Department of Energy

By Cal Biesecker Defense Daily Huntington Ingalls Industries on Thursday posted a steep drop in second-quarter earnings, mainly on charges at its shipyards due to efficiency and staffing challenges, at least some of which stem from COVID-19, and the company lowered its top and bottom line guidance for the year. On a conference call with […]

The number of active cases of COVID-19 among the workforce for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management rose to 98 as of Thursday. That was up from 88 active cases cited a week ago by the nuclear cleanup office, which had dipped from 94 live cases the preceding week. Two people within the Environmental […]

The Senate overwhelmingly approved Mark Menezes as deputy secretary of energy on Tuesday, despite opposition from some nuke-wary Democrats. The 79-16 vote elevated Menezes to the No. 2 position at the nuclear weapons, waste, and energy agency. Menezes was sworn in to his new job Thursday, after nearly three years as undersecretary of energy. All but […]

The United States must find an innovative solution to its growing inventory of radioactive waste even as it takes steps to strengthen its nuclear power sector, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Wednesday. Whitehouse focused his comments and questions on the waste issue during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on Chairman John Barrasso’s […]

The Senate overwhelmingly approved Mark Menezes as deputy secretary of energy on Tuesday, despite opposition from some nuke-wary Democrats. The 79-16 vote elevates the current undersecretary of energy to the No. 2 position at the nuclear weapons, waste, and energy agency, though Menezes’ swearing-in had not been announced at deadline Wednesday. All but two of the […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) comfortably won over 50% of the vote in a Tuesday top-two primary for the congressional district covering the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. Newhouse received 50,599 of 89,274 votes in the 4th Congressional District primary, 56.7% of the total, according to unofficial results from the Washington state Secretary of State. He […]

Leidos on Tuesday posted higher sales and earnings in its second quarter, driven by two acquisitions earlier this year and a payment related to patent infringement, more than offsetting higher than expected negative impacts from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Net income increased 13% to $153 million, $1.06 earnings per share (EPS), from $136 million ($0.93 […]

After a brief spike for May, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in June returned to the standard practice of spending just a few hundred dollars of its remaining balance from the federal fund intended to pay for a permanent radioactive waste disposal facility. The NRC outlay from its Nuclear Waste Fund carryover for the month totaled […]

Pending legislation from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) would require the Department of Energy to each year account for continuing and anticipated costs for management of the nation’s inventory of radioactive waste. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which Barrasso chairs, is scheduled Wednesday to consider the discussion draft of the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act […]

Potential radiation dose in 2018 to individuals from the Portsmouth Site in Ohio was well under limits set by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency, according to new figures. The Energy Department last week issued the latest version of its annual site environmental report for the former uranium enrichment complex in Pike County. […]

The state of Idaho has now levied $8.6 million in penalties against the Energy Department for failure to treat 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing liquid radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory. That is the accrued amount as of July 31, Natalie Creed, hazardous waste bureau chief with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, said by […]

Access to a facility at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has been almost entirely closed off while an employee is tested for infection by novel coronavirus 2019. “A Hanford Site employee is undergoing testing for the coronavirus (COVID-19). Access to T64-B in the 200 East Area where the employee worked has […]

The Senate has lined up a vote next week to confirm Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes to the No. 2 position at the Department of Energy. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday filed cloture on Menezes’ nomination as deputy secretary of energy. An initial procedural vote is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, Politico […]

After running operations at the Energy Department’s most complex nuclear cleanup project for nearly 18 months, Brian Vance this week was named manager of the Hanford Site on a permanent basis. Vance in October 2017 assumed management of the DOE Office of River Protection, which oversees radioactive waste tank operations at the Washington state complex. […]

Two Democrats from Washington state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Adam Smith and Sen. Patty Murray, are proposing legislation to make it easier for certain workers at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site and other nuclear cleanup jobs to qualify for federal benefits. The Seattle Times reported Wednesday the two lawmakers were proposing companion bills in the House […]

The full House of Representatives on Friday passed in a 217-197 vote a $1.3 trillion package of six spending bills for fiscal 2021, including billions of nuclear cleanup operations managed by the Department of Energy. President Donald Trump is threatening to veto the entire minibus package. In a 29-page statement of administration policy, the White […]

The Department of Energy is so far rejecting requests to extend the Aug. 10 deadline for bids on the contract to operate the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. Multiple potential bidders requested more time in question-and-answer documents published by DOE last week and Monday. Some asked to move the proposal deadline to late […]

The management prime at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has resumed downblending plutonium at the K Area after operations were suspended in October 2019. Workers for site manager Savannah River Nuclear Solutions started downblending 6 metric tons (MT) of surplus plutonium in the K Area in 2017, but the operations were […]

A recent audit by the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General found that a major vendor at the Hanford Site in Washington state, Mission Support Alliance (MSA), is not meeting its agreed-upon small business contracting commitments. The Leidos-led vendor, which provides landlord services at the former plutonium production complex that range from road maintenance to […]

Not long ago, the Energy Department anticipated operational startup this year of the long- awaited Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Idaho National Laboratory – but that could slide to September 2021. That is the anticipated date for “full-fledged operation,” as opposed to testing, of the plant intended to treat 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing […]

Fluor Corp. said it has not reported formal earnings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020, as reported in an article in the July 24 edition of Weapons Complex Monitor, and will not do so until it answers the regulator’s questions about 2019 earnings. In February, Flour disclosed some preliminary select financial results for […]

The Energy Department plans to take “corrective action” over concerns about its May award of a $13-billion long-term Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state to the BWX Technologies-led Hanford Works Restoration. “Following our investigation and addressing other issues as appropriate, DOE will make a new award determination,” James Jurich, an attorney […]

The House of Representatives on Friday approved a massive appropriations package that provides nothing to resume licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, despite pleas late in the week from four Republican lawmakers. In a nearly party-line vote, the Democrat-led chamber passed a roughly $1.3 trillion, six-bill spending “minibus” for the fiscal 2021 budget […]

Two of the largest properties overseen by the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management reported significant spikes in COVID-19 cases over the past week, although the number of active cases across the complex have dropped. The DOE Office of Environmental Management complex currently has 88 active COVID cases,  down from 94 last week, according to […]

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Tuesday called on President Donald Trump to oppose commercial plans for facilities in her state and neighboring Texas that could temporarily store tens of thousands of tons of radioactive used fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. “Given that a permanent repository for high-level waste does not exist […]

The House of Representatives on Friday approved a massive appropriations package that provides nothing to resume licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, despite pleas late in the week from four Republican lawmakers. In a nearly party-line vote, the Democrat-led chamber passed a roughly $1.3 trillion, six-bill spending “minibus” for the fiscal 2021 budget […]

After running operations at the Energy Department’s most complex nuclear cleanup project for nearly 18 months, Brian Vance was this week named manager of the Hanford Site on a permanent basis. Vance in October 2017 took over management of the DOE Office of River Protection, which oversees radioactive waste tank operations at the Washington state […]

Two Democrats from Washington state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Adam Smith and Sen. Patty Murray, are proposing legislation to make it easier for certain workers at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site and other nuclear cleanup jobs to qualify for federal benefits. The Seattle Times reported Wednesday the two lawmakers were proposing companion bills in the House […]

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Tuesday called on President Donald Trump to oppose commercial plans for facilities in her state and neighboring Texas that could temporarily store tens of thousands of tons of radioactive used fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. “Given that a permanent repository for high-level waste does not exist […]

The Energy Department plans to take “corrective action” on concerns regarding its May award of a $13-billion long-term Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state to the BWX Technologies-led Hanford Works Restoration. “Following our investigation and addressing other issues as appropriate, DOE will make a new award determination,” James Jurich, an attorney […]