Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons complex, environmental cleanup program, and national laboratory system. Coverage here tracks DOE budget requests, contract awards, policy decisions, regulatory action, and leadership changes across the agency’s defense and civilian nuclear missions.
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Consent-based siting, DOE waste issues discussion set for NWTRB meeting
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board meets on Thursday, Aug. 29 near the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina to review DOE’s plans to dispose of spent nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) plans a hybrid in-person/online meeting from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in North Augusta, S.C., the board […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Cleanup to Clean Energy status update: solar now planned at five DOE sites
Here is a look at how far five Department of Energy nuclear-weapon sites have come in the year since the agency announced a drive to repurpose underutilized land for clean energy generation. DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy Project launched in July 2023. It was DOE’s way of meeting President Biden’s (D) Executive Order calling on […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE market research gets underway for next step of Los Alamos cleanup
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is starting its preliminary market research into the next phase of legacy cleanup at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. In a Tuesday procurement notice, the Environmental Management office issued a sources sought/request for information on Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contract II. “No solicitation exists […]
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Recommissioning & Restarts
NRC opens door to public hearings on aspects of potential Palisades reactor
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inviting the public to request hearings on Holtec International’s ongoing efforts to reopen the shuttered Palisades Nuclear in Michigan. In a Wednesday press release, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced opportunities for stakeholders to request hearings on aspects of the restart. There is an Oct. 7 deadline for the public […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Expanding Amentum made big acquisitions in recent years
Privately-held Amentum, which has made big acquisitions of late, recorded a net loss in two of the past three fiscal years, according to a financial filing prior to next month’s planned merger with the government contracting branch of Dallas-based Jacobs. That is according to a July 15 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by […]
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Budget & Policy
Dem incumbent falls; GOP lawmaker stays alive in House primaries
A longtime GOP member of the House Appropriations Committee who represents the largest Department of Energy cleanup site is second in an open primary in Washington state, while a Democrat active in nuclear issues in Missouri lost her party’s primary. Incumbent Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), trails a fellow Republican backed by former President Donald Trump, […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Jacobs earnings dip prior to late September closing of Amentum deal
Earnings fell at Jacobs Solutions, Dallas, in its third quarter, as the international engineering and construction company refocuses on high-growth areas as it prepares to spin off its government contracting business that will merge with Amentum. Jacobs announced its quarterly financial results in a Tuesday press release. The company made a new Securities and Exchange […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
‘Acting’ deleted from Hanford landlord executive titles
The landlord contractor overseeing roads, grounds and daily services at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state told employees Tuesday the executives acting as president and chief operations officer are now the permanent bosses. Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) Amy Basche as president and chief operations officer Todd Synoground “have been confirmed […]
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National Laboratories
Oak Ridge Lab couple tell Sixth Circuit district judge erred in COVID vax case
Husband-and-wife plaintiffs filed written arguments with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently again claiming the Department of Energy contractor running the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee discriminated against them for their religious-based refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The July 24 filing by Jeffrey and Jessica Bilyeu in litigation against […]
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Contracts & Procurement
BWXT CEO Geveden: Hanford contract case could be resolved within months
The president and CEO of Lynchburg, Va.,- based BWX Technologies said Monday he expects a legal protest over a potential $45-billion Department of Energy liquid waste contract will be “sorted out” within a few months. Rex Geveden offered his take on the court battle over the Integrated Tanks Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington […]
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Recommissioning & Restarts
DOE formalizes loan Palisades restart in Michigan
In a notice published online Tuesday, the Department of Energy formalized a $1.5 billion loan needed to restart the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant next year. DOE announced its guarantee of the loan to plant operator Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., in a Federal Register notice. The agency conditionally approved the loan in March. Holtec has said […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Wrap up: NNSA seeking sea transport of nuke material; Senate appropriators pass defense bill; New Fluor exec; more
The National Nuclear Security Administration is looking for sea transport of nuclear materials from east Asia, according to a solicitation posted Friday on a government contracting database. Offers are due August 16, and work would be done within two years of the solicitation, according to an unclassified statement of work appended to the solicitation. […]
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Budget & Policy
Senate offers more dollars for EM, Hanford than House Appropriations
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management would receive $8.4 billion in fiscal 2025, under the Energy and Water appropriations bill rolled out Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee, more than House appropriators sought. The figure is less than the nearly $8.5-billion appropriated by Congress for fiscal 2024, which ends Sept. 30, but more […]
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Budget & Policy
Nuclear Energy would get slight boost in ‘25 Senate appropriations bill; waste account whole
Senate appropriators this week approved a roughly $1.7-billion budget for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, more than requested but less than what House appropriators recommended. The fiscal year 2025 budget, approved unanimously on Thursday by the Senate Appropriations committee as part of a larger Energy and Water appropriations act, is down $10 […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: Fluor appoints COO; SRS board wants NNSA relationship; Knoxville biz gets Oak Ridge admin work; more
Jim Breuer, currently president of Fluor’s Energy Solutions group, becomes Fluor’s chief operating officer effective Monday, Aug. 5, CEO David Constable said during an earnings call Friday. As chief operating officer, Breuer will report directly to Constable, and will oversee the company’s three business lines, including Mission Solutions, where the international engineering and construction company […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
SRS hopes to reach deal with first solar developer
The Department of Energy and Stellar Renewable Power started lease negotiations last month for a solar project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a federal advisory board heard Monday. The agency hopes to wrap up negotiations by mid-August, Edwin Deshong, deputy manager for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management at Savannah River, told the […]
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Contracts & Procurement
HMIS seeks building space sub at Hanford Site
The Leidos-led landlord contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is shopping for a subcontractor to provide office and warehouse space at the former plutonium production site. Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) on Tuesday put out a request for proposals on an Information Management Field Support Services Replacement Facility at the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
GAO urges greater scrutiny of major DOE cleanup infrastructure projects
The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup office needs better oversight of contractors doing big, expensive infrastructure projects, according to a federal audit released Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wants DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) to better monitor performance “and hold contractors accountable,” according to the new report. “GAO reviewed five selected EM […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Case cited by losing Hanford tanks bidder has no bearing on DOE award, winning bidder says
An amended Department of Energy competition for a $45-billion liquid waste contract permitted bidders with gaps in their federal procurement registration, the company twice awarded the work argued last week in court. That fact alone should sink the losing bidder’s claim that the DOE award should be thrown out because of a ruling in a […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Fluor reports quarterly earnings uptick; touts weapons complex foothold
Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the second quarter, which the global engineering company with a big footprint in the Department of Energy, attributed to long-term government and commercial contracts, according to a Friday press release. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $169 million, or $0.97 a share, up from […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Fluor reports quarterly earnings uptick; touts weapons complex foothold
Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the second quarter, which the global engineering company with a big footprint in the Department of Energy, attributed to long-term government and commercial contracts, according to a Friday press release. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $169 million, or $0.97 a share, up from […]
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Budget & Policy
Nuclear critics urge Senate appropriators to fully fund DNFSB
On Tuesday, more than two-dozen advocacy groups with an anti-nuclear bent called on the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund a federal nuclear watchdog agency at the $47.2 million level sought by President Joe Biden for fiscal 2025 and the panel came close. Senate appropriators took up their version of the legislation Thursday and called for […]
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Transuranic Waste
DOE, WIPP stakeholders ponder age criteria for ‘legacy’ waste
The Department of Energy and its Waste Isolation Pilot Plant prime expect to file a draft plan with New Mexico regulators in November seeking to define “legacy” transuranic waste, managers said during a public meeting Tuesday. The draft will be filed Nov. 3 with the New Mexico Environment Department as required by the new 10-year […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Two VPs at Leidos-led Hanford contractor call it a career
Two vice presidents at a Leidos-led joint venture in charge of overseeing workaday operations at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site are retiring. In a post last week on LinkedIn, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) said two executives, each with more than 35 years of experience at the former plutonium production site, are retiring. Darci […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
DOE starting concept work on PR campaign for safe transport of spent fuel
The Department of Energy on Wednesday started market research for high-profile, public demonstrations of the many severe kinds of abuse transport systems for spent nuclear fuel are designed to withstand. The agency’s Office of Nuclear Energy on Wednesday released a request for information about a wide range of things it might need to conduct what […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Nevada Site to receive contaminated soil from Santa Susana
An amended record of decision published Tuesday clears an environmental hurdle for sending contaminated soil to the Nevada National Security Site from the Department of Energy’s section of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California. The Nevada Nuclear Security Site (NNSS) expects to receive between 3-million and 4-million cubic feet of soil potentially contaminated with […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Washington Ecology to take comments on vapor control research technology
The Washington state Department of Ecology plans to start taking public comment later this summer on a research and development permit application for a technology to reduce hazardous tank waste vapors at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. On Friday July 26 the state agency emailed out a 30-day notice of public comment on a […]
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Budget & Policy
Senate appropriators give less than House for NNSA weapons, more for cleanup
Editor’s note, Aug. 01. The story was updated with comment from Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). WASHINGTON — Senate appropriators on Thursday proposed a 2025 Department of Energy budget that would pile funding the House wants to put into nuclear weapons into nuclear-weapons cleanup. That’s according to a detailed bill report the Senate Appropriations Committee released […]
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Budget & Policy
Senate appropriations to mark up bill, unveil DOE and NNSA budget proposal Thursday
The Senate Appropriations Committee planned to mark up Thursday its version of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s 2025 budget, the committee announced. The full committee markup was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Eastern time in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 106. The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025 is one […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
GAO urges greater scrutiny of major DOE cleanup infrastructure projects
The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup office needs better oversight of contractors doing big, expensive infrastructure projects, according to a federal audit released Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wants DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) to better monitor performance “and hold contractors accountable,” according to the new report. “GAO reviewed five selected EM […]









