Department of Energy

The Department of Energy has awarded Pacific Gas & Electric a $271 million award to help the company keep California-based Diablo Canyon Power Plant in operation, the department said last week.  The award was granted under DOE’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program, a $6 billion investment fund to support the continued operation of the existing nuclear […]

The New Mexico Environment Department rejected U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concerns about proposed changes to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) hazardous waste permit, including a warning that the overhaul could jeopardize the state’s authority to run its federally accredited program.  In an Aug. 11 response to EPA Region 6 Administrator Scott Mason, NMED defended […]

The BWX Technologies-led joint venture leading the liquid waste cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site awarded three subcontracts Tuesday that will handle future tank-side treated waste. EnergySolutions, PermaFix and Waste Control Specialists were the three companies selected for the subcontracts, Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) said in its press release. The […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site has submitted two permit modification requests to Washington State’s Department of Ecology that aim to speed cleanup and save funding, DOE said Monday. According to DOE’s press release, DOE contractor Bechtel National Incorporated’s request would allow tank-side treated low-activity waste from Hanford’s AP-106 to be sent to the Effluent […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  August: 10: NRC Webinar: On NRC proposed changes to radiation protection rules, start at 1 p.m. E.T.  12: Meeting: The Hanford Advisory Board holds a hybrid meeting starting at 8 a.m. Pacific Time, originating from 2420 Stevens Center Place, Conference Room 153, […]

A joint venture between Navarro Research & Engineering and Los Alamos Technical Associates (LATA) has been awarded a subcontract for waste management at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The contract, awarded by Y-12’s Bechtel-led prime Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) could be worth up to $160 million […]

The federal government has concluded certain tank farm waste in the 200 West Area of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., can be treated as low-level radioactive waste. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said in a Friday press release that a Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR) determination has been made for treated […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee is working on a framework for a stopgap funding resolution to keep the federal government through Dec. 11 and the full Senate was expected to vote on it sometime Friday.  The government’s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. Unless a bill codifies that funding is rolled over into the next fiscal […]

Earnings fell at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the second quarter, which the engineering and construction company attributed to factors affecting its non-nuclear markets. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $114 million, or $0.81 a share, down from $2.46 billion, or $14.81 a share, in the year-ago quarter. That is according to […]

The Department of Energy contractor that runs the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) said on Wednesday the underground transuranic waste repository has resumed operations after an unplanned outage of nearly two months caused by problems with two aging hoists and other complications.  Ryan Flynn, deputy program manager for Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, told a […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies (BWXT), Lynchburg, Va., in the 2nd quarter, which the government contractor attributed to growing interest in the nuclear industry. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $89.1 million, or $0.97 a share, up from $78.5 million, or $0.85 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according to the […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies (BWXT), Lynchburg, Va., in the 2nd quarter, which the government contractor attributed to growing interest in the nuclear industry. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $89.1 million, or $0.97 a share, up from $78.5 million, or $0.85 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according to the […]

Smoke from regional wildfires caused the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., to face an air quality alert most of the week.  The National Weather Service forecast for the region had an air quality alert in effect most of hte past week for Kennewick, Pasco and Richland as well as the counties that […]

In figures that sound like something out of a TV commercial for insurance, there are an average of 135 automobile wrecks annually at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina that involve either deer or wild pigs, according to the Department of Energy. Research by the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory found in […]

X-energy’s subsidiary TRISO-X acquired an additional 70 acres adjacent to its nuclear fuel campus in Oak Ridge, Tenn. this week. X-energy said Tuesday in a press release that this acquisition brings the total campus size to 180 acres. This purchase of land comes a few weeks after the Tennessee state government awarded X-energy $11 million […]

A joint venture between Navarro Research & Engineering and Los Alamos Technical Associates (LATA) has been awarded a subcontract for waste management at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The contract, awarded by Y-12’s Bechtel-led prime Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) could be worth up to $160 million […]

OMAHA, Neb. – Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), said here Thursday Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is accelerating plutonium pit production, with the site targeting 100 pits by December 2028. Speaking at the U.S. Strategic Deterrence Symposium, Williams said reforms across NNSA are producing results in major modernization […]

Oklo’s Groves isotope test reactor achieved zero-powered criticality late Wednesday, making it the fifth reactor under a Department of Energy reactor initiative to reach that milestone.  The completed criticality test comes after DOE approved Oklo’s nuclear startup authorization last month. Oklo said in a Thursday press release that the Groves isotope test reactor achieved criticality […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management plans to keep on Amentum-led Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership as the remediation contractor at the Paducah Site in Kentucky through September 2030. In an online notice of intent posted this week, DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office said it plans to modify the existing Deactivation and Remediation contract to […]

A Republican member of the Yakima County Commission and a Democrat who is a retired Air Force major that once worked at the Hanford Site were the top two finishers in Washington state’s open primary for the 4th congressional district. As a result, Amanda McKinney (R) and John Duresky (D) will go head-to-head in the […]

The Department of Energy said this week its nuclear cleanup branch has now removed radioactive waste from 24 of its single-shell tanks at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. It has only taken about seven months for DOE’s BWXT-led contractor, Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure (H2C), to move 79,000 gallons of waste from Single-Shell […]

The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC) commended the Department of Energy’s initial selections for its Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative, but still wants the agency to do more to ensure that a permanent repository can be secured.  On July 28, DOE announced that Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah were on a shortlist of states […]

The Department of Energy said this week its nuclear cleanup branch has now removed radioactive waste from 24 of its single-shell tanks at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. It has only taken about seven months for DOE’s BWXT-led contractor, Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure (H2C), to move 79,000 gallons of waste from Single-Shell […]

A nuclear watchdog group in New Mexico has filed suit against the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) seeking to force disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of a study concerning costs of plutonium pit production. The complaint was filed July 23 by Nuclear Watch New Mexico in U.S. […]

The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC) commended the Department of Energy’s initial selections for its Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative, but still wants the agency to do more to ensure that a permanent repository can be secured.  On July 28, DOE announced that Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah were on a shortlist of states […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management plans to keep on Amentum-led Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership as the remediation contractor at the Paducah Site in Kentucky through September 2030. In an online notice of intent posted this week, DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office said it plans to modify the existing Deactivation and Remediation contract to […]

Smoke from regional wildfires has the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., facing an air quality alert until further notice. The National Weather Service forecast for the region says an air quality alert remains in effect “until further notices” for Kennewick, Pasco and Richland as well as the counties that surround the DOE […]

In figures that sound like something out of a TV commercial for insurance, there are an average of 135 automobile wrecks annually at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina that involve either deer or wild pigs, according to the Department of Energy. Research by the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory found in […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies (BWXT), Lynchburg, Va., in the 2nd quarter, which the government contractor attributed to growing interest in the nuclear industry. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $89.1 million, or $0.97 a share, up from $78.5 million, or $0.85 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according to the […]

Department of Energy management at the Hanford Site is reportedly asking the City of Richland, Wash., to annex more than 740 acres of land at the federal nuclear installation. The Tri-City Herald newspaper reported Sunday that DOE is asking Richland to annex multiple parcels of land along the city’s northern border. If ultimately approved by […]