Department of Energy

During a visit by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the Savannah River Site broke ground Thursday on a multimillion-dollar disposal unit for radioactive salt waste. Saltstone Disposal Unit (SDU) 7 will be a 32-million-gallon concrete structure designed and built by Savannah River Remediation (SRR), the liquid waste contractor for the Energy Depatrtment site near Aiken, S.C. […]

The town of Ashford, N.Y., hopes to eventually land federal payment in lieu of taxes funding to help offset the cost of the nuclear cleanup at the West Valley Demonstration Project site, which is within town limits. Town Supervisor Charles Davis said by telephone Wednesday he has been working with the office of Sen. Charles […]

Stoller Newport News Nuclear (SN3) President Nick Lombardo has been tapped to lead the management team for the joint venture recently awarded the $1.39 billion legacy cleanup contract at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Lombardo will serve as program manager for Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos, which will be responsible […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday voted to support the nomination of Anne Marie White to become assistant secretary of energy for environmental management. The voice vote clears the way for White’s eventual consideration by the full Senate. One obstacle to White’s confirmation remains Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who during a hearing […]

The Department of Energy plans to open a center to help ill current and former Hanford Site workers or their survivors understand the benefits for which they may qualify. The new center, called the Hanford Worker Engagement Center, is one of the steps DOE is taking after hearing worker complaints about difficulty getting help. The […]

By John Stang A week after announcing that private-equity firm J.F. Lehman had acquired Waste Control Specialists (WCS), the companies are largely closed-mouth about details of the deal. The involved parties – Lehman, WCS, and former owner Valhi Inc. – announced the sale in three separate press releases after market close on Friday, Jan. 26. […]

Longtime member Sean Sullivan was set to leave the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) today after a short and tumultuous run as chairman, during which he suggested eliminating the independent federal agency where he has worked for the last five years. Sullivan announced his impending exit on Jan. 19 in a memo circulated to […]

By Matthew Beinart Defense Daily The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has tapped CenturyLink [CTL] and collab9 to secure its enterprise communication networks with their joint cloud communications service. Under the deal, announced Jan. 31, the two companies will deliver their Unified Communications as a Service (UCaas) platform to start DNFSB’s transition to cloud computing platforms. “CenturyLink is […]

The Trump administration Department of Energy has failed to follow through on its commitment to take decisive action on permanent disposal of the nation’s ever-growing stockpile of nuclear waste, the head of a nuclear industry group said in a Jan. 23 letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council Executive Director David Blee […]

The Nevada agency charged with leading the fight against the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the state has launched a new salvo, this time against federal legislation aimed at advancing the project. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017, introduced last June by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), has a number of negative […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is set to consider a draft recommendation for the Department of Energy, according to a vote tally posted online. The board voted three to zero in favor of a meeting to consider a “staff generated outline for a draft recommendation provided to the Board on January 23, 2018,” […]

The town of Ashford, N.Y., hopes to eventually land federal payment in lieu of taxes funding to help offset the cost of the nuclear cleanup at the West Valley Demonstration Project site, which is within town limits. Ashford Town Supervisor Charles Davis said by telephone Wednesday he has been working with the office of Sen. […]

The Trump administration Department of Energy has failed to follow through on its commitment to take decisive action on permanent disposal of the nation’s ever-growing stockpile of nuclear waste, the head of a nuclear industry group said in a Jan. 23 letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council Executive Director David Blee […]

Stoller Newport News Nuclear (SN3) President Nick Lombardo has been tapped to lead the management team for the joint venture recently awarded the $1.39 billion legacy cleanup contract at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Lombardo will serve as program manager for Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos, which will be responsible […]

The Washington state Department of Health has increasing concerns about the spread of radioactive contamination from the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant, saying the public could be put at risk if demolition resumes without better controls. Clark Halvorson, assistant secretary at the Health Department, sent a letter to DOE on Tuesday, outlining the concerns and […]

The Department of Energy on Monday transferred management of the troubled Plutonium Finishing Plant demolition at the Hanford Site in Washington state to Jacobs Engineering Group, the new owner of cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. (CHPRC). The change came after another spread of radioactive contamination at the plant was identified Friday, when a […]

Appearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill, new Department of Energy Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar was asked whether a recent DOE reorganization put too much on his plate by having him oversee both nuclear cleanup and federal scientific research. “The Environmental Management portfolio has dominated the time and attention of whichever undersecretary has had it,” Rep. […]

After postponing action earlier in the day, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday afternoon voted to support the nomination of Anne Marie White to become assistant secretary of energy for environmental management. The voice vote clears the way for White’s eventual consideration by the full Senate. The business meeting had been delayed […]

The federal government wants the two men who stole more than $4 million while conducting work for the Department of Energy’s MOX project at the Savannah River Site to fork over enough money and assets to cover the total sum. In a motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court for South Carolina, U.S. Attorney Beth Drake asked […]

Next week, the House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee on will hold another hearing on modernizing the Department of Energy, this time with a focus on U.S. nuclear infrastructure, the committee announced Tuesday. The hearing, “DOE Modernization: Advancing the Economic and National Security Benefits of America’s Nuclear Infrastructure,” is on the slate for 10 a.m […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s industry day for the occupational medical (OccMed) services contract procurement at the Hanford Site in Washington state drew a crowd earlier this month, including incumbent provider HPM Corp. Thirty-seven individuals representing 13 companies, plus the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, were registered for the presolicitation conference, site tour, and individual sessions, according […]

A new contract modification will enable the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office in Oak Ridge, Tenn., to participate in a cancer research arrangement. The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) said a third-party medical company – whose name was not disclosed – will “milk” thorium from uranium stores at the Oak Ridge National […]

Longenecker & Associates has hired a new executive to lead its mission assurance team as it increases its workload in that area at two Department of Energy sites. Energy Department and nuclear navy veteran Craig Ferguson is now Longenecker’s group vice president for mission assurance, according to a Jan. 26 press release. The Las Vegas-based […]

The House’s top Department of Energy appropriator signaled Monday he might be interested in running the full Appropriations Committee next year after current Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) retires from Congress. In a Twitter message, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), the blunt-talking, hard-nosed dentist-turned-lawmaker who chairs the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee, said he has “always” […]

The Department of Energy plans to open a center to help ill current and former Hanford Site workers or their survivors understand the benefits for which they may qualify. The new center, called the Hanford Worker Engagement Center, is one of the steps DOE is taking after hearing worker complaints about difficulty getting help. The […]

Dave Einan, a remedial project manager at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Hanford Project Office, has been selected as the agency manager for the Department of Energy site in Washington state. The position, open since Dennis Faulk retired last summer after serving as EPA manager since 2009, was advertised as a Seattle or Hanford-area position, with […]

The three responsible parties for cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory site in California have asked the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) for two additional months to begin baseline air monitoring. NASA, acting on behalf of Boeing and the Department of Energy, made the request in a Nov. 27 letter to DTSC. The monitoring […]

An advisory board that monitors environmental management issues at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina wants the Department of Energy to reclassify old liquid waste equipment so it can be shipped off-site for permanent disposal. The SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) voted 22-1 Tuesday to request that DOE investigate whether used liquid waste melters and certain […]

A federal lawsuit accusing the management contractor at the Savannah River Site of forcing a worker to retire due to his sleep apnea should be thrown out, according to a recommendation from a U.S. magistrate judge. Judge Thomas Rogers wrote in his Jan. 19 recommendation that Steven Baxley, a former employee of Savannah River Nuclear […]

Having workers use supplied air respirators with lines that snake across the ground rather than heavy air tanks could be an option for certain tasks at the Hanford Site’s radioactive waste storage tank farms, according to tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions. Workers have been testing use of air lines, including at the HAMMER […]