Department of Energy

Perma-Fix Environmental Services said Friday its team lost the Department of Energy’s Integrated Tank Disposition Contract, potentially worth $45 billion over 10 years at the Hanford Site in Washington state, which went to a joint venture led by BWX Technologies. “Despite the loss of the [Hanford tanks] contract bid, the company expects to continue to […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 36 shipments of transuranic waste during March, according to the latest publicly-available figures. The DOE’s public website for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) shows 25 shipments arriving between March 1 and March 31 from the Idaho National Laboratory; four from the Savannah […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. 18: Meeting: The Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board holds a virtual public meeting starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.  19: Hearing, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Hearings to examine the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed fiscal year […]

The Department of Energy is seeking new members to join its federal advisory board for the Office of Environmental Management, according to a Monday Federal Register notice. The deadline for nominations to the Environmental Management Advisory Board is May 15. Customarily DOE draws the advisory board members for the $8-billion-plus Office of Environmental Management from […]

Due to vacancies, the Savannah River operations office for DOE nuclear cleanup is not doing safety system oversight assessments as often as specified in agency guidance, according to a report out this month from the DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments. It has become a common refrain across the weapons complex, and now, staffing holes are […]

The Department of Energy’s “fast-track, design-build approach” at the multibillion-dollar Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state resulted in cost increases and schedule delays, according to an Office of Inspector General probe of whistleblower allegations. The report by DOE Inspector General Teri Donaldson was drafted back in August 2020 but […]

It is time for states with Department of Energy nuclear sites and the agency’s cleanup office to consider social media’s role in distributing information, and disinformation, during emergencies, according to a report from the National Governors Association. “With the proliferation of smartphones and social media, it is critical that intergovernmental partners and the public have […]

Feds and Washington state representatives are discussing plans for a research permit for grouting 2,000 gallons of radioactive tank waste from the Department of Energy Hanford’s Site, a state spokesman said Wednesday. The ongoing mediation over Hanford cleanup, dubbed “holistic talks” by the parties, should not delay a draft research, development, and demonstration permit application […]

The Department of Energy recently released a roughly four-year contract that will fund the agency’s evaluation of financially struggling nuclear reactors that could qualify for billions of dollars in bailouts Congress made available last year. The contract, administered by the DOE Idaho operations office, will begin on May 6, 2023 and run through Dec. 31, […]

A half-dozen employees suing the Department of Energy’s operations contractor for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee are making headway in settling their case involving mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for most workers, and a federal judge said this week he wants the matter resolved soon.  “The court notes that, at this point, almost ten months […]

At the Department of Energy’s request, bidders on major nuclear cleanup contracts at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky and at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio have agreed to keep their bids on the table for 60 days longer than planned, industry sources said this week. Within the past week, DOE procurement officials asked […]

At the Department of Energy’s request, bidders on a major nuclear cleanup contract at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio have agreed to keep their bids on the table for 60 days longer than planned, industry sources said this week. Within the past week, DOE procurement officials asked teams to keep their contract offers for the […]

A federal magistrate judge in New Mexico has been asked to give the state environmental regulator and the Department of Energy 90 more days to continue settlement talks over changes to a consent decree governing nuclear cleanup at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Citing continued progress, the parties asked U.S. Magistrate Judge John Robbenhaar on […]

The top boss for the Department of Energy’s prime contractor at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina said this week he expects to see draft plans soon detailing how the National Nuclear Security Administration will take control of the complex from the DOE Office of Environmental Management. “The transition planning is well underway,” Stuart […]

After close to $1.5 billion spent, the long-anticipated Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory is treating radioactive waste, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. Initially, the Integrated Waste Treatment United (IWTU) will treat a mix of 90% simulant and 10% sodium-bearing liquid waste from tanks at the laboratory’s Idaho Nuclear Technology and […]

The Department of Energy is seeking expressions of interest for companies that could deploy established technology to recover up to 6,400 tons of radiologically surface-contaminated nickel from the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the agency said Wednesday. Information gleaned through the procurement notice, issued online, will help DOE determine if it’s worthwhile to clean up the […]

A team led by BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., won a potentially 10-year, $45-billion liquid-waste cleanup contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Department of Energy said Thursday. The winning team, Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure, consists of BWXT, Amentum and Fluor.  The Integrated Tank Disposition Contract awarded by DOE’s Office of Environmental […]

The Department of Energy is seeking expressions of interest for companies that could deploy established technology to recover up to 6,400 tons of radiologically surface-contaminated nickel from the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the agency said Wednesday. Information gleaned through the procurement notice, issued online, will help DOE determine if it’s worthwhile to clean up the […]

It is time for states with Department of Energy nuclear sites and the agency’s cleanup office to consider social media’s role in distributing information, and disinformation, during emergencies, according to a report from the National Governors Association. “With the proliferation of smartphones and social media, it is critical that intergovernmental partners and the public have […]

A federal magistrate judge in New Mexico has been asked to give the state environmental regulator and the Department of Energy 90 more days to continue settlement talks over changes to a consent decree governing nuclear cleanup at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Citing continued progress, the parties asked U.S. Magistrate Judge John Robbenhaar on […]

The long-anticipated startup of radiological operations is underway at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. Initially, the Integrated Waste Treatment United (IWTU) will treat a mix of 90% simulant and 10% sodium-bearing liquid waste from tanks at the laboratory’s Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, […]

At the Department of Energy’s request, bidders on a major nuclear cleanup contract at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio have agreed to keep their bids on the table for 60 days longer than planned, industry sources said this week. Within the past week, DOE procurement officials asked teams to keep their contract offers for the […]

The Department of Energy’s “fast-track, design-build approach” at the multibillion-dollar Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state resulted in cost increases and schedule delays, according to an Office of Inspector General probe of whistleblower allegations. The report by DOE Inspector General Teri Donaldson was drafted back in August 2020 but […]

The Department of Energy is seeking new members to join its federal advisory board for the Office of Environmental Management, according to a Monday Federal Register notice. The deadline for nominations to the Environmental Management Advisory Board is May 15. Customarily DOE draws the advisory board members for the $8-billion-plus Office of Environmental Management from […]

Due to vacancies, the Savannah River operations office for DOE nuclear cleanup is not doing safety system oversight assessments as often as specified in agency guidance, according to a report out this month from the DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments. It has become a common refrain across the weapons complex, and now, staffing holes are […]

The Department of Energy said Thursday it is providing $6.3 million worth of financial help to students pursuing nuclear energy-related degrees at 39 colleges and universities. The funding supports 124 scholarships and fellowships through DOE’s University Nuclear Leadership Program, the agency said in a news release. DOE called the move important to the next generation […]

A half-dozen employees suing the Department of Energy’s operations contractor for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee are making headway in settling their case involving mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for most workers, according to a court filing Friday. “Since the March 3, 2023 Joint Status Report, the parties have continued to exchange offers and counter-offers,” […]

The Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has resumed running simulant as the contractor awaits final federal approval to start mixing in liquid sodium-bearing radioactive waste, a DOE spokesperson said Wednesday. The federal agency and its cleanup contractor at the site, Jacobs-led Idaho Environmental Coalition, hope to be operating  […]

The Department of Energy and a contractor await permission from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to return a problem transuranic waste container, now in a parking lot at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, back to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, managers in Carlsbad, N.M., said recently. The issue came up […]

Randall Hendrickson, acting head of regulatory and policy affairs for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office, is leaving the government to take a job in private industry, the agency said this week. Hendrickson’s departure was announced in an email to DOE Office of Environmental Management staff by Jeff Avery, DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary […]