Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

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 […]

Alpha Safety Group on Friday said it entered into an agreement to acquire Pajarito Scientific Corp., Santa Fe, N.M., and merge the nuclear-waste-analysis company with its Golden, Co.-based NucFil LLC subsidiary.  Alpha Safety shared the announcement with the Exchange Monitor in a statement. In the statement, the company did not disclose the financial terms of […]

Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) vice president Joe Legare has left his post with the legacy cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to return to corporate parent Huntington Ingalls Industries. N3B’s president and general manager, Kim Lebak, mentioned the change Thursday night during a public […]

The Department of Energy and its cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory are making “minor instrument repairs” this week at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, which is still “heating up to begin simulant treatment followed by radiological operations,” a DOE spokesperson said Monday. The spokesperson did not offer a projected date for startup of […]

Although a federal appeals court ruled Swift & Staley should not have been issued a new five-year Department of Energy contract to continue as landlord of the Paducah Site in Kentucky for five more years, it appears the contractor will stay in place there at least through July 2024. The DOE in a notice of […]

The Department of Energy now expects the full Occupational Medical Contract solicitation for the Hanford Site in Washington state to hit the streets by late next month, according to a procurement notice last week. In a notice dated Feb. 2, the DOE Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in Cincinnati said to expect the request for […]

The Department of Energy’s legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico should finish its “readiness assessment” by the end of March for slicing up corrugated metal pipes, a spokesperson said Thursday. After that, a required federal readiness assessment will start, the spokesperson said in an email to Exchange Monitor. “Corrugated […]

Atlanta-based Perma-Fix Environmental Services anticipates playing a larger role in tank waste cleanup at the Hanford Site in Washington state, thanks to a decision last week by the Department of Energy. DOE’s amendment of a 2013 environmental decision clears the way for the agency to treat and dispose of certain secondary wastes from the agency’s […]

The Atkins-led contractor overseeing depleting uranium conversion at gaseous diffusion plants in Kentucky and Ohio needs a more focused and formal approach to “safety culture,” the Department of Energy’s auditing branch said in a recent assessment. The DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments report was released this month for Mid-America Conversion Services, the joint venture of […]

Effective Saturday Feb. 4, Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors took over operation of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO), which also includes New Mexico-based subcontractor Los Alamos Technical Associates, said in a Friday evening press release it was about to officially take over as prime […]