Department of Energy

The Government Accountability Office on Thursday denied a challenge by a Huntington Ingalls Industries-led group to Bechtel’s potential $3 billion management contract for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, which the Department of Energy awarded in July. Huntington-led National TRU Solutions of Newport News, Va. challenged the 10-year contract award to Bechtel’s Tularosa […]

Despite some concerns, a Department of Energy contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state received good marks from an independent assessment of its pretreatment of radioactive wastes prior to vitrifying the waste into a more stable glass form.   The DOE’s Office of Enterprise Assessments conducted the review of Hanford’s Tank Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) […]

Earnings were mixed at Leidos, Reston, Va., in the third quarter, which the government defense and services company said Tuesday was affected by challenges to contract awards by business rivals. Net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $164 million or $1.17 a share, down from $208 million, or $1.43 a share, in the […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site prime in South Carolina has contracted a domestic affiliate of Toronto-based Aecon to handle $100-million worth of decommissioning to help pave the way for the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility. In an Oct. 26 press release, South Carolina-based Aecon-Wachs said it has landed two contracts with Fluor-led Savannah […]

Despite some concerns, a Department of Energy contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state received good marks from an independent assessment of its pretreatment of radioactive wastes prior to vitrifying the waste into a more stable glass form.   The DOE’s Office of Enterprise Assessments conducted the review of Hanford’s Tank Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) […]

A senior official at Entergy Corp. said Wednesday that the energy company believes a sweeping federal legislation package passed over the summer that includes tax incentives for nuclear power plants could bring value to its stakeholders. Entergy is “optimistic” about the potential benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law in August by President […]

As expected, the prime cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee has taken over transuranic waste responsibilities from North Wind, the agency said Tuesday. As of last week, Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) took over the Transuranic Waste Processing Center from North Wind Solutions, DOE said in a Tuesday […]

Critical-decision 2 for a new plutonium pit production plant at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is now expected in fiscal 2025, a state panel heard last week from the National Nuclear Security Administration. Jason Armstrong, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) field office at Savannah River, told the […]

The New Mexico Environment Department could issue a 10-year draft permit for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., before Christmas, a state spokesperson said recently. The draft permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) should be released for public comment by late November or early December, Matthew Maez of […]

Earnings were mixed at Leidos, Reston, Va., in the third quarter, which the government defense and services company said Tuesday was affected by challenges to contract awards by business rivals. Net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $164 million or $1.17 a share, down from $208 million, or $1.43 a share, in the […]

The Washington state congressional delegation wrote to President Joe Biden last week, urging more federal funding for the Hanford Site in fiscal 2024 as the former plutonium production facility starts turning low-level radioactive tank waste into glass. The DOE and Bechtel are targeting the startup of the Direct-Feed-Low-Activity-Waste Facility at the Waste Treatment Plant by […]

A federal magistrate judge has ruled a scientist fired by a Honeywell-owned prime contractor for Sandia National Laboratories need not litigate his wrongful termination case in U.S. District Court. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephan Vidmar ruled Oct. 20 that National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia has not proven the lawsuit brought by Carlsbad, N.M., -based […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expects to issue a solicitation around Dec. 5 for a contractor to build a viewing platform at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. In addition, the Nashville District of the U.S. Army Corps plans to hold a site visit Dec. 13 for prospective bidders on the […]

Work crews have completed construction of a protective cocoon around another old plutonium production reactor at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Department of Energy said last week. The steel structure around the K East Reactor is more than 120 feet tall and 150 feet wide, the DOE Office of Environmental Management said in […]

November Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. 01: Atlantic Council, “The future of US nuclear strategy: Releasing the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review.” Features senior Department of Defense officials. 1030 15th St. NW, 12th floor, Washington. 2:00 p.m. Streaming online. Register here. 01: […]

While most workers surveyed at the Department of Energy Portsmouth Site believe management is looking out for their safety most of the time, many lack confidence in radiation measurements and worry about chemical hazards at the former gaseous diffusion plant. Those are a couple of takeaways from a report done for the United Steelworkers Union […]

Government contractor Leidos started sampling both inside and outside Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Mo., on Monday for signs of radiological contamination, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said this week. “We are in the process of collecting samples throughout the entire property to ensure the health and safety of the students and staff at […]

WASHINGTON — The Secretary of Energy told attendees at an international nuclear power conference this week that the U.S. aims to keep nuclear at the center of its energy mixture in the long term. “[W]e are committed to maintaining and modernizing our existing fleet, and we are committed to developing a secure and diverse supply […]

WASHINGTON — Though the government lags private industry in the development of centralized nuclear waste storage, Washington can still be part of the solution, the Secretary of Energy said here this week. “I understand that there are private efforts going on, but we believe that the government has a role in a [nuclear waste] repository […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit planned to hear oral arguments at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Dec. 8 in Washington to consider whether Swift & Staley is  ineligible for a small business contract it won in 2020 for infrastructure support services at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky. The […]

John Howard, a veteran Department of Energy hand, has been promoted to deputy chief of staff for the agency’s Office of Environmental Management. Howard, who has been acting in that capacity since July, officially became the deputy chief Sunday Oct. 23, according to an “EM Colleagues” email to staff on Friday from Office of Environmental […]

With retirements and resignations depleting key worker ranks, a procurement manager with the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch said this week the feds should tap parent companies of prime contractors. “Attrition and retention challenges have recently increased the need for the Office of Environmental Management (EM) prime contractors to access corporate support resources to […]

The depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion plants at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky, both back in service after extended outages, are benefiting from backup sources of hydrogen, the federal agency said Tuesday. The Paducah facility in western Kentucky was the first to restart conversion of depleted uranium […]

As expected, the Department of Energy extended Centerra Group’s paramilitary security contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina by two years. That is according to the most recent major contracts summary issued Monday, which says Centerra’s contract now runs through Oct. 7, 2024. A DOE spokesperson confirmed the contract extension in a Wednesday […]

A series of small but troubling safety and health issues triggered a “stop work order” by the legacy cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, federal and company managers said during an online meeting Wednesday. Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) issued the stop work order Oct. 13, suspending most field […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management field office at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico said Wednesday evening the agency could soon pick up its first contract option with the legacy cleanup contractor. “The Department of Energy is getting ready to award our first contract option period under our contract […]

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, pledged last week to seek funds for possible replacement of a middle school closed three years ago after public disclosure of radioactive contamination on the campus near the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio. Manchin, who also sits on the Senate […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., last week emplaced its last shipment of defense-related transuranic waste into Panel 7, the underground work area left contaminated by a radiation leak in February 2014. “Last week, last Thursday to be specific, the last waste was placed in panel 7,” said Sean Dunagan, […]

As expected, the Department of Energy extended Centerra Group’s paramilitary security contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina by two years. That is according to the most recent major contracts summary issued Monday, which says Centerra’s contract now runs through Oct. 7, 2024. A DOE spokesperson confirmed the contract extension in a Wednesday […]

A series of small but troubling safety and health issues triggered a “stop work order” by the legacy cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, federal and company managers said during an online meeting Wednesday. Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) issued the stop work order Oct. 13, suspending most field […]