Los Alamos National Laboratory

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos said Wednesday it has received notice from the Department of Energy to start the transition into its $1.39 billion contract for cleanup services at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The Stoller Newport News Nuclear-BWX Technologies team, which was named as the contract winner in December over two […]

The Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., by taking 133 shipments of transuranic waste from around the DOE complex during 2017, beat its own target for resuming waste emplacement. Last March, during a WIPP Town Hall presentation, DOE Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader publicly identified a target of 128 shipments from […]

A third South Carolina jurisdiction has officially called on the Department of Energy to move production of plutonium pits — the fissile hearts of nuclear warheads — to the Savannah River Site from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. On Tuesday, the city of North Augusta, which neighbors the Savannah River Site, passed a […]

While no one was hurt and no special nuclear material was damaged, the outgoing prime contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory lost about $3 million in award fees in fiscal 2017 because it broke Department of Energy rules and shipped plutonium by plane instead of by truck. In June 2017, Los Alamos National Security […]

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) injected a bit of drama into an otherwise routine confirmation hearing Thursday by saying he would not support the nomination of Anne Marie White to be assistant secretary of energy for environmental management until the Energy Department agrees to discontinue its “uranium barter” program. Barrasso made his comments during a Senate […]

It is time for Congress to take a look at the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories and their contribution to the agency’s mission, according to Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas). During a Jan. 9 House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee hearing on DOE modernization, Barton said he plans to draft a bipartisan reauthorization bill for […]

It is time for Congress to take a look at the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories, and their contribution to the agency’s mission, according to Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas). During a House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee hearing on DOE modernization last week, Barton said he plans to draft a bipartisan reauthorization bill for […]

Local governments near the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina this week said they would be glad if the facility took over manufacturing plutonium pits for the National Nuclear Security Administration. On Tuesday, the nine-member Aiken County Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution “Supporting and Encouraging the Department of Energy/National Nuclear […]

The comment period on a draft environmental assessment (EA) for a planned above-ground storage facility at the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., has been extended by two weeks, DOE said recently. The original 30-day comment period, from Dec. 15 through Jan. 15, will now end Jan. 29, DOE said in a […]

Since reopening to shipments in April 2017, the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 133 transports of transuranic waste as of Dec. 21, the last date for which data is publicly available. The Idaho National Laboratory made nearly two-thirds, or 88, of the shipments. Under a 1995 settlement agreement with Idaho, […]

President Donald Trump plans to nominate consultant Anne M. White of Michigan to head the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management, which oversees cleanup of DOE’s Cold War nuclear complex, the White House announced Wednesday. The intent to nominate declaration was issued nearly a year into Trump’s presidency. The position of assistant energy secretary for […]

As of Thursday, the Government Accountability Office had not ruled on protests filed against the Energy Department’s award of a $4.7 billion liquid waste management contract at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. It also appears the GAO has not to date received any bid protests on the $1.39 billion award for legacy […]

Like everyone else, the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management and its contractors have turned the page to 2018, which is shaping up to be another year of transition, according to an informal survey of veteran watchers of the DOE nuclear cleanup complex. Here are a few of the issues to watch: A new leader […]

The Energy Department is seeking public comment until Jan. 15 on plans to build a 65,280- cubic-foot above-ground concrete storage facility at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., for contact-handled transuranic waste. The comment period opened Dec. 15 on the draft environmental assessment, required by the National Environmental Policy Act. The surface storage […]

The New Mexico State Auditor’s Office has questioned whether the state Environment Department (NMED) went too easy on the Department of Energy during legal settlements in recent years over cleanup problems and violations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. In a Nov. 21 letter to New Mexico Environment Secretary Butch Tongate, […]

President Donald Trump plans to nominate consultant Anne M. White of Michigan to head the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management, which oversees cleanup of DOE’s Cold War complex sites, the White House announced Wednesday. White, founder of Bastet Technical Services LLC, has worked for more than 25 years within the nuclear sector, including a […]

As of midday Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office had not ruled on protests filed against the Energy Department’s award of a $4.7 billion liquid waste management contract at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. It also appears GAO has not to date received any bid protests on the $1.39 billion award for legacy […]

The New Mexico State Auditor’s Office has questioned whether the state Environment Department (NMED) went too easy on the Department of Energy during legal settlements in recent years over cleanup problems and violations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. In a Nov. 21 letter to New Mexico Environment Secretary […]

A team comprised of Stoller Newport News Nuclear and BWX Technologies has been awarded a $1.39 billion contract for legacy cleanup operations at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. This will be Stoller’s first major operational contract at the nuclear weapons lab, where BWXT is an old hand as a partner […]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has authorized Waste Control Specialists (WCS) to store radioactive waste from the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory for an additional two years, to nearly the end of 2018. The decision is one of a long list of updates to the company’s state radioactive material license approved […]

Incoming Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Director Terry Wallace plans a wave of personnel changes, including elevating an associate director to the No. 4 post at the Department of Energy facility in New Mexico, a spokesperson said this week. Carolyn Zerkle will be promoted to executive director at LANL effective Jan. 1. The executive director […]

A recently leaked study that claims it would be cheaper to manufacture nuclear-weapon cores in South Carolina than New Mexico is full of holes, and an internal National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) document proves it, U.S. lawmakers from the Land of Enchantment wrote this week in letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. In a so-called […]

A team comprised of Stoller Newport News Nuclear and BWX Technologies has been awarded a $1.39 billion contract valued for cleanup of legacy wastes at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. This will be Stoller’s first major operational contract at the nuclear weapons lab, where BWXT is an old hand as […]

Incoming Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Director Terry Wallace is planning a wave of personnel changes, including elevating an associate director to the lab’s No. 4 post, a spokesperson said Monday. Carolyn Zerkle will be promoted to executive director at LANL effective Jan. 1. The executive director “leads institutional initiatives and provides oversight for Lab […]

Federal and New Mexico officials have scheduled a public meeting on Jan. 16 to discuss planning issues connected with a 2016 settlement agreement to revamp the approach to legacy cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory. The New Mexico Environment Department will host the meeting, and DOE’s Environmental Management (EM) Los Alamos […]

A recently leaked study that claims it would be cheaper to manufacture nuclear-weapon cores in South Carolina than New Mexico is full of holes, and an internal National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) document proves it, U.S. lawmakers from the Land of Enchantment wrote in a Monday letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. In a so-called […]

President Donald Trump this week signed the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which makes it harder to move plutonium pit production out of New Mexico, calls for a competition to design a new nuclear warhead for ballistic missiles, and authorizes Congress to keep funding a controversial plutonium-conversion facility. Trump inked the bill Tuesday, nearly […]

The deadline to tender bids to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory came and went this week without any prospective offerors besides major universities identifying themselves. Known to be in the hunt are the University of California, the University of Texas, and Texas A&M University. The publicly funded universities cannot hide their interest in the […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Enterprise Assessments said it will investigate an incident in a Los Alamos National Lab facility that resulted in a “near miss to a fatality.” The DOE watchdog office decided to investigate lab prime contractor Los Alamos National Security (LANS) following a September incident in which “a LANS worker […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments will investigate an incident in a Los Alamos National Lab facility that resulted in a “near miss to a fatality,” the watchdog office said recently. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Enterprise Assessment office decided to investigate lab prime contractor Los Alamos National Security (LANS) following a September […]