Department of Energy

The Department of Energy’s nuclear-weapons cleanup office will by January 2026 evaluate the effectiveness of nine citizen-staffed boards that provide non-binding advice to the agency, the office said in a report published Monday. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) mentioned the review in a letter appended to a report published Monday by the Government Accountability […]

Orano-USA on Wednesday said the company could build a uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., using some state funding and Department of Energy land. The planned, “multi-billion dollar” 750,000 square-foot facility will employ about 300 people in Roane County, Tenn., according to a press release from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. […]

Jeffrey Baran, who lost his job at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2023, will join the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management on Sept. 8, according to an internal email. When he arrives at DOE headquarters in Washington, Baran will be deputy assistant secretary for waste and materials management, or EM-4.2, in the Office […]

Patricia Lee, former manager of Savannah River National Laboratory, was sworn in Wednesday as the newest member of the federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the agency said. The Senate confirmed Lee July 9 in a 54-41 vote, mostly on party lines. Her term runs through Oct. 18, 2027. Lee has over 30 years of […]

The American Nuclear Society is “unconvinced” that high-assay low-enriched uranium could lead to a surge in weapons proliferation, the group said in an open letter to Science Magazine. “The implied recommendation that the United States should unilaterally decide international nuclear security policy by domestically lowering the enrichment threshold for commercial uranium fuel is particularly problematic,” […]

The House and Senate essentially agree on fiscal 2025 spending levels for the National Nuclear Security Administration, but election-year politics may lead to a shutdown instead, media reported this week. House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) is considering a six-month continuing resolution to freeze federal spending at 2024 levels through March, media including Politico and […]

By the numbers, House and Senate appropriators are within 2% of agreeing on a budget for nuclear-weapons cleanup for fiscal year 2025, but election-year politics could stand in the way of a resolution when Congress returns to Washington next week. Overall for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), the House Appropriations Committee […]

Jeffrey Baran, who lost his job at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2023, will join the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management on Sept. 8, according to an internal email. When he arrives at DOE headquarters in Washington, Baran will be deputy assistant secretary for waste and materials management, or EM-4.2, in the Office […]

Patricia Lee, former manager of Savannah River National Laboratory, was sworn in Wednesday as the newest member of the federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the agency said. The Senate confirmed Lee July 9 in a 54-41 vote, mostly on party lines. Her term runs through Oct. 18, 2027. Lee has over 30 years of […]

WASHINGTON — Following the passage of the Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act in July and the increased interest in nuclear energy, industry advocates say an export process led by the State Department with help from the Department of Energy needs to improve. The Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, which President Joe Biden […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit this month ruled against the environmental prime at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site, saying it lacks sovereign immunity from a lawsuit filed by a radiation technician who was fired after refusing a COVID-19 vaccination. Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) argued it is shielded […]

During a time of much political division in the United States, Democrats and Republicans both support nuclear energy, but lack concensus on nuclear weapons, according to their 2024 party platforms. Now that the Democrats and GOP have concluded their respective national conventions in Chicago and Milwaukee, Exchange Monitor scanned their policy platforms with an eye […]

A weekend wildland fire that threatened thousands of acres at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site is 100% contained, site management said in a social media post Sunday. Fire and rescue teams for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) “have achieved 100% containment of the Ribbon Fire,” according to a Sunday post on […]

A weekend wildland fire that threatened thousands of acres at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site is 100% contained, site management said in a social media post Sunday. Fire and rescue teams for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) “have achieved 100% containment of the Ribbon Fire,” according to a Sunday post on […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration announced Monday it awarded a BWX Technologies subsidiary a contract to evaluate options for a pilot plant for domestically enriched uranium. Nuclear Fuel Services, the BWX Technologies (BWXT) subsidiary that manufactures fuel material for naval nuclear reactors in Erwin, Tenn., would complete the yearlong engineering study as part of the […]

Adding Panels 11 and 12 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico should not heighten radiological risk at the underground disposal site, the Department of Energy said during a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency public meeting Wednesday in Santa Fe. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering a request by DOE’s Office of Environmental […]

The Department of Energy cannot pass the buck to localities when accidents happen at old nuclear weapons sites post-cleanup, an advocacy group for municipalities bordering DOE installations said. In a letter to Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk, the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) said DOE’s response to a request for clearer protocols “for site emergencies […]

A federal claims court judge held a closed- door hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday Aug. 28 with litigants in a dispute over a $45-billion liquid waste contract at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank Horn set the hearing for 11 a.m. Eastern Time […]

The Department of Energy next year plans to ask potential host communities of a future federal interim storage for spent nuclear fuel to step forward, an official said Thursday. But ahead of that request for information, DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy plans to inform state governments about its search, Paul Murray, deputy assistant secretary for […]

The Department of Energy cannot pass the buck to localities when accidents happen at old nuclear weapons sites post-cleanup, an advocacy group for municipalities bordering DOE installations said. In a letter to Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk, the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) said DOE’s response to a request for clearer protocols “for site emergencies […]

The Environmental Protection Agency planned meetings Wednesday about plans for more disposal panels for defense-related transuranic waste at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The agency has two hybrid public meetings set Wednesday Aug. 28 in Santa Fe, N.M., to discuss DOE’s planned change request for the Waste Isolation Pilot […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit this month ruled against the environmental prime at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site, saying it lacks sovereign immunity from a lawsuit filed by a radiation technician who was fired after refusing a COVID-19 vaccination. Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) argued it is shielded […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration announced Monday it awarded a BWX Technologies subsidiary a contract to evaluate options for a pilot plant for domestically enriched uranium. Nuclear Fuel Services, the BWX Technologies (BWXT) subsidiary that manufactures fuel material for naval nuclear reactors in Erwin, Tenn., would complete the yearlong engineering study as part of the […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has awarded a $4.5-million small business contract to BluePath Labs for administrative support services, according to an online notice. The set-aside indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract award was announced in a Thursday Aug. 22 notice in the System for Award Management. BluePath is a disabled veteran-owned small business […]

From Paducah, Ky., to a section of the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico, Department of Energy weapons complex workers are coping with daytime high temperatures this week exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit, or in the case of Paducah, 100 degrees.  The DOE’s Paducah Site is expected to see daytime highs Tuesday through Thursday ranging from 100 […]

A weekend wildland fire that threatened thousands of acres at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site is 100% contained, site management said in a social media post Sunday. Fire and rescue teams for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) “have achieved 100% containment of the Ribbon Fire,” according to a Sunday post on […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has entered into a new business deal, worth up to $19.7 million over three years, with an existing provider of technology support. DOE said in an Aug. 21 press release the department’s business support office for the chief information officer has signed a blanket purchasing agreement with […]

Carrie Meyer, acting director of communications for the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management, has been promoted to be permanent head of communications and stakeholder engagement, DOE said Tuesday. Meyer has been with Environmental Management for 17 years, much of it at the largest cleanup property, the Hanford Site in Washington state, DOE […]

The Department of Energy expects a batch of specially engineered replacement parts should help curb maintenance downtime at the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, according to a press release. The shipment of 16 replacement centrifugal contactors by Office of Environmental Management cleanup prime Savannah River Mission Completion should […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 45 shipments of transuranic waste during July, according to DOE’s public website. As usual, the Idaho National Laboratory accounted for the majority of shipments, sending 33. Los Alamos National Laboratory sent four, and the Savannah River Site accounts for the remaining eight shipments […]