Department of Energy

Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal suggested Friday that a foreign entity could be used for recycling of U.S. spent nuclear fuel. “If we don’t build a recycling plant in the United States, that’s OK, there are other entities that certainly could do this for us,” Baranwal said during a webinar hosted by […]

The Energy Department has again extended the deadline for bids on a potential five-year, $250 million support services contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. In a notice published last week, DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said proposals are now due by 4 p.m. EDT on April 16. Originally, proposals were due March 19 […]

The Department of Energy plans to issue a potential four-year, $1 million contract for consultant Jeffrey Trent to assist in “hot commissioning” of the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The notice for the planned no-bid contract was posted earlier this month by the Hanford Office of River Protection on a […]

CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley in New York state is, like other nuclear remediation vendors for the Energy Department, decreasing its work to “mission-essential” tasks for the near future due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Daily on-site staffing at the West Valley Demonstration Project was decreased effective Monday, and many employees will “telework to the extent […]

Having already taken its financial lumps during the past year, Energy Department contractor Fluor announced a measure Wednesday meant to ensure its shareholders get a fair shake “in the event of any proposed takeover.” The limited-duration stockholder rights agreement will also shield against “abusive tactics to gain control of the Company without paying all Fluor […]

The Energy Department said Thursday it plans to extend through Nov. 25 its landlord services contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state with Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance. The current contract would otherwise expire on May 25. The agency will also retain the right to extend the site support services contract for a second six-month […]

The Waste Management Symposia on Tuesday said both attendees at this year’s event who showed signs of possible COVID-19 infection had tested negative. Test results for “Attendee #1” were received Tuesday, one day after the results for “Attendee #2,” according to a statement from James Gallagher, chairman of the board for the annual nuclear cleanup […]

The Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., is taking a reduced number of waste shipments following a recently concluded maintenance outage that coincided with a national public health emergency. The underground disposal facility for defense-related transuranic waste is accepting “limited shipping to support critical operations within the DOE complex while observing COVID-19 […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) wants a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Energy to further improve the contentious relationship between the federal agencies. That would be an additional measure on top of DOE’s revision to the controversial Order 140.1 that revised its interactions with the board. The revision comes after Congress last year directed […]

The top members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee want the Government Accountability Office to evaluate how the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management sets its priorities for using technology to further its mission. The study was requested in a Wednesday letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro from Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson […]

While only a handful of COVID-19 cases have been confirmed to date across the Energy Department nuclear complex, most nuclear remediation sites are dramatically scaling back operations as the pandemic expands. That finding is based on conversations with sources who work with DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, public websites and social media posts, and stay-at-home […]

The Department of Energy on Thursday expressed confidence in the strength of the nation’s nuclear power fleet, even as a leading industry group has asked the Trump administration to provide economic relief in the face of potential damage from the spreading COVID-19 pandemic. “Rest assured that our fleet of operating reactors and the nuclear energy […]

The Waste Management Symposia on Tuesday said both attendees at this year’s event who showed signs of possible COVID-19 infection had tested negative. Test results for “Attendee #1” were received Tuesday, one day after the results for “Attendee #2,” according to a statement from James Gallagher, chairman of the board for the annual nuclear cleanup […]

The Senate voted 96-0 Wednesday night to approve a $2 trillion relief package to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. The House of Representatives will vote Friday on the measure, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) President Donald Trump is expected to sign the measure soon afterward. This would mark Congress’ third legislative […]

CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley in New York state is, like other nuclear remediation vendors for the Energy Department, decreasing its work to “mission-essential” tasks for the near future due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Daily on-site staffing at the West Valley Demonstration Project was decreased effective Monday, and many employees will “telework to the extent […]

The Department of Energy plans to issue a potential four-year, $1 million contract for consultant Jeffrey Trent to assist in “hot commissioning” of the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The notice for the planned no-bid contract was posted earlier this month by the Hanford Office of River Protection on a […]

Negotiators agreed to language on a $2 trillion economic stimulus bill to help the nation combat the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, CNN and other national news outlets reported. The specific language of the bill had not been released at deadline for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. At press time it […]

The Energy Department and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Tuesday increased the amount government procurements officers can pay on “micro-purchases” and “simplified’ acquisitions in order to cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The updates are outlined in an emergency purchasing flexibility document posted by DOE. The federal procurement officers can […]

The Waste Management Symposia on Tuesday said both attendees at this year’s event who showed signs of possible COVID-19 infection had tested negative. Test results for “Attendee #1” were received Tuesday, one day after the results for “Attendee #2,” according to a statement from James Gallagher, chairman of the board for the annual nuclear cleanup […]

The Energy Department on Monday reported the first case of COVID-19 among the workforce at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, which is now being downshifted to “minimum mission-critical activities.” Management at SRS management learned of the positive test Monday morning, according to a DOE press release. “During this period, activities that support our […]

The ongoing stock market dive triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic marks the latest bad news for Fluor, which still has not filed its annual report for 2019. Fluor shares were worth $5.93 at market close Monday, down from $13.78 one month earlier on Feb. 24 – prior to the New York Stock Exchange decline caused […]

The Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state has instructed only “essential personnel” to report to work effective immediately under a “temporary planning operations status” due to COVID-19. “Unless contacted by your supervisor, all federal, contractor, subcontractor, and craft employees should not report to work,” according to a notice Sunday on a website for the […]

As part of a much larger spending request, the White House has requested $28 million in emergency 2020 funding to help the Department of Energy telework during the COVID-19 pandemic. The DOE share will pay “for additional information technology requirements and telework support, also including increased cybersecurity costs, in response to coronavirus,” according to a […]

Idaho continues to assess $6,000 in daily penalties against the Department of Energy for failure to treat 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing liquid radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, and the total is approaching $7.8 million, a state official said last week. The penalties will continue until the lab’s the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) […]

Almost a year after a middle school outside the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio went on summer break early due to concern over levels of radioactive contaminants on campus, an independent contractor will start on-site air and soil sampling. The project is scheduled to start in April, the top official at the DOE Office […]

Los Alamos County, N.M., is calling on the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to take responsibility for remediation of radioactive waste discovered last month off the property of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Debris contaminated by uranium and plutonium was discovered Feb. 14 by a county contractor doing sewer line excavation for a planned low-income […]

The Department of Energy hopes in April to start construction of the Tank-Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) system at the Hanford Site in Washington state, a vendor said Wednesday. Tank waste management contractor Washington River Protection Solutions and DOE’s Office of River Protection are requesting temporary authorizations from the Washington state Department of Ecology to start […]

As its impact spreads across the United States, the COVID-19 outbreak could further delay procurements at the Energy Department nuclear cleanup office, industry sources said this week. The DOE Office of Environmental Management has a difficult time issuing new contracts on time even “when there is not a pandemic,” a manager with one federal contractor […]

The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management has kicked off market research for a new contract to operate depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion facilities at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky. The Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center issued the request for information (RFI)/sources sought notice Monday. The Energy Department is […]

President Donald Trump will nominate a familiar face, Joyce Connery, to serve a new term on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the White House said Tuesday morning. If confirmed by the Senate, Connery would serve a term expiring Oct. 18, 2025, according to the intent to nominate announcement. Initially nominated by President Barack […]