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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Contracts & Procurement
Big charge in first quarter, but Parsons reports business booming
Net earnings fell drastically for Parsons, Chantilly, Va., after a big tax hit in its first quarter, but the federal contractor on Wednesday reported record revenue and healthy core operations. Parsons posted a net loss of about $107 million, or $1.01 a share, for the quarter ended March 31, down from earnings of roughly $25.5 […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Leidos touts strong first quarter
Earnings rose at Leidos, Reston, Va., in the first quarter, which the national security and technology company attributed to strong business demand across all its sectors. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 29 were $283 million, or $2.07 a share, up from $164 million or $1.17 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according […]
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Decommissioning
14 small businesses share DOE’s nationwide D&D award; North Wind gets first order
The Department of Energy nuclear cleanup branch has selected 14 small businesses to share in a set-aside contract worth up to $2 billion for Nationwide Deactivation, Decommissioning, and Removal work across the weapons complex, the agency said Thursday. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said in the same press release that the contract’s first task […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford bid protester seeks permanent injunction on DOE’s $45B award to BWXT-led group
AtkinsRéalis-led Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance this week asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for a permanent injunction blocking the Department of Energy from awarding a $45-billion liquid waste contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state to a BWX Technologies-led group. The memorandum in support of judgment on the record was filed this week […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE to extend Swift & Staley as Paducah landlord; RFP expected soon
Although Swift & Staley lost a court battle over a long-term contract, the Department of Energy said this week it plans to keep the incumbent company in place as landlord of the Paducah Site in Kentucky for up to 16 months. In a Thursday notice published online, DOE’s Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office announced plans to extend […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
DOE’s high-level reinterpretation not included in holistic agreement at Hanford
Washington State politicians do not want the Department of Energy treating high-level waste at the Hanford Site as low-level waste, and a long awaited update to cleanup rules at the site reflects that. In December 2021, DOE affirmed a policy proposed in 2019 during the Donald Trump administration that the agency could reinterpret an existing […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford settlement agreement lays out path for grouting some low-level waste
A settlement agreement for cleaning up underground tank waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, still subject to public comment and submission to a federal court, lays out a path for using grout to stabilize some less-radioactive liquid waste. The so-called “holistic” agreement, in the works since 2019 and announced Monday […]
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Decommissioning
Old Oak Ridge Lab reactor vessel hauled away
Workers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have shipped the old reactor vessel from the Low Intensity Test Reactor, also known as Building 3005, to Utah for disposal, the agency said Tuesday. Crews loaded the 37,600-pound, 30-foot-long vessel onto a truck last week and shipped it to Clive, Utah, for […]
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Innovation & Infrastructure
More than halfway done, SRS off-site Advanced Manufacturing center to open in 2025
A year after construction started, an off-site research center for the Savannah River National Laboratory, “looks like a building now” and should open in 2025, a Department of Energy manager in South Carolina said Monday. The Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, the new 60,000-square-foot building at the University of South Carolina-Aiken should be occupied “a year from […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
August readiness review planned for Savannah River transition
The Department of Energy plans an August “transition readiness review” of plans to transfer management of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to its nuclear weapons branch from its Office of Environmental Management. The readiness review will run from Aug. 5 through Aug. 30, before the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) takes the reins […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Leidos touts strong first quarter
Earnings rose at Leidos, Reston, Va., in the first quarter, which the national security and technology company attributed to strong business demand across all its sectors. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 29 were $283 million, or $2.07 a share, up from $164 million or $1.17 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP underground salt storage pocket contract valued at $15M
The Department of Energy prime has issued Cementation, a mine development company, a $15-million contract to renovate a big underground salt bin at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a DOE spokesperson said Monday. DOE announced last week prime contractor Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, a Bechtel business, retained underground mine developer Cementation to refurbish the underground […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
DOE begins evaluation of solar projects proposed for Savannah River
The Department of Energy is starting to evaluate proposals for solar power projects at the Savannah River Site, the top site’s federal nuclear cleanup manager told the South Carolina governor’s Nuclear Advisory Council Monday. The deadline for requests for qualifications for solar power at Savannah River was Friday, April 26, Michael Budney, who leads the […]
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Vitrification & Grout
No slippage of glass-making timelines in ‘holistic’ agreement for Hanford
A long-awaited settlement agreement rolled out Monday by state and federal agencies says the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state still intends to start turning low-level radioactive tank waste into glass starting next year, with high-level waste vitrification to follow in the 2030s. DOE, the Washington state Department of Ecology (Ecology), and U.S. […]
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Innovation & Infrastructure
DOE doing ‘deep dive’ on aging infrastructure, agency tells defense board
In response to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board review, the Department of Energy’s nuclear branches are taking a “deep dive” into aging infrastructure, DOE said last week. In an April 24 letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the head of DOE’s Office of Nuclear Safety said progress is being made on […]
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Contracts & Procurement
DOE Science office inks bridge contract for Oak Ridge security work
The Department of Energy’s Office of Science has issued a $1.9-million stopgap contract to a small local company for security work at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, according to a procurement notice published Thursday. Golden Services of Kingston, Tenn., has been awarded a bridge contract until a follow-on contract is issued for “physical security […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
South Carolina environmental regulatory realignment set July 1
The South Carolina agency charged with environmental monitoring of the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., will split into two separate organizations on July 1. Under a measure passed in 2023 by the state legislature, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is becoming two separate agencies: the South […]
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News & Analysis
Former Miss America joins Constellation as engineer, spokesperson
There are lots of new workers joining the nuclear industry these days, but Baltimore-based Constellation Energy has perhaps the only one to list “former Miss America” on her resume. Constellation announced in a Monday press release it hired former Miss America Grace Stanke as a full-time employee working as both an engineer and a spokesperson […]
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Budget & Policy
Fleischmann lands seat on defense appropriations subcommittee
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) who already chairs a key House Appropriations Committee panel affecting the Department of Energy is also picking up a seat on a defense purse strings subcommittee. Fleischmann has been appointed by House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) to serve on the Defense Subcommittee, the Tennessee lawmaker said in an April […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
BWXT group argues Claims Court wrong in blocking initial $45B Hanford contract; seeks venue change in protest over second award
A federal court was wrong in June 2023 to block the Department of Energy’s award of a $45-billion liquid waste contract, the BWX Technologies-led team that won the work argued this week. Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank Horn’s decision to block the DOE’s April 2023 issuance of the contract to Hanford Tank Operations and Closure […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: Ex-Miss America joins nuclear workforce; Los Alamos ships waste; NNSA replaces aging Nevada power lines and more
There are lots of new workers joining the nuclear industry these days, but Baltimore-based Constellation Energy has perhaps the only one to list “former Miss America” on her resume. Constellation announced in a Monday press release it hired former Miss America Grace Stanke as a full-time employee working as both an engineer and a spokesperson […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford undamaged by earthquake, DOE says
There are no reports of damage at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state from a magnitude 2.8 earthquake that hit an area near on Saturday, an agency spokesperson said this week. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake hit about 2.5 miles south of Richland, Wash., which is itself about 15 […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP prime hires sub to refurbish underground storage bin for mined salt
The Department of Energy prime for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has hired a mine company to refurbish a large underground salt bin this year. Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, which runs the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for DOE, has retained Cementation, a mine development company with offices in Utah and […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE can learn from other feds on workplace safety trends, investigation finds
The Department of Energy weapons complex might consider adopting safety practices other agencies use to reduce on-the-job contractor accidents and learn from such incidents, according to a new report. That’s a key takeaway included in a contractor safety analysis for fiscal years 2019 through 2023 done by DOE’s Office of Enterprise Assessments. The agency’s investigative […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
BWXT group argues Claims Court wrong in blocking initial $45B Hanford contract
A federal court was wrong in June 2023 to block the Department of Energy’s award of a $45-billion liquid waste contract, the BWX Technologies-led team that won the work argued this week. Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank Horn’s decision to block the DOE’s April 2023 issuance of the contract to Hanford Tank Operations and Closure […]
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Budget & Policy
Fleischmann lands seat on defense appropriations subcommittee
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) who already chairs a key House Appropriations Committee panel affecting the Department of Energy is also picking up a seat on a defense purse strings subcommittee. Fleischmann has been appointed by House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) to serve on the Defense Subcommittee, the Tennessee lawmaker said in an April […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
South Carolina environmental regulatory realignment set July 1
The South Carolina agency charged with environmental monitoring of the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., will split into two separate organizations on July 1. Under a measure passed in 2023 by the state legislature, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is becoming two separate agencies: the South […]
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National Laboratories
Savannah River National Lab prime seeks research interest from minority institutions
The Department of Energy contractor running the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina is looking for expressions of interest from Minority Serving Institutions for nuclear cleanup research and development. Battelle Savannah River Alliance published the expressions of interest notice Monday in the System for Award Management. The joint venture between Battelle and several regional […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
DOE deadline is up for hopeful Centrus-tech subject matter experts
Responses to the Department of Energy’s rapid-fire request for subject matter expertise in licensing Centrus Energy Corp.’s latest centrifuge technology were due Monday. The agency released the request for information on Wednesday. Responses were due Thursday, but DOE bumped the due-date past the weekend and on to Monday. The agency is looking for someone with […]
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Transuranic Waste
11 transuranic waste shipments from LANL in first half of fiscal ‘24
The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico sent 11 shipments of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant between October and March, the lab’s cleanup contractor said recently. The shipments totaled a little more than 32.5 cubic meters in volume, according to a second-fiscal-quarter update posted on the website of Newport News Nuclear […]












