Department of Energy

There are currently 391 active COVID-19 cases within the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup complex, a spokesperson for the Office of Environmental Management said via email Thursday. The latest figure represents a decrease from the 423 active cases confirmed by Environmental Management (EM) the prior week as well as the 473 from two weeks ago.  […]

The energy and defense mix on the House Appropriations Committee, at least its leadership, will remain essentially unchanged in the 177th Congress, according to rosters released by Democrats and Republicans this week. Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) will remain chair and ranking member, respectively, of the House Appropriations energy and water development […]

Jennifer Granholm, President Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of energy, vowed Wednesday that cleaning up the Hanford Site would be a top priority if she is confirmed by the Senate. “You have my assurance that this is going to be a priority,” Granholm, the former Michigan governor, said in response to questioning from Sen. Ron […]

The Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility being built at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee is roughly 25% complete and construction should be finished by the end of 2022, an agency spokesperson said by email Wednesday. A joint venture of APTIM and North Wind Construction was awarded the contract to build the […]

The Department of Justice wants the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals to lift a stay with implications for a False Claims Act lawsuit against a Department of Energy contractor, Mission Support Alliance, before a federal court in Washington state. The Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance (MSA), which recently ended its nearly 12-year run as landlord […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this morning is considering the nomination of Jennifer Granholm, President Joe Biden’s choice to be secretary of energy. The hearing that started at 9:30 a.m. is being broadcast live on the committee’s website and marks the nominee’s first public appearance before a major congressional panel. Granholm, a Democrat, […]

James Biggins is now listed as the acting general manager of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to an organizational chart released late last week. Biggins has served as a special assistant to the chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) since September 2018 and has also served as general counsel and […]

There were no protests filed over the Department of Energy’s December award of a stand-alone contract for a Battelle-led team to manage the Savannah River National Laboratory, an agency official said Monday. “We are working on getting ready to do the contract transition,” said Michael Budney, the top DOE Office of Environmental Management official at […]

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), an advocate for environmental cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site, said in a statement Monday he will not run for re-election in November 2022. “This doesn’t mean I’m leaving now – I still have two more years in my term and I intend to use that time to get […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., had 14 more employees test positive for COVID-19 between Jan. 13 and Jan. 19, the prime contractor said in a Saturday Twitter post, while a half-dozen more cases were confirmed Sunday at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Eleven of the 14 at the […]

Here are some public events related to defense- and civilian-nuclear matters that the ExchangeMonitor staff is tracking this week. January 25 The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Eastern Time today. 27 The West Valley Citizen Task Force is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. To register for […]

Two new contractors, for Central Plateau remediation and site services, are taking charge today at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Sunday was the end of the transition period and today marks the first Monday on the job for both Central Plateau Cleanup Co. as well as Hanford Mission Integration Solutions. Central Plateau is composed […]

Donald Trump appointee Charles Verdon has taken over as acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, the semi autonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapons agency confirmed Friday. Meanwhile, David Huizenga, No. 3 at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and its top career official, will take over as acting Secretary of Energy until the Senate […]

The Department of Energy and Parsons Corp. have finished hot commissioning of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Parsons, which designed and built the 140,000-square-foot plant to treat salt waste left over from Cold War era nuclear weapons work, will run the facility for a year before turning […]

The Small Business Administration said Friday that Swift & Staley, the Department of Energy’s December winner of the new $160-million Paducah Infrastructure Support Services Contract, does not meet the size requirement for the set-aside contract.  “The SBA performed a Size Determination on Swift & Staley, LLC, and it determined the firm to be “other than […]

The number of active cases of COVID-19 within the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup complex dropped by about 50 this week but remained above 400.  There are currently 423 active cases at properties run by the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), a spokesperson for the cleanup branch said in a Thursday email.  That marks […]

Remaining cleanup costs at the West Valley Demonstration Project site in New York could run anywhere from $1.4 billion to $10.6 billion depending on how much contamination is dug up and shipped off-site, the Government Accountability Office said in its report last week on waste disposal at the site. As of February 2020, the Department […]

Federal career man William ‘Ike” White, who has acted as the top boss at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management since June 2019, remains in the top job during the early stages of the administration of President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, outside DOE, the new administration appointed Joyce Connery as the new chair of […]

The Department of Energy will not pursue a civil penalty against Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth over nuclear safety violations in fiscal year 2019 after it cut $2.6 million from the company’s potential $6.7-million subjective fee that year. The infractions at the former gaseous diffusion plant complex in Ohio stem from shortcomings in worker radiation protection at the […]

Less than a month after officially calling off a $13-billion liquid-waste cleanup award at the Hanford Site, the Department of Energy has started procurement of a replacement pact called the Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract, with a draft solicitation expected by March. The draft request for proposals (RFP) will, unlike the now-revoked tank-waste contract awarded […]

A federal judge in Virginia this week refused to throw out a lawsuit filed by a Department of Energy subcontractor, Professional Project Services or Pro2Serve, claiming Leidos Integrated Technology wrongly excluded it from a team about to take over site services at Hanford in Washington state. In the November suit filed in the U.S. District […]

For now at least, the compensation for top managers under the next Oak Ridge Reservation Cleanup Contract in Tennessee will be capped at $525,000 annually, the Department of Energy said in a procurement document posted Jan. 15. The DOE issued its final request for proposals for a new Oak Ridge remediation contract last month and […]

Former Department of Energy official Dr. Rita Baranwal broke a year of social media silence this week to announce that she is filling a senior position at the Electric Power Research Institute, her new professional home post-Trump administration. Baranwal joined the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) as the chief nuclear officer and vice president of […]

The Department of Energy and Parsons Corp. have finished hot commissioning of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Parsons, which designed and built the 140,000-square-foot plant to treat salt waste left over from Cold War era atomic weapons work, will run the facility for a year before turning […]

Editor’s note: Joe Biden was sworn in Wednesday as the 46th President of the United States, meaning that President Donald Trump and his cabinet have left town, including Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillettee. Biden has selected former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) as his Secretary of Energy. She is scheduled to have a confirmation hearing […]

Less than a month after officially calling off a $13-billion liquid-waste cleanup award at the Hanford Site, the Department of Energy has started procurement of a replacement pact called the Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract, with a draft solicitation expected by March. The draft request for proposals (RFP) will, unlike the now-revoked tank-waste contract awarded […]

The Department of Energy’s December award of the new $160-million Paducah Infrastructure Support Services Contract to Swift & Staley could end up being withdrawn, sources told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing in the past week. Federal representatives are looking into whether the Paducah-based incumbent contractor exceeds the size limit for this particular small-business set-aside and the […]

The Department of Energy will not pursue a civil penalty against Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth over nuclear safety violations in fiscal year 2019 after it cut $2.6 million from the company’s potential $6.7-million subjective fee that year. The infractions at the former gaseous diffusion plant complex in Ohio stem from shortcomings in worker radiation protection at the […]

For now at least, the compensation for top managers under the next Oak Ridge Reservation Cleanup Contract in Tennessee will be capped at $525,000 annually, the Department of Energy said in a procurement document posted Jan. 15. The DOE issued its final request for proposals for a new Oak Ridge remediation contract last month and […]

Remaining cleanup costs at the West Valley Demonstration Project site in New York could run anywhere from $1.4 billion to $10.6 billion depending on how much contamination is dug up and shipped off-site, the Government Accountability Office said in its report last week on waste disposal at the site. As of February 2020, the Department […]