Department of Energy

A federal district court judge in Tennessee has told litigants to resume mediation in a case involving a half-dozen employees suing the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory contractor over its COVID-19 vaccination policy. In an order Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Atchley, Jr. said he is not enthused about going forward with […]

The head of the Department of Energy field office overseeing the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., expects the facility to finish fiscal 2022 with 225 shipments of transuranic waste, short of its target of 299. As of Aug. 29, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has received 217 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste […]

Expedited spent fuel removal is underway at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, now that the agency has decided not to recover high-enriched uranium from the L-Basin storage area, a manager told a federal advisory board Tuesday. “We just kept recovering and kept recovering … and we did not have a […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management should bring in an outside entity to gauge the effectiveness of the overhauled procurement strategy implemented in 2019 to improve its multi-billion-dollar nuclear cleanup operation, the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday. The head of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) should also develop specific performance goals for […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not have a schedule for when it will address a recent request from the state of Nevada aimed at reopening, and eventually ending, the agency’s licensing proceedings for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, a spokesperson said this week. Although Nevada’s Sep. 20 request is in front of NRC’s […]

The Department of Energy is “resurrecting” a proposal to build a 10-megawatt solar power field at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, an infrastructure manager told an advisory board meeting Monday. The DOE Office of Environmental Management studied and dropped solar plans after starting to look at it in 2019, said David Bender, the […]

The Department of Energy acknowledged late Thursday it will miss the latest state deadline for starting radiological operations of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory but still expects to start treating sodium-bearing waste this fall. The federal agency has requested an extension beyond the current Friday Sept. 30 deadline for using […]

As expected, the Department of Energy has signed a potential five-year, multibillion-dollar extension with the Fluor-led management and operations manager for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the company said late Thursday.  The extension could keep Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) on as the prime contractor through September 2027 and be worth $12 billion […]

A lot of people say that they eat, sleep and breathe their passions, but there are few who would identify more with that adage than Sam Brinton, newly-minted Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition at the Department of Energy.  “My husband is a painter, and half of the paintings in our home […]

The Department of Energy’s latest search for a consenting host community for spent nuclear fuel can succeed even if no community consents, the agency’s newly minted nuclear waste chief said in an exclusive interview this week. “That off ramp is also a success, because we are not wasting resources on unworkable solutions,” Sam Brinton, deputy […]

Attorneys for current and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio said last week they want to limit duplication of paperwork from various citizen lawsuits in federal court accusing the companies of allowing dangerous amounts of contamination to escape outside the fence. The lawyers for a group of eight contractors also […]

Tropical storm conditions are possible Friday around Aiken County, S.C., and the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, according to the National Weather Service. Wind gusts of up to 32 miles per hour are expected today with showers possible, according to today’s forecast. The chance of precipitation is 90% Friday and rain is expected to […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management should bring in an outside entity to gauge the effectiveness of the overhauled procurement strategy implemented in 2019 to improve its multi-billion-dollar nuclear cleanup operation, the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday. The head of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) should also develop specific performance goals for […]

Expedited spent fuel removal is underway at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, now that the agency has decided not to recover high-enriched uranium from the L-Basin storage area, a manager told a federal advisory board Tuesday. “We just kept recovering and kept recovering … and we did not have a […]

Management at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is participating in daily calls about Hurricane Ian with emergency officials for the state of South Carolina, a spokesperson at the federal complex said Tuesday. “Site resources have been identified and will be available to respond to any potential site hurricane impacts,” the spokesperson said via […]

The head of the Department of Energy field office overseeing the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., expects the facility to finish fiscal 2022 with 225 shipments of transuranic waste, short of its target of 299. As of Aug. 29, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has received 217 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste […]

A federal district court judge in Tennessee has told litigants to resume mediation in a case involving a half-dozen employees suing the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory contractor over its COVID-19 vaccination policy. In an order Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Atchley, Jr. said he is not enthused about going forward with […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not have a schedule for when it will address a recent request from the state of Nevada aimed at reopening, and eventually ending, the agency’s licensing proceedings for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, a spokesperson said Tuesday. Although Nevada’s Sep. 20 request is in front of NRC’s five-member […]

The Senate Tuesday evening advanced a continuing budget resolution that, if made law, would avert an impending government shutdown and keep federal funding at 2022 levels. The stopgap budget, which on Tuesday, by a 72-23 margin, the upper chamber agreed to vote on later this week, would largely keep federal spending at the levels set […]

The Department of Energy plans to ink a contract extension by Friday with the management and operations manager for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, an agency executive told a federal advisory board Monday. “A new contract should be signed sometime this week because Sept. 30 is approaching fast,” said Jimmy “Mac” McMillian, DOE […]

The Santa Susana Field Laboratory, including the portion being cleaned up by the Department of Energy, will have a new congressional representative in January 2023 thanks to redistricting. Following the 2020 Census, the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission redrew the state’s congressional districts, moving the 2,850-acre Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Ventura County, Calif., to […]

ARLINGTON, VA — During a conference dominated by workforce continuity issues, it was noted Friday that Department of Energy field office managers for nuclear cleanup, who often head the biggest employers in rural locales, have been in their current posts for less than five years.  Being a major government employer in small-town America poses unique […]

A California congressman who has been a vocal proponent of a federal nuclear waste solution took some credit this week for the Department of Energy’s recently-unveiled interim storage funding opportunity, according to a press release. Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), who counts San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) among his constituents in California’s 49th congressional district, […]

The Department of Energy this week unveiled a multi-million-dollar funding opportunity aimed at giving interested communities the tools to explore whether they could host an interim storage site for nuclear fuel. The funding opportunity, which DOE announced in a press release Tuesday, would provide around $16 million in funding for six to eight awardees over […]

In the state’s latest attempt to kill the project for good, Nevada this week asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to end the long-idled licensing review of the U.S.’s only congressionally-designated storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. Gov. Steve Sisolak’s (D) request, if approved by NRC, would re-open licensing proceedings for the Yucca Mountain site so […]

The award of seven field site technical assistance contracts together worth up to $120 million over five years was announced this week by the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts were awarded to S&K Mission Support, AKIMA Systems Engineering, ARS Aleut Remediation, Catawba Engineering and Environmental Services, Energy Technology Alliance, […]

ARLINGTON, VA — Coaxing new waste treatment facilities to run smoothly and tackling a variety of issues tied to a mature but graying workforce are among top challenges facing the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, agency execs said here Friday. On the upside, Environmental Management (EM) is approaching yearly funding of almost $8 […]

David Campbell, former senior vice president of Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Services, is joining EnergySolutions, the Salt Lake-City based company said Tuesday. Campbell, whose background includes executive stints at Bechtel as well as the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), will be joining EnergySolutions as the company’s executive vice president for business […]

The legacy nuclear cleanup contractor for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico said Tuesday it recently awarded a total of $120 million in subcontracts for soil contamination work to three companies. Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) said in a press release that Idaho-based North Wind Group will assist […]

The Department of Energy has suspended centralized collection of weekly COVID-19 summary information from its labs, plants, and nuclear cleanup sites, a spokesperson with the agency’s Office of Environmental Management said Monday. “Most DOE locations are at a low COVID-19 transmission rate in accordance with CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] Community Levels,” the […]