Oak Ridge Reservation

WASHINGTON — The secretary of energy must approve the National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan to let one company manage the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, for up to 20 years, the head of the nuclear-weapons agency said here Wednesday. Details of the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract were published on April 28. The draft solicitation included a five-year […]

The Department of Energy’s Enforcement Office is investigating a November 2022 accident at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, which resulted in an amputated finger for a carpenter working on construction of the new Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Contractor APTIM – North Wind Construction was informed of the planned investigation […]

Residents of Boston need not fear the silver-and-blue helicopters flying low and slowly over the city this weekend. They are there to test the air for unnatural levels of radiation ahead of the Boston Marathon.  The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team, or NEST, helicopters routinely overfly cities hosting major events to monitor […]

A half-dozen employees suing the Department of Energy’s operations contractor for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee are making headway in settling their case involving mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for most workers, and a federal judge said this week he wants the matter resolved soon.  “The court notes that, at this point, almost ten months […]

The Department of Energy is seeking expressions of interest for companies that could deploy established technology to recover up to 6,400 tons of radiologically surface-contaminated nickel from the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the agency said Wednesday. Information gleaned through the procurement notice, issued online, will help DOE determine if it’s worthwhile to clean up the […]

A half-dozen employees suing the Department of Energy’s operations contractor for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee are making headway in settling their case involving mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for most workers, according to a court filing Friday. “Since the March 3, 2023 Joint Status Report, the parties have continued to exchange offers and counter-offers,” […]

The Kansas City District Environmental Programs Branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host its annual spring industry call at 10 a.m. Central Time on April 27, according to a notice on a federal procurement website. The call will update the status of current and upcoming solicitations and discuss overall workload, according to […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, will have a new manager as of May 21. Jason Armstrong, currently manager of the NNSA’s Savannah River Field Office, will take over as manager of the Pantex manager for the production office beginning May 21st. This does not include leadership of […]

An investigative office within the Department of Energy is looking into a December 2022 accident at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina that resulted in an employee of the prime contractor having a finger amputated. The enforcement unit within DOE’s Office of Enterprise Assessments told Savannah River Nuclear Solutions president and CEO Stuart MacVean […]

Geiger Brothers, an Ohio-based engineering and contracting business, won a $9.9 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the K-25 viewing platform at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the corps announced Friday. The award from the U.S. Army Corps’ Nashville District was posted in a Friday notice […]

A small business solicitation for nuclear cleanup, expected out within the next month, could be the only new one to hit the street by August, the Department of Energy Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said this week. The DOE previously said the request for proposals (RFP) Small Business Nationwide Deactivation, Decommissioning and Removal contract could […]

The 2024 budget for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state would grow to an unprecedented $3 billion or so from $2.7 billion this year, if President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget request became law. Overall, however, the administration’s budget request would keep funding at the DOE Office of Environmental Management about flat […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management would, after helping prop up the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund again in fiscal 2024, effectively stay flat at $8.3 billion, according to White House budget request details released this week. The Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee has scheduled a hearing on the DOE spending request next […]

Details appended to President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget request show the budget for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state would grow to about $3 billion, up from $2.7 billion from the current fiscal year. “The fiscal year 2024 record Hanford budget request by President Biden of more than $3 billion is […]

Employees of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory who sued over the lab contractor’s COVID-19 vaccination policy have “narrowed the issues” to be addressed in ongoing settlement talks, according to a recent court filing. Attorneys for the management contractor UT-Battelle, composed of the University of Tennessee and Battelle, and the half-dozen employees who sued, should report […]

Facing expanding mandates for information security at the two big nuclear-weapon production sites it manages, Consolidated Nuclear Security has launched a hiring spree for qualified information technology and cybersecurity experts. Over the past several years, Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) has found it difficult to meet its cybersecurity and IT staffing needs with its internal employee […]

PHOENIX —One year into its new 10-year deal at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge has finished demolishing some key structures at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the remediation prime’s CEO said Wednesday. All of the old contaminated buildings at Y-12 and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory […]

PHOENIX – Winning support for a new low-level radioactive waste landfill at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee took a lot of time and friendly arm-twisting, a member of the House Appropriations Committee told the Waste Management Symposia Monday via electronic hookup from Washington, D.C. “For over 10 years we have needed […]

PHOENIX —One year into its new 10-year deal at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge has finished demolishing some key structures at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the remediation prime’s CEO said Wednesday. All of the old contaminated buildings at Y-12 and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory […]

PHOENIX – Winning support for a new low-level radioactive waste landfill at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee took a lot of time and friendly arm-twisting, a member of the House Appropriations Committee told the Waste Management Symposia Monday via electronic hookup from Washington, D.C. “For over 10 years we have needed […]

Hundreds of employees evacuated the National Nuclear Security Administration’s main factory for nuclear-weapon secondary stages in Tennessee this week after a fire there, a spokesperson said. “There was a fire at approximately 9:15 involving uranium in Building 9212, a production facility onsite,” a spokesperson for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., wrote […]

The joint venture building the delayed Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee was extended into May and could still be extended much longer, an agency spokesperson said this week. The most recent major contract roundup dated Feb. 9 for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management shows the […]

The joint venture building the delayed Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee was extended into May and could still be extended much longer, an agency spokesperson said this week. The most recent major contract roundup dated Feb. 9 for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management shows the […]

Feb. 15 is the new deadline for interested small businesses to bid on a construction contract for a viewing platform at the K-25 area of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a Tuesday procurement notice. The previous due date for bid packages was Jan. […]

Feb. 15 is the new deadline for interested small businesses to bid on a construction contract for a viewing platform at the K-25 area of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a Tuesday procurement notice. The previous due date for bid packages was Jan. […]

President Joe Biden’s announced lifting of the national COVID-19 pandemic emergency status in May will likely result in little noticeable change in daily operations for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, a spokesperson said this week. The cleanup office has said for months that most employees are at their pre-pandemic workstations most of […]

The chief operating officer for the Amentum-led cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, Tom Dieter, will retire March 31 and be succeeded by critical projects director Kent Fortenberry, the contractor said Thursday. “We are grateful for [Dieter’s] leadership in the company maintaining a strong safety performance in our first […]

Employees suing the Department of Energy’s prime for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee over its COVID-19 vaccination policy continued settlement talks with the contractor and a mediator, according to a recent court filing.  Since the Dec. 28 joint status report, “the parties have continued to exchange offers and counter-offers,”  according to the update […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot plant near Carlsbad, N.M., will carry out a three week maintenance outage from Feb. 27 through March 19, a spokesperson for the transuranic waste disposal site said in a Thursday email. Plans include upkeep and calibration of ventilation fans as well as testing and balancing underground ventilation, the […]

Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge plans this summer to hire a subcontractor to start site preparation for a new landfill to dispose of 2.2-million cubic yards of low-level waste at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, a federal spokesperson said Tuesday. “There are still several significant steps remaining,” before United Cleanup Oak […]