Department of Energy

Fowler General Construction Inc. of Richland, Washington, received three Hanford contracts totaling almost $19 million from tank farms prime Washington River Protection Solutions. One $5.3 million contract is to construct a 17,600-square-foot office building at Hanford’s 222-S laboratory. The laboratory provides analytical support for the tank farms.  The other two contracts cover $13.5 million are […]

Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions, the Department of Energy contractor in charge of the 177 underground tanks of radioactive waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state, is looking for firms to do corrosion testing on double-shell tanks. Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) published a notice Wednesday on a federal procurement website seeking “expressions of […]

As part of President Joe Biden’s executive order to review certain policy issued by the Donald Trump White House, the Environmental Protection Agency is taking another look at its December 2020 approval of plans for a new landfill at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the agency said in a letter last […]

Daytime high temperatures around the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state should exceed 100 degrees only a couple of days this week, although a fire watch is in effect, according to a National Weather Service forecast. The forecast around Richland, Wash., no longer includes the excessive heat advisory, as daytime highs will not […]

Bidders vying for a potential five-year $100-million contract for moving containers of transuranic material to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico should inform the Department of Energy about all their recent vehicle accidents, even those where a truck hits a deer. That is one of the takeaways from the questions and answers published […]

A federal magistrate judge set an Aug. 4 discovery hearing in a lawsuit about alleged radioactive contamination by current and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio’s Thursday action will help determine what documentation Ursula McGlone and other plaintiffs living within seven miles of […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has received more than 1,000 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste since the deep underground repository reopened in 2017 after the underground radiation leak of February 2014. More than three weeks ago, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) received its 1,000th shipment since April 2017, […]

Environmentalists this week sued to stop the National Nuclear Security Administration from building a plutonium pit plant at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., alleging violation of environmental law. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should have to reopen the environmental record for the planned Savannah River Plutonium Pit Production Facility (SRPPF) and a […]

After holding up the project two years, the Department of Energy will start developing an environmental assessment in July for a 2,000-gallon test of the Test Bed Initiative that involves grouting and out-of-state disposal of low-activity tank waste from the Hanford Site in Washington state. DOE’s site manager for Hanford, Brian Vance, told the Washington […]

After two presidential administrations allowed the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board to dwindle to only seven out of a potential 25 members, the panel voted this week to adopt a policy to avoid such staffing shortages in the future. The Citizens Advisory Board voted during an online meeting carried Monday via […]

Fire danger at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state continued to be “extreme” Friday morning as the region suffered through a heatwave, according to an advisory from the landlord contractor at the cleanup property. With daytime highs in triple digits into next week, Hanford is utilizing maximum telework of about 40%, according […]

SOC, a Day & Zimmermann company, filed a bid protest June 28 over the Department of Energy’s decision to stand by a February award of a security services contract to Securitas-led SRS Critical Infrastructure Security. It is the second challenge filed by a losing bidder with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over the  $1-billion contract […]

North Wind Site Services has won a Department of Energy remediation contract, potentially worth $22 million over five years, at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna, N.Y., the agency said in a press release this week.  West Virginia-based North Wind Site Services is part of North Wind Group, which in turn is owned by […]

A U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina agreed Thursday to grant a Department of Justice motion to dismiss a False Claims Act lawsuit filed in 2016 against Fluor and the Fluor-led management contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site over millions of dollars in reimbursement for home office expenses. The one-page order […]

Late Thursday, the Department of Energy awarded Tennessee-based Navarro Research and Engineering the new Technical Assistance Contract at the Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico potentially worth $100-million over five years, a move with implications for the agency’s ongoing search for a new operations manager at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Barring a bid protest, […]

In documents released this week, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management expressed reluctance to resume the pre-pandemic practice of in-person meetings on contract procurements, such as the ongoing prime contract solicitation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Ten pages of questions and answers on the potential 10-year, $3-billion contract for management and operation […]

SOC, a Day & Zimmermann company, filed a bid protest June 28 over the Department of Energy’s decision to stand by a February award of a security services contract to Securitas-led SRS Critical Infrastructure Security. It is the second challenge filed by a losing bidder with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over the  $1-billion contract […]

Fire danger at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has escalated from “very high” earlier this week to “extreme” on Wednesday as the region continues to suffer through a heatwave and the threat of power disruptions, according to an advisory from the landlord contractor at the cleanup property. With daytime highs in […]

Bidders for the new prime contract at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., are getting two more weeks, until Aug. 3, to submit their proposals. In a notice published on a procurement website Tuesday the DOE Office of Environmental Management said it plans to extend the submission deadline for the […]

After two presidential administrations allowed the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board to dwindle to only seven out of a potential 25 members, the panel voted Monday to adopt a policy to avoid such staffing shortages in the future. The Citizens Advisory Board voted during an online meeting carried via Youtube to […]

After holding up the project two years, the Department of Energy will start developing an environmental assessment in July for a 2,000-gallon test of the Test Bed Initiative that involves grouting and out-of-state disposal of low-activity tank waste from the Hanford Site in Washington state. DOE’s site manager for Hanford, Brian Vance, told the Washington […]

A U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina agreed Thursday to grant a Department of Justice motion to dismiss a False Claims Act lawsuit filed in 2016 against Fluor and the Fluor-led management contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site over millions of dollars in reimbursement for home office expenses. The one-page order […]

In another bid to combat mounting nuclear power plant closures, a group of Senate Democrats last week unveiled a bill to keep the existing fleet afloat. If the Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit Act became law, nuclear plant operators could expect a tax credit on every kilowatt-hour (KWh) of electricity they produce, according to the […]

Workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, where daytime high temperatures are in the triple-digits, should be prepared for potential power outages lasting up to four hours on Tuesday, according to an online advisory to employees. “Employees that can telework should telework,” according to the advisory posted online by Leidos-led services […]

North Wind Site Services has won a Department of Energy remediation contract, potentially worth $22 million over five years, at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna, N.Y., the agency said in a Monday press release. West Virginia-based North Wind Site Services is part of North Wind Group, which in turn is owned by Cook […]

Contractors serving the Department of Energy’s weapons complex are watching eagerly to see what contract awards are made for a trio of solicitations, including one for a new prime at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico and multibillion-dollar awards elsewhere in the complex. Questions were due over the weekend, and proposals are due […]

Workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state are this week coping with what the National Weather Service described in a Monday bulletin as “dangerous heat.” At deadline, the high for Monday was forecast to reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit with daytime highs expected to remain above 100 degrees F throughout the week. […]

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm this week praised the Senate’s Tuesday confirmation of Ali Nouri by voice vote to serve as DOE’s assistant secretary for congressional and Intergovernmental affairs. “As both a scientist and a proven consensus-builder, Ali will bring unparalleled perspective and expertise to his work with Congress and our federal, state, and local […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission officially ended work on a proposed rulemaking for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel this week after staff recommended discontinuing the process, according to an agency memo. According to the memo dated Thursday, NRC voted to approve the staff recommendation to discontinue the rulemaking, which was proposed in 2013. In the March 5 […]

Nearly a hundred advanced nuclear energy projects are getting cash from the federal government, with the bulk going toward nuclear waste research, the Department of Energy announced this week in the midst of budget season. Most of the $61 million DOE is awarding to advanced nuclear research programs, $58 million, will go to universities, the […]