Department of Energy

Centrus Energy Corp., Bethesda, Md., had a net loss in the third quarter, which the uranium broker and enrichment technology developer attributed in part to costs associated with a Department of Energy uranium contract. Centrus lost about $5 million, or $0.30 a share, in the third quarter, compared with earnings of about $8.2 million or […]

There would be no significant environmental impact from keeping long-stranded transuranic waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory at Waste Control Specialists’ disposal facility in Texas for another two years, the There Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday. The commission published its formal finding of no significant impact in the Federal Register about five months after Waste Control Specialists […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Orano-USA has started the property transfer and licensing process for its planned uranium enrichment plant at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site, the site’s top federal cleanup official said here Wednesday. Orano-USA announced in September that Oak Ridge was its “preferred site” for its uranium enrichment plant that it would build […]

The Department of Energy and its prime contractor for it transuranic waste disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., will release a report soon to help define what constitutes legacy transuranic waste, site managers said last week at a public meeting. The legacy waste disposal plan for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) should be out around […]

The Department of Energy is on track to start operation of a major new underground ventilation system for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico in 2026, managers for DOE and the disposal site contractor said last week. Construction and integrated system testing is complete for the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) at […]

A federal judge recently rejected a motion to reconsider a September ruling upholding the Department of Energy’s award of a liquid waste contract, potentially worth $45-billion, to a team led by BWX Technologies. Judge Marian Horn in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rejected the motion for reconsideration by AtkinsRéalis Nuclear-led Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance […]

While the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Eddy County, N.M., received 490 shipments during fiscal 2024, DOE envisions a more modest 425 shipments during fiscal 2025, top managers said during a public meeting last week. For the short term at least, the rate of defense-related transuranic waste shipments is “probably going to […]

The Department of Energy is on track to start operation of a major new underground ventilation system for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico in 2026, managers for DOE and the disposal site contractor said last week. Construction and integrated system testing is complete for the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) at […]

Dan Brouillette, who served as secretary of energy under President Donald Trump, announced Monday he intends to leave as president and CEO of the Edison Electric Institute, the advocacy group for investor-owned utilities in the United States. Brouillette, who was chosen to lead the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) a little more than a year ago, […]

The Department of Energy’s cleanup office has resumed its efforts to control a longstanding hexavalent chromium plume at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, local managers said last week. Partial resumption of what DOE calls its “interim measure” started Sept. 30 with up to to 3 injection wells and 3 extraction wells, Jessica […]

Vehicle mishaps at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory complex continue to worry the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to a staff report dated Oct.4 and posted on the board’s website. There were four onsite wrecks during September, including one involving an overturned dump truck, although no one was injured, according to the […]

The Department of Energy Thursday awarded a potential $3-billion, 10-year cleanup contract to a BWX Technologies-led partnership for work at the West Valley Demonstration Program in western New York state. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said in a press release the award goes to West Valley Cleanup Alliance, a newly-formed joint venture consisting of partners […]

The Department of Energy’s cleanup office has resumed its efforts to control a longstanding hexavalent chromium plume at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, local managers said last week. Partial resumption of what DOE calls its “interim measure” started Sept. 30 with up to to 3 injection wells and 3 extraction wells, Jessica […]

Dan Brouillette, who served as secretary of energy under President Donald Trump, announced Monday he intends to leave as president and CEO of the Edison Electric Institute, the advocacy group for investor-owned utilities in the United States. Brouillette, who was chosen to lead the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) a little more than a year ago, […]

State and federal agencies plan a public meeting this week to discuss cleanup plans for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. A cleanup strategy favored by DOE and the other agencies would cost more than $70 million and involve complete removal of the prototype intended to eliminate long-term environmental […]

A judge this week gave parties involved in a three-year lawsuit against the Department of Energy another 12 days to reach a compromise over environmental review of the agency’s plutonium pit program, court papers show.  The new due date for a joint proposal by both parties is Nov. 4, according to a filing in the […]

Oak Ridge, Tenn.,-based AtkinsRéalis US Nuclear said Thursday it has selected a top legal officer, Jeff Kendall as its interim president replacing Joe McBrearty, who was chosen as acting president this summer. Kendall joined the AtkinsRéalis subsidiary in 2017 as general counsel and has also served as acting chief operating officer and vice president for […]

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday said it indefinitely reopened a public comment period on the Department of Energy’s July request to expand the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. “A request for an extension to the comment period was received from several stakeholders, most recently at the Agency’s informal public meetings held in […]

The BWX Technologies-led team taking over the Hanford Site on Wednesday made public introductions of five senior leaders. After getting the go-ahead from the Department of Energy last week, Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) began the four-month process of formally taking over management of Hanford’s liquid-waste programs from the Amentum-led incumbent, Washington River […]

Attorneys for a married couple employed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory last week asked a federal appeals court to overturn a trial court’s unfavorable ruling in their lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccinations. A brief U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit was filed on behalf of Jeffrey Bilyeu and Jessica Bilyeu […]

A Department of Energy advisory board Wednesday endorsed DOE’s preferred cleanup plan for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The DOE Idaho Cleanup Project Citizens Advisory Board endorsed the $70-million cleanup option in a public meeting.  The public comment period on remediation of the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric […]

A U.S. District Court judge in Washington state this week accepted a guilty plea from the owner/operator of a small contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site and scheduled sentencing for March.  The U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington state asked a federal district judge to accept a plea agreement from a subcontractor at the […]

“Funding needs to happen” for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the State Department’s undersecretary for arms control said Tuesday at a think-tank event about nuclear power.  “People hear the word energy, I mean nuclear, and they kind of run. A lot of people run for the hills,” Bonnie Jenkins, the undersecretary of state for arms […]

In a letter Monday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate how the Department of Energy can displace imports of Russian isotopes. “[T]he United States still relies on obtaining several materials and commercially produced isotopes from other, sometimes adversarial countries, like Russia, on which it may not be expedient […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico received more shipments of transuranic waste during fiscal 2024 than fiscal 2023, although traffic was down in September 2024 compared to a year earlier. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad received 39 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during September with the most […]

State and federal agencies plan a public meeting this week to discuss cleanup plans for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The public comment period on remediation of the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric Prototype Facility and its defueled reactor vessel at the Idaho National Laboratory started Oct. 15 […]

The Department of Energy’s $900-million solicitation for proposals to deploy small light-water reactors includes an “opportunity” for nuclear security aid that, the agency said, could make the reactors more exportable. DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations dropped the long-expected solicitation on Thursday, offering domestic teams of power consumers, utilities, reactor designers and construction contractors a […]

The Department of Energy’s $900-million solicitation for proposals to deploy small light-water reactors includes an “opportunity” for nuclear security aid that, the agency said, could make the reactors more exportable. DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations dropped the long-expected solicitation on Thursday, offering domestic teams of power consumers, utilities, reactor designers and construction contractors a […]

The Government Accountability Office found ‘no basis’ to object to the Department of Energy’s approach to evaluating contenders for its National Training Center contract, according to its public decision on the incumbent’s bid protest. On Oct. 9, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied two protests by the Albuquerque, N.M.-based National Training Center’s incumbent, Kupono Government […]

This Friday, Oct. 18, will mark the end of the official term for Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chair Joyce Connery, but Connery will stay on longer to prevent the panel from losing a quorum, a spokesperson said Wednesday. A “quorum saving provision” in Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) rules allows Connery to stay […]