Archive

Department of Energy

The U.S. Department of Energy oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons complex, environmental cleanup program, and national laboratory system. Coverage here tracks DOE budget requests, contract awards, policy decisions, regulatory action, and leadership changes across the agency’s defense and civilian nuclear missions.

  • Oak Ridge Cleanup Budget Cut Planned as Major Project Ends

    The Department of Energy has requested a roughly $250 million reduction in cleanup funding for the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee as crews complete major demolition at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP). The Trump administration has asked for $431 million in environmental management (EM) funding for Oak Ridge in fiscal 2021, which starts Oct. […]

  • Comments Sought as Hanford Seeks to Avoid Another Collapse

    The Department of Energy is seeking comments on plans to use grout to shore up a trio of underground waste structures in danger of collapse at the Hanford Site in Washington state. In a notice Tuesday, DOE said the comment period is between March 23 and April 24 on its plans for the facilities located […]

  • Fluor-BWXT Poised to Get 2 More Years at Portsmouth

    The Energy Department said Feb. 21 it intends to extend its contractual arrangement for decommissioning of the Portsmouth Site in Ohio with vendor Fluor-BWXT by up to two years. The DOE Office of Environmental Management intends to negotiate a sole-source 12-month extension with two six-month options, according to a notice posted on a federal procurement […]

  • Trump Touts Keeping Nuclear Waste Out of Nevada

    President Donald Trump on Feb. 21 reaffirmed his administration’s opposition to licensing a nuclear waste disposal facility under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “I also recently took action on an issue Nevada has been dealing with for over 30 years, Yucca Mountain, you know Yucca Mountain?” Trump said during a rally in Las Vegas. “My budget […]

  • Wrap Up: Amentum Announces Management Changes

    Amentum, the Maryland-based successor to AECOM’s Management Services branch, announced a pair of executive promotions this week. Tom Foster, president and project manager at the Savannah River Remediation joint venture in South Carolina, on Wednesday was named chief operating officer for Amentum’s Nuclear & Environment business unit. On Thursday, the company said it is promoting […]

  • DOE Won’t Pursue Yucca Mountain, Federal Interim Storage, Licenses for Rad Waste

    The Department of Energy will seek neither to license a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, nor a federal facility for temporary centralized storage of the radioactive material, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said Thursday. His comments come after Brouillette’s predecessor, Rick Perry, said last fall the agency also has no legal authorization […]

  • Work Resumes After Truck Accident at Moab Tailings Site

    Operations at the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) project in Utah resumed within just a few days earlier this month after a truck overturned while carrying a load of waste, an Energy Department spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. A truck carrying a container of uranium mill tailings rolled onto its side while rounding a corner […]

  • Amentum Selects Familiar Face to Head Savannah River Remediation

    A former head of the prime contractor for the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico, Philip Breidenbach, will lead the vendor team in charge of managing liquid waste at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Amentum, the successor to AECOM’s government contracting branch, announced Thursday that Breidenbach will replace Tom […]

  • Field Operations Chief for DOE Cleanup Heads North

    Jeff Griffin, the associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations at the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management, is leaving to take a post with the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Chalk River, Ontario. Griffin’s departure, effective March 11, was announced in an email sent to staff members Tuesday from Environmental Management Principal Deputy Assistant […]

  • Energy Dept. Details Rad Waste Storage Plans for FY21

    The Department of Energy wants $20 million in fiscal 2021 for operations to lay the groundwork for the eventual consolidation and temporary storage of nuclear waste now dispersed around the nation. That is the largest slice of the $27.5 million requested for Interim Storage and Nuclear Waste Fund Oversight in the budget year beginning Oct. […]

  • Vehicle Activates Explosive Detectors at Savannah River Site

    The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina enacted an emergency response Tuesday morning when a vehicle attempting to enter a secure area activated explosive detection systems. Site barricades remained open through the duration of the emergency response and there was “no indication of a consequence beyond the Savannah River Site boundaries,” according […]

  • BWXT Chief Sees ‘Robust’ DOE Contract Pipeline

    While BWX Technologies lost out on a multibillion-dollar remediation contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state, President and CEO Rex Geveden said Tuesday he is optimistic about a “robust” pipeline of potential Energy Department projects. “Unfortunately, we were not awarded the Hanford Central Plateau Cleanup contract,” Geveden said during the Lynchburg, Va.-based company’s quarterly […]

  • Amentum Taps Veteran Manager as Nuclear COO

    Amentum, the Maryland-based successor to AECOM’s Management Services branch, on Wednesday named longtime industry manager Tom Foster as chief operating officer of its Nuclear & Environment business unit. Foster has more than 35 years of experience in the nuclear industry, from decommissioning to operations, according to a company press release. Most recently, he was president […]

  • Comments Sought on Grouting 3 High-Risk Underground Waste Sites at Hanford

    The Department of Energy is seeking comments on plans to use grout to shore up a trio of underground waste structures in danger of collapse at the Hanford Site in Washington state. In a notice Tuesday, DOE said the comment period is between March 23 and April 24 on its plans for the facilities located […]

  • DOE Taking Resumes for Hanford Manager Post

    The Energy Department is accepting resumes for the job of managing the Hanford Site in Washington state, a post currently held by Brian Vance. The agency on Tuesday formally invited expressions of interest for the job of overseeing both the Richland Operations Office and Office of River Protection (ORP) at Hanford, the sprawling complex that […]

  • Safeguards and Security Funding Grows Under DOE Cleanup Budget Request

    Nuclear remediation sites overseen by the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management would receive another small bump in funding for safeguards and security in fiscal 2021, according to budget tables released by the Donald Trump administration early Monday. The proposal for $321 million in the budget year beginning Oct. 1 is a step up from […]

  • Energy Dept. Headquarters Would Get Most Interim Storage Funding in FY21

    Funds for the Department of Energy’s planned program for interim storage of nuclear waste in the upcoming budget would be focused on headquarters operations in Washington, D.C., with smaller amounts distributed to Idaho and Nevada, according to figures released Monday. The Energy Department on Feb. 10 requested $27.5 million for an Interim Storage and Nuclear […]

  • BWXT Enjoyed Strong 2019

    Energy Department contractor BWX Technologies took in $501 million of revenue during the fourth quarter of 2019, a 5% uptick over $478 million a year earlier. In addition, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company reported late Monday that revenue of nearly $1.9 billion for the 12 months ended Dec. 31 set a new record and represented a […]

  • Energy Department Releases More Detail on Environmental Management Spending Plan

    The Department of Energy on Monday said it would “leverage past experience” and apply best practices to make remediation of 16 nuclear sites more cost-effective in upcoming fiscal year. The language is found in the introduction to the detailed 415-page report for the $6.1 billion budget proposed for the Office of Environmental Management in fiscal […]

  • Fluor-BWXT Could Get 2 More Years at Portsmouth

    The Energy Department said Friday it intends to extend its contractual arrangements for decommissioning of the Portsmouth Site in Ohio with vendor Fluor-BWXT by up to two years. The DOE Office of Environmental Management intends to negotiate a sole-source 12-month extension with two six-month options, according to a notice posted Friday on a federal procurement […]

  • Trump Touts Keeping Nuclear Waste Out of Nevada

    President Donald Trump on Friday reaffirmed his administration’s new opposition to licensing a nuclear waste disposal facility under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “I also recently took action on an issue Nevada has been dealing with for over 30 years, Yucca Mountain, you know Yucca Mountain?” Trump said during a rally in Las Vegas. “My budget […]

  • Quick Action Needed to Prevent Failure of More Old Hanford Facilities, DOE Says

    The Department of Energy said last week it wants to promptly shore up some aging facilities at risk of failure at the Hanford Site in Washington state, which could endanger human health and the environment. The agency conducted structural analyzes at several old structures following the May 2017 partial collapse of Tunnel 1 at the […]

  • Correction

    An article in the Feb. 18 issue of Weapons Complex Morning Briefing should have reported the Energy Department could keep the incumbent remediation contractor for the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee in place through July 2022.

  • Subcontractor Picked to Provide Containers, Spare Melter for Hanford Vitrification Plant

    Utah-based Petersen Inc. has scored two subcontracts worth $37.8 million to provide stainless-steel containers and an extra melter for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) being built at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Plant construction and operations prime Bechtel National announced the award Tuesday. The vitrification plant will convert much of […]

  • Feds Moving Ahead With Nationwide Deactivation, Decommissioning Contract

    The Energy Department declined several requests from prospective vendors to extend the Feb. 3 deadline for bidding on a potential 10-year, $3 billion Nationwide Deactivation, Decommissioning, and Removal Contract for excess facilities. The Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center last month published 152 questions and answers from potential bidders on the final request for proposals (RFP) […]

  • Paducah Infrastructure Procurement Draws Interest

    Twenty firms attended the Feb. 11 industry day for a potential five-year contract to provide support services at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky. In addition to incumbent Swift & Staley, participants included Spectra Tech, Atkins Nuclear, GEM Technologies, Navarr0 Research and Engineering, ARS Aleut Remediation, Banda Group International, Boston Government Services, and […]

  • Wrap Up: SRS Integrated Mission Contract Could Last 15 Years, DOE Says

    The Department of Energy on Feb. 14 confirmed the potential $21-billion integrated mission contract for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina will last up to 15 years. “Task orders may be placed any time during the 10 year ordering period and the execution of the actual work may extend up to 5 years” afterward, […]

  • Energy Dept. Will Do Root Cause Analysis of Hanford PUREX Tunnel Accident

    At the urging of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Department of Energy will conduct a root cause analysis of the May 2017 partial collapse of Tunnel 1 of the Plutonium Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington. The evaluation should be completed by the end of the year. The GAO called […]

  • Taxes Eat Into Leidos Quarterly Earnings

    Higher taxes led Leidos to report a slight dip in its fourth quarter earnings, but sales were strong and adjusted earnings easily topped analysts’ estimates. Net income in the quarter fell nearly 4% to $181 million, $1.26 earnings per share (EPS), from $188 million ($1.25 EPS) a year ago. Per-share results rose a penny due to […]

  • Fluor Calls Off Sale of Government Biz, Faces SEC Scrutiny

    Engineering and procurement giant Fluor seemingly caught its peers in the nuclear contracting complex off-guard Tuesday in announcing it would not proceed with the sale of its government services business. As recently as last week some managers within Fluor were still talking as if the sale was going forward, an executive with a rival Energy […]