience multiple fires that are recorded with the agency’s Occurrence Reporting and Processing System, according to a report from the agency’s Office of Enterprise Assessments. “The number of reportable fires per year [over a seven-year-period] ranged from 4 to 10, […]

SNC-Lavalin Group said Tuesday it has selected longtime Bechtel nuclear executive Jim Rugg to replace Tom Jouvanis as president of its Atkins Nuclear Secured Holding affiliate. Rugg, who spent more than 28 years at Bechtel, most recently as operations manager for defense and space, will officially become Atkins president on Feb. 27, according to the […]

The Department of Energy Thursday issued an updated request for information on Phase 1B of cleanup of the West Valley Demonstration Project, located 35 miles south of Buffalo, N.Y., basically replacing an earlier notice issued in October 2018. The DOE Office of Environmental Management is doing acquisition planning for the potential contract award for completion […]

The Department of Energy says contractor North Wind Portage should be assessed more than a quarter-million-dollars’ worth of violations due to a December 2021 accident that crushed the left hand of a worker at the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings cleanup in Utah. In a press release and preliminary notice of violation last week, DOE’s Office […]

Following requests from citizen groups last month, the New Mexico Environment Department agreed to extend the comment period by 60 days for a 10-year permit renewal for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Interested parties now have until 5 p.m. Mountain Time on April 19 to weigh in on the permit renewal for […]

Earnings rose at Leidos, Reston, Va., in the fourth quarter, which the federal contractor and services provider attributed to its diverse portfolio, although CEO Roger Krone said plans are underway for a government shutdown — just in case. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 30 were $180 million or $1.28 a share, up […]

Earnings rose at Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News, Va., in the fourth quarter, which the shipbuilder and federal contractor attributed to growth in those core businesses. Net earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were $123 million, or $3.07 a share, up from $ 120 million or $2.99 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according […]

Earnings dipped slightly at Parsons Corp., Centreville, Va., in the fourth quarter but were up for 2022 as a whole, which the government defense and infrastructure contractor attributed during a Wednesday conference call to organic growth.  Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 were $28 million, or $0.25 a share, down slightly from […]

The joint venture building the delayed Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee was extended into May and could still be extended much longer, an agency spokesperson said this week. The most recent major contract roundup dated Feb. 9 for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management shows the […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 31 shipments of transuranic waste during January, according to figures posted recently on the agency’s public website. Most of the shipments, 23, came from the Idaho National Laboratory. Six originated from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and there was one […]

A Seattle-based advocacy group and a labor union at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state have agreed to revise a legal settlement and give the feds more time to implement engineering controls to protect workers from harmful vapors at the former plutonium production facility. The controls, initially expected in 2021, should now […]

The New Mexico Environment Department wants the Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to suspend part of its chromium plume mitigation program over concerns it might force contamination deeper underground, a federal official said last week. The DOE, meanwhile, believes its interim approach is effective and hopes to make that […]

The Department of Energy and its cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory started operating the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit Monday with simulant, an agency official told a local citizens group on Thursday. After completing plant warm up over the weekend, “we are processing simulant as we speak,” DOE’s deputy manager of the Idaho Cleanup […]