Department of Energy

The Trump administration’s nominee to head the Energy Department branch overseeing renewable energy efforts is reportedly temporarily assigned to DOE’s Office of Environmental Management as a senior adviser. Politico reported the interim status of Daniel Simmons of Virginia on Friday. Spokespeople for DOE and its nuclear cleanup office did not respond to requests for confirmation […]

The Department of Energy is inviting potential bidders on a yet-to-be-solicited management and operations contract for the Savannah River Site to Augusta, Ga., on August 1 for what the agency calls a “technical workshop.” At the all-day workshop, DOE “will be presenting information on technical challenges associated with Management and Operation of the Savannah River […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) wants to know more about the Energy Department’s proposal to change the way it counts the volume of transuranic waste emplaced at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. In a June 27 letter, called a technical incompleteness determination, the state agency asked DOE and WIPP management contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) wants to know more about the Energy Department’s proposal to change the way it counts the volume of transuranic waste emplaced at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. In a June 27 letter, called a technical incompleteness determination, the state agency asked DOE and WIPP management contractor […]

A search committee for the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) in New Mexico last week interviewed candidates to become the organization’s new executive director, and could fill the post this summer. The RCLC board panel expects “to negotiate a contract with the preferred applicant over the next few weeks and plan for the entire […]

Fluor Idaho expects in September to finish decontamination operations at the Idaho National Laboratory site where four 55-gallon drums of radioactive waste overheated and ruptured on April 11. The company also said, in a June 28 report on the incident to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, it should issue its final investigation findings in […]

Three more double-shell tanks at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site contain waste with chemistry that puts them them at heightened risk of corrosion, according to a new report from tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions. The report evaluated the waste chemistry of Hanford’s oldest double-shell tank, AY-102, which developed a leak from its […]

Now that Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP) has “pulled the trigger” on what the United Steelworkers considers an improper reduction in force this week at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the union expects to take its case before an arbitrator. “We’ve already filed a bunch of grievances” that go before the company’s labor relations department, […]

The Idaho Cleanup Project Citizens Advisory Board recently voted 7-4 to urge the Energy Department to extend the lifespan of the Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) by allowing the facility to process radioactive waste from out of state. The letter, posted June 27 on the panel’s website, urges DOE to continue to […]

The Energy Department’s Office of River Protection could issue a sole-source contract for Rutgers University in New Jersey to study factors connected with vitrifying tank wastes at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Although DOE is not aware of other sources capable of doing the work, interested small businesses meeting certain size standards can submit […]

Two major federal contractors, Virginia-based BWX Technologies and Dallas-based Jacobs Engineering, announced new executive appointments in the past week. Colin Jones, most recently with AECOM, is the new vice president and deputy general manager of Jacobs’ North American Nuclear business unit, the company said Friday. He has more than 20 years of experience in government […]

The Energy Department and contractor Fluor Idaho have gathered up the loose material that spewed out of four breached drums of radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, but have still not determined the cause of the April 11 incident. Once a root cause is determined, Airlock 5 of the Accelerated Retrieval Project 5 facility […]

URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR), prime cleanup contractor for the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, earned a total of $6.24 million in fee awards for the first half of 2018, according to a recent performance scorecard. The contractor garnered 100 percent of the potential $2.59 million in objective criteria fee, along with $3.65 million, […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management had a busy Thursday on the procurement front, announcing three contract awards worth nearly $150 million. The biggest award by far was a contract worth almost $137 million over up to five years to a Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve) subsidiary, Enterprise Technical Assistance Services (E-TAS), for technical support […]

The House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce environment subcommittee voted Wednesday to recommend the Government Accountability Office (GAO) prepare a report on the types of radioactive waste at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state, but stopped short of saying the material should be deemed defense-related. The panel approved, by voice vote, an […]

As she closes out her third full month at the helm of the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup office, Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White might not be finished putting together her leadership team. Bechtel Project Manager Mark Frei is said to be in consideration for a top Environmental Management post, possibly even […]

The Energy Department is advertising for a deputy manager at the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) in Tennessee. The position has not been filled permanently since Jay Mullis became OREM manager last fall. Mullis had been OREM’s acting manager since October 2016 and deputy manager since February 2015. The Energy Department posted an […]

With both chambers of Congress having now given their blessing to fiscal 2019 spending packages that provide in the neighborhood of $7 billion for Department of Energy nuclear cleanup operations, it is now up to a House-Senate conference committee to decide the exact amount. The conference committee had not been scheduled to start its work […]

Energy Department Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader said Tuesday it could take an additional year to secure New Mexico approval to change the way the volume of transuranic waste is counted for underground disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The New Mexico Environment Department said June 1 it plans a more extensive […]

Teri Donaldson, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Department of Energy inspector general, drew hardly any attention in her initial confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Donaldson, a former corporate environmental lawyer and federal prosecutor now working as general counsel for Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), has “impressive credentials,” committee Chairwoman Lisa […]

The first of up to two dozen containers of highly radioactive sludge was trucked Monday morning to storage in the center of the Hanford Site in Washington state. Workers have for nine years been preparing for the sludge transfer from underwater containers in the K West Reactor Basin, which is just 400 yards from the […]

Orano TN on Wednesday sealed a contract worth millions of dollars to refurbish and maintain three radioactive waste containers, and provide other services, to the United Kingdom’s LLW Repository Ltd. The specific value of the contract is not being released for commercial reasons, an Orano spokesperson said by email Thursday. LLW Repository Ltd. is charged […]

As she closes out her third full month at the helm of the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup office, Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White might not be finished putting together her leadership team. Bechtel Project Manager Mark Frei is said to be in consideration for a top Environmental Management post, possibly even […]

Energy Department Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader said Tuesday it could take an additional year to get New Mexico approval to change the way the volume of transuranic waste is counted for underground disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The New Mexico Environment Department said June 1 it plans a more extensive […]

Teri Donaldson, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Department of Energy inspector general, drew hardly any attention in her initial confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Donaldson, a former corporate environmental lawyer and federal prosecutor now working as general counsel for Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), has “impressive credentials,” committee Chairwoman Lisa […]

URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) officially announced Monday that it has hired a former Energy Department senior adviser for environmental management issues, Roger Jarrell, for a government and stakeholder relations position. Jarrell, who left DOE on June 15, was a Trump administration political appointee who joined the department in January 2017 and started working on nuclear […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries said Tuesday it on June 4 formally made Sharon Brady the new chief operating officer for subsidiary Stoller Newport News Nuclear (SN3), a significant player in the Energy Department complex. Brady has worked in a variety of corporate and government contract posts at SN3 predecessor Stoller since 2001, the company said in […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management would continue to enjoy a hefty budget under the “minibus” appropriation package for fiscal 2019 passed by the Senate on Monday evening. Voting senators approved the proposal 86-5. The Senate bill, which covers funding for energy and water development programs, among others, would provide $7.2 billion in total […]

The Energy Department has drilled two open-borehole bedrock wells as it tries to gauge the extent of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in groundwater within Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California. The Energy Department is also seeking to determine if a VOC source exists at Building 4457, part of the Hazardous Materials […]

URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR), prime cleanup contractor for the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, earned a total of $6.24 million in fee awards for the first half of 2018, according to a recent performance scorecard. The contractor garnered 100 percent of the potential $2.59 million in objective criteria fee, along with $3.65 million, […]