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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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
Ex-NASCAR racer taking another run at Newhouse’s Hanford seat
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee who champions increased cleanup funding for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, will have a primary challenger again this cycle for his fourth district congressional seat. So far, there are only two announced candidates for a nonpartisan primary scheduled for Aug. 6: Newhouse and […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Oak Ridge airport might run a deficit in fifth year
The Oak Ridge, Tenn., City Airport, to be built on remediated land transferred from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site, could still run a deficit in its fifth year of operation, according to a recent analysis from an aviation consulting firm in Kentucky. Financial performance in the fifth year, when the general aviation airport […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
‘Downwind’ film by Hollywood actors considers legacy of Nevada nuclear testing
“Downwind” producers said this week their 2023 documentary about the aftermath of decades of nuclear testing at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, can be seen on Peacock, the same platform where the Oscar-nominated blockbuster “Oppenheimer” is available for streaming this weekend. According to a press release, “Downwind” can help the public understand […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Now ‘not the time’ to talk to states about consenting to spent fuel storage, DOE waste chief says
The Department of Energy’s consent-based siting program to find a home for stranded spent nuclear fuel will not include talks with potential host states any time soon, a senior agency official said Wednesday. “At the right time we will start to engage with the states but now is not the right time.” Paul Murray, DOE’s […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Washington comment period for 2,000-gallon test-bed permit starts in March
In roughly a month the Washington state Department of Ecology will take comments on a Department of Energy proposal that could lead to offsite solidification and disposal of 2,000 gallons of less-radioactive tank waste from the Hanford Site in Washington state. The 45-day public comment period, on whether to grant a Research, Development, and Demonstration […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
DOE moves closer to startup of second Hanford vit plant melter
The Department of Energy said Tuesday workers have installed startup heaters to warm up the second 300-ton melter for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The 18 temporary startup heaters are meant to raise the operating temperature of the second melter to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit, DOE said in […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: Honeywell diamond anniversary; Final Portsmouth-Paducah tech support RFP out soon; More time granted on LANL plume comments; more
Honeywell this month marked its 75th year of work at what is now the Kansas City National Security Campus in Kansas City, Mo. Run by the National Nuclear Security Administration today, the campus relocated in 2014 from the old Bannister Federal Complex, portions of which were scheduled for transfer to the Department of Energy’s Office […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Judge will not grant statute-of-limitation break to potential plaintiffs in Oak Ridge COVID suit
It is both “premature and improper” to grant employees fired from a Department of Energy contractor at the Oak Ridge Site a break from the normal statute of limitations before they even join a lawsuit, a federal judge ruled in Tennessee last week. “Plaintiffs’ motion for joinder is improper because they have no authority to […]
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Transuranic Waste
50 shipments of transuranic waste arrive at WIPP during January
The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico received 50 shipments of transuranic waste during January, according to the facility’s public website. 39 of the 50 came from the Idaho National Laboratory while five were shipped from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, four from the Savannah River Site in […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
City of Oak Ridge eyes application for $2M DOE community grant
The Oak Ridge, Tenn., City Council voted Monday to continue pursuit of a grant worth up to $2 million from the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, according to online documents. The decision to go ahead with a full grant application to DOE was approved without comment as part of the council’s “consent agenda,” […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE picks No. 2 Brown to succeed Flohr as Idaho cleanup boss
The Department of Energy said Wednesday evening it will promote Mark Brown to become the new cleanup project manager at the Idaho National Laboratory where he will replace Connie Flohr who plans to retire from the agency in April and take a job in industry. Brown is deputy manager of the Idaho Cleanup Project and […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE picks No. 2 Brown to succeed Flohr as Idaho cleanup boss
The Department of Energy said Wednesday evening it will promote Mark Brown to become the new cleanup project manager at the Idaho National Laboratory where he will replace Connie Flohr who plans to retire from the agency in April and take a job in industry. Brown is deputy manager of the Idaho Cleanup Project and […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Ex-NASCAR racer taking another run at Newhouse’s Hanford seat
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee who champions increased cleanup funding for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, will have a primary challenger again this cycle for his fourth district congressional seat. So far, there are only two announced candidates for a nonpartisan primary scheduled for Aug. 6: Newhouse and […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
‘Downwind’ film by Hollywood actors considers legacy of Nevada nuclear testing
“Downwind” producers said this week their 2023 documentary about the aftermath of decades of nuclear testing at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, can be seen on Peacock, the same platform where the Oscar-nominated blockbuster “Oppenheimer” is available for streaming this weekend. According to a press release, “Downwind” can help the public understand […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
DOE moves closer to startup of second Hanford vit plant melter
The Department of Energy said Tuesday workers have installed startup heaters to warm up the second 300-ton melter for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The 18 temporary startup heaters are meant to raise the operating temperature of the second melter to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit, DOE said in […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
In 2023 report, Corps cites progress on FUSRAP cleanup, including shuttered school
During fiscal 2023 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released three reports from “extensive sampling and testing” around the closed Jana Elementary School near St. Louis and the Coldwater Creek Superfund area and “no known data exists that indicates any radiological concern,” at the school, according to a recent report. During the fiscal year ended […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
Oak Ridge airport might run a deficit in fifth year
The Oak Ridge, Tenn., City Airport, to be built on remediated land transferred from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site, could still run a deficit in its fifth year of operation, according to a recent analysis from an aviation consulting firm in Kentucky. Financial performance in the fifth year, when the general aviation airport […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Now ‘not the time’ to talk to states about consenting to spent fuel storage, DOE waste chief says
The Department of Energy’s consent-based siting program to find a home for stranded spent nuclear fuel will not include talks with potential host states any time soon, a senior agency official said Wednesday. “At the right time we will start to engage with the states but now is not the right time.” Paul Murray, DOE’s […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
City of Oak Ridge eyes application for $2M DOE community grant
The Oak Ridge, Tenn., City Council is scheduled to vote Monday evening on whether to continue pursuit of a grant worth up to $2 million from the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, according to online documents. Should the city win funding from DOE’s Community Capacity Building Grant Program, it plans to establish a […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Washington comment period for 2,000-gallon test-bed permit starts in March
In roughly a month the Washington state Department of Ecology will take comments on a Department of Energy proposal that could lead to offsite solidification and disposal of 2,000 gallons of less-radioactive tank waste from the Hanford Site in Washington state. The 45-day public comment period, on whether to grant a Research, Development, and Demonstration […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Judge will not grant statute-of-limitation break to potential plaintiffs in Oak Ridge COVID suit
It is both “premature and improper” to grant employees fired from a Department of Energy contractor at the Oak Ridge Site a break from the normal statute of limitations before they even join a lawsuit, a federal judge ruled in Tennessee last week. “Plaintiffs’ motion for joinder is improper because they have no authority to […]
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National Laboratories
Shake it off 49er fans at Livermore, next year is a new season
Football-loving employees could be reporting to work with heavy eyelids this morning at both the Department of Energy’s Kansas City National Security Campus as well as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, about 45 miles outside of San Francisco. The mood at the former, however, could be cheerier than the latter. The National Football League’s Kansas City […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP expects more shipments, clean energy project in near term, lawmakers told
The Department of Energy expects the number of transuranic waste shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant will increase by more than 50 in fiscal year 2024, and DOE is also in the early stages of a carbon-free energy procurement for the site, New Mexico lawmakers heard last week. Total shipments to the underground salt […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Portsmouth contractors seek more time in civil suit
Former and current Department of Energy contractors at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio have filed an unopposed motion in federal court seeking until Feb. 26 to answer a complaint by a local resident who blames his leukemia on radioactive contamination from the property. The motion, seeking three weeks beyond the original Feb. 5 deadline, was […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
West Valley bidders get extra week; humans, not AI, will vet proposals
Those interested in bidding on a potentially $3 billion contract for Phase 1B remediation work at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state will get an extra week, until March 4, to submit their proposals, the Department of Energy said last week. In the package of questions and answers released Feb. 1, DOE’s Office of […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
WRPS looking for potential subs to refurbish underground tank pipeline
The Department of Energy contractor in charge of tank waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state is shopping for potential subcontractors capable of refurbishing up to 10 miles of underground pipeline for double-shelled waste-storage tanks. Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions published its notice seeking expressions of interest in the project on Jan. 30. Replies are due […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Hanford gradually overcoming hurdles toward making glass, panel told
Department of Energy contractors at the Hanford Site in Washington state are making headway on remaining problems before crews can start turning some less-radioactive tank waste at the property into a solid glass form, the Hanford Advisory Board heard Tuesday. After making a batch of non-radioactive test glass in December, DOE wants to start vitrification of direct-feed-low-activity-waste […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Judge deals blow to Idaho county’s INL lawsuit, leaves door open for refiling
Butte County, Idaho has not shown the Department of Energy’s storage of spent nuclear fuel at Idaho National Laboratory violates the law, but the county may amend its complaint to preserve its lawsuit, a federal district judge ruled last week. U.S. District Court Judge David Nye on Thursday granted DOE’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit […]
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Recommissioning & Restarts
Michigan Gov. recommends $150M more for Palisades
To help restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) this week recommended another $150 million in state funding, which if approved by lawmakers would bring Michigan’s total aid package to $300 million. That is the amount plant owner Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., says it needs from the state to help restart the […]










