Department of Energy

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy has yet to select a candidate to lead its ongoing effort to find a willing community to host a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, the agency’s nuclear power head said here this week. Although DOE is no longer accepting applications for its vacant deputy assistant secretary […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy anticipates the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory to treat its first batch of radioactive waste by early April, the agency’s top nuclear cleanup officials said here this week.  Environmental Management Senior Adviser William (Ike) White reiterated his message, on the project nearing the finish line, […]

Even as the Department of Energy this week opened the door for a shuttered Michigan nuclear plant to qualify for its billion-dollar bailout program, the company aiming to restart the facility said it would look for federal funding elsewhere. Holtec International, which owns Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, applied for a DOE loan last week with […]

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 […]

PHOENIX —The chances of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state making its first glass from radioactive tank waste by Dec. 31, 2023 is “very low” but reaching that milestone during 2024 is doable, site manager Brian Vance said at a Waste Management Symposia session Tuesday morning. Vance’s assessment was in response to […]

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 […]

PHOENIX — When it comes time to search for a potential host for a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, the Department of Energy could offer financial incentives to move things along, the agency’s top nuclear waste official said here this week. Once DOE finishes up its ongoing information-gathering activities among interim storage […]

PHOENIX — Opening a federally-run interim storage facility for the nation’s stranded spent nuclear fuel inventory might not be the only way the Department of Energy could declare victory in its most recent effort to build one, the agency’s nuclear waste lead said here this week. DOE’s consent-based approach for siting a federal interim storage […]

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 […]

PHOENIX — Thanks to an updated agreement between the federal government and a nuclear power plant operator, owners of advanced nuclear reactors will likely have to foot the bill for spent fuel storage at their facilities, an industry expert said here this week. For advanced reactors, the new spent fuel management contract between the Department […]

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 […]

PHOENIX — Opening a federally-run interim storage facility for the nation’s stranded spent nuclear fuel inventory might not be the only way the Department of Energy could declare victory in its most recent effort to build one, the agency’s nuclear waste lead said here Wednesday. DOE’s consent-based approach for siting a federal interim storage facility […]

PHOENIX – The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has since 2017 received only half as many transuranic waste shipments annually as it did prior to a February 2014 underground radiation leak that halted operations for three years – but that could soon change, officials said Wednesday. Encouraged by the startup […]

PHOENIX — When it comes time to search for a potential host for a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, the Department of Energy could offer financial incentives to move things along, the agency’s top nuclear waste official said here Wednesday. Once DOE finishes up its ongoing information-gathering activities among interim storage stakeholders, […]

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” a few weeks ago knocked out of service about 13 […]

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 — Thanks to an updated agreement between the federal government and a nuclear power plant operator, owners of advanced nuclear reactors will likely have to foot the bill for spent fuel storage at their facilities, an industry expert said here Wednesday. For advanced reactors, the new spent fuel management contract between the Department of […]

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. “We are working through a decision-making process,” […]

PHOENIX —The chances of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state making its first glass from radioactive tank waste by Dec. 31, 2023 is “very low” but reaching that milestone during 2024 is doable, site manager Brian Vance said at a Waste Management Symposia session Tuesday morning. Vance’s assessment was in response to […]

PHOENIX — The top manager for the Bechtel affiliate now in charge of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico expects a new underground ventilation system to be operating by late 2025 or early 2026. Ken Harrawood, president and program manager of Salado Isolation Mining, which took over as prime contract […]

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 — The Department of Energy has yet to select a candidate to lead its ongoing effort to find a willing community to host a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, the agency’s nuclear power head said here Monday. Although DOE is no longer accepting applications for its vacant deputy assistant secretary for […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy anticipates the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory to treat its first batch of radioactive waste by the end of March, the agency’s top nuclear cleanup official said here Monday. Environmental Management Senior Adviser William (Ike) White reiterated his message to the Exchange Monitor on the […]

A worker at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state used a fire extinguisher to snuff out a small blaze within an administrative office at 242-A Evaporator facility, a federal safety board reported Feb. 3. An initial investigation identified the cause as “a lit candle that ignited combustible material while briefly left unattended,” […]

PHOENIX—Roughly 2,600 people involved with nuclear waste and related fields are taking over this desert city’s downtown convention center this week for the 49th Waste Management Symposia. Monday’s headliners including U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, and a French energy official. In addition to Granholm, other speakers in […]

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 […]