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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International
U.S. needs to work with Marshall Islands, fund cleanup from nuclear tests, leader says
Congressional delay in funding legacy cleanup from nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands — covered in a recent Government Accountability Office report —hurts relations between the United States and the strategically-located Pacific nation, the president of the Marshall Islands told a U.K. newspaper this week. U.S. lawmakers are dragging their feet in funding a […]
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International
U.S. needs to work with Marshall Islands, fund cleanup from nuclear tests, leader says
Congressional delay in funding legacy cleanup from nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands — covered in a recent Government Accountability Office report —hurts relations between the United States and the strategically-located Pacific nation, the president of the Marshall Islands told a U.K. newspaper this week. U.S. lawmakers are dragging their feet in funding a […]
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Contracts & Procurement
DOE solicits bids for Portsmouth/Paducah tech support services
As signaled, the Department of Energy’s final solicitation for a new Technical Support Services contract at the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office was published Tuesday. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management procurement office said in mid-February that the final request for proposals (RFP) for technical support at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the Paducah Site in Kentucky and […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP seismic monitoring equipment offline
The Defense Nuclear Safety Board staff says some seismic monitoring equipment at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is out of service and DOE’s prime contractor plans to replace the gear later this year. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) seismic equipment on the surface “has failed and is unable to perform its […]
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Contracts & Procurement
BWXT earnings rise in 2023, fourth quarter; Hanford award a ‘wild card’
Earnings rose at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., for 2023, which the maker of nuclear naval reactors and manager of nuclear weapons sites attributed Tuesday mostly to favorable adjustments on government contracts. For the year, net earnings were $246.3 million, or $2.68 per share, up about 7.7% from $238.6 million, or $2.60 a share in 2023. […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Race for Simpson’s congressional seat draws interest
Despite his relatively easy re-election in 2022, a couple of Republicans are set to challenge Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), a longtime member of the House Appropriations Committee and vocal supporter of the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. A couple of Democrats also plan to run in their party’s 2nd congressional district primary, which like […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Upon further review, DOE re-awards mega-dollar Hanford tank contract to BWXT-led group
After federal litigation, the Department of Energy has again chosen a BWX Technologies-led group as winner of the Integrated Tank Disposition contract, potentially worth $45 billion over a decade. In a Thursday press release, the DOE Office of Environmental Management announced the selection of Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure to oversee closure of underground […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Race for Simpson’s congressional seat draws interest
Despite his relatively easy re-election in 2022, a couple of Republicans are set to challenge Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), a longtime member of the House Appropriations Committee and vocal supporter of the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. A couple of Democrats also plan to run in their party’s 2nd congressional district primary, which like […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP seismic monitoring equipment offline
The Defense Nuclear Safety Board staff says some seismic monitoring equipment at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is out of service and DOE’s prime contractor plans to replace the gear later this year. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) seismic equipment on the surface “has failed and is unable to perform its […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
DOE issues information request for clean energy developers at WIPP
The Department of Energy is starting to shop for developers of carbon-free electricity projects on land at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., the agency announced Tuesday. The request for information notice was published online in the federal government’s System for Award Management (SAM.gov). The targeted projects should be capable of generating at […]
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Contracts & Procurement
DOE solicits bids for Portsmouth/Paducah tech support services
As signaled, the Department of Energy’s final solicitation for a new Technical Support Services contract at the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office was published Tuesday. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management procurement office said in mid-February that the final request for proposals (RFP) for technical support at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the Paducah Site in Kentucky and […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE, N3B to focus on stormwater runoff at Wednesday session
Stormwater discharges from legacy nuclear work at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the subject of litigation in recent years, will be the focus of a virtual meeting on Wednesday. The DOE Office of Environmental Management and its Los Alamos cleanup prime, Newport News Nuclear-BWXT Los Alamos (N3B), said in […]
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National Laboratories
Los Alamos County panel to salute retiring manager
The Los Alamos County Council in New Mexico plans to honor retiring County Manager Steve Lynne during its regular Tuesday night meeting. Lynne will retire the following day, March 1, after working for Los Alamos County over 28 years according to a notice on the municipal board’s website. Lynne was deputy county manager in July […]
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Vitrification & Grout
DOE studies vitrification options for solidifying calcine at Idaho lab
The U.S. Department of Energy is studying vitrification technologies as options for treating 1.2 million gallons of calcine, a high-level radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, a DOE advisory board heard Thursday. DOE is looking at options from three prospective suppliers: an Atkins-Catholic University joint venture, Orano and Veolia, said Valerie Kimbro, a nuclear […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Fired employees again urge federal judge to let them join UCOR COVID case
A group of 20 people fired by a Department of Energy cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site filed a motion last week urging a federal district judge in Eastern Tennessee to reconsider his earlier ruling rejecting their request to join an ongoing lawsuit by three similar plaintiffs. The former employees of Amentum-led UCOR filed […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: DUF6 contractor faces $382K fine; Hanford tank pipeline deadline extended; INL has money in reserve; more
Atkins-led Mid-America Conversion Services has 30 days to contest $382,500 in Department of Energy fines stemming from allegations that the contractor failed to ensure a crane used in Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio was maintained in a safe manner. The contractor “has not acknowledged these nuclear safety deficiencies, they have […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Another group of Oak Ridge vax objectors file suit against UCOR
A group of 21 plaintiffs who claim they were fired after seeking a religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccinations have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The former employees of Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) filed suit against the contractor Feb. […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
UCOR tells Sixth Circuit it should have sovereign immunity from COVID lawsuit
The Amentum-led environmental prime at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee this week told a federal appeals court it should have sovereign immunity, as a federal contractor, from a lawsuit by a radiation technician who was fired after refusing COVID- 19 vaccination. In its 36-page filing Tuesday, UCOR LLC told the U.S. […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Fluor CEO anticipates Pantex award decision in second half of year
Fluor Chairman and CEO David Constable expects the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration to decide on a new management contractor for the Pantex Plant in Texas in the second or third quarter of this calendar year. Constable made the comment during a Tuesday earnings call with Wall Street analysts. The Fluor chief is […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Proposals due this month from subs seeking Hanford electrical work
Proposals are due by the end of February from subcontractors interested in overhauling the electric power infrastructure within Area 100 of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an updated procurement notice. Proposals in response to the solicitation launched by Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, which acts as city manager for […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE offers details on partial Hanford 222-S Lab evacuation
The partial evacuation Tuesday afternoon at the 222-S Laboratory at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state was done as a precaution after “about a thimble full” of a legacy chemical was discovered prior to disposal, an agency spokesperson said in Wednesday emails. The evacuation of 50 to 60 people, initially reported by […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
IWTU to resume ops in March but DNFSB says problems remain, DOE seeks higher output
The cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory will need to treat about twice as much sodium-bearing waste annually as it did during 2023 in order to meet the agency’s target for the new Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, an advisory panel heard Thursday. After treatment resumes, DOE wants the Integrated Waste Treatment […]
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Transuranic Waste
Idaho on pace to ship legacy waste to WIPP by 2032
While the Department of Energy is satisfying a New Mexico push to move more transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., the Idaho National Laboratory remains the underground mine’s top shipper, a DOE panel heard Thursday. Although a 2019 update to a legal settlement between the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE offers details on partial Hanford 222-S Lab evacuation
The partial evacuation Tuesday afternoon at the 222-S Laboratory at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state was done as a precaution after “about a thimble full” of a legacy chemical was discovered prior to disposal, an agency spokesperson said in Wednesday emails. The evacuation of 50 to 60 people, initially reported by […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
UCOR tells Sixth Circuit it should have sovereign immunity from COVID lawsuit
The Amentum-led environmental prime at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee this week told a federal appeals court it should have sovereign immunity, as a federal contractor, from a lawsuit by a radiation technician who was fired after refusing COVID- 19 vaccination. In its 36-page filing Tuesday, UCOR LLC told the U.S. […]
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Contracts & Procurement
PE firm sells DOE businesses after three-years of M&A; Cadre Holdings acquires
A private equity firm that acquired and merged several businesses that work for the Department of Energy sold the rolled-up companies to Cadre Holdings, a Jacksonville, Fla., maker of law-enforcement equipment. Cadre acquired Alpha Safety Group, created by Benford Capital Partners of Chicago in 2021 from the former Nuclear Filter Technologies, for a little more […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Hanford 222-S Lab reportedly evacuated
The 222-S Laboratory at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state was evacuated Tuesday afternoon due to concerns over chemical exposure, the Tri-City Herald reported. The evacuation occurred around 2:20 p.m. Pacific Time after an employee at the 222-S Laboratory, managed by Navarro-led Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration, handled a vial of the […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Proposals due this month from subs seeking Hanford electrical work
Proposals are due by the end of February from subcontractors interested in overhauling the electric power infrastructure within Area 100 of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an updated procurement notice. Proposals in response to the solicitation launched by Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, which acts as city manager for […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
IWTU to resume ops in March but DNFSB says problems remain
The cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory is on track to resume treating sodium-bearing liquid waste in March, but some fixes are still needed, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board update. Jacobs-led Idaho Environmental Coalition finished a maintenance outage at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) in mid-January after […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Fluor posts fourth quarter loss
Earnings fell at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the fourth quarter, which the engineering and construction company, active in the Department of Energy nuclear weapons complex, attributed Tuesday to a legal settlement and the sale of a business. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2023, reflected a net loss of $21 million or […]








