Waste Control Specialists

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this morning it found no significant environmental impact from allowing Waste Control Specialists to move containers of long-stranded Department of Energy transuranic waste to another location within the company’s Andrews County, Texas property. The move, sought by Waste Control Specialists (WCS) 11 months ago, would allow relocation of 74 containers […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission could issue a Federal Register notice this week of a draft environmental review to allow Waste Control Specialists to move stranded Department of Energy transuranic waste to a different location within the company’s 1,300-acre property in preparation for its ultimate removal from Texas, a federal spokesperson said Tuesday. The public notice, […]

The Department of Energy said Tuesday 60 uranium-oxide storage cylinders recently arrived by rail at a private radioactive waste disposal site in West Texas from the Paducah Site in Kentucky. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said in a press release the 60 cylinders recently arrived at Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, Texas from Paducah. […]

Moving long-stranded, potentially combustible radioactive waste to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico from a commercial site in Texas remains a priority, an agency official told a National Academies of Sciences panel this week. “We are continuing to work on a path forward for the LANL [Los Alamos National Laboratory […]

Moving long-stranded, potentially combustible radioactive waste to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico from a commercial site in Texas remains a priority, an agency official, told a National Academies of Sciences panel Tuesday. “We are continuing to work on a path forward for the LANL [Los Alamos National Laboratory in […]

The Department of Energy plans to extend, by five more years until April 11, 2028, business deals with two privately-held disposal sites that occasionally take radioactive waste from the federal agency, according to procurement notices published Monday. The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management published a “justification for other than full and open competition” for certain […]

The Department of Energy plans to extend, by five more years until April 11, 2028, business deals with two privately-held disposal sites that occasionally take radioactive waste from the federal agency, according to procurement notices published Monday. The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management published a “justification for other than full and open competition” for certain […]

The tank management prime at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is shopping for a subcontractor to provide containers for immobilized low-activity radioactive waste produced by the new vitrification plant. Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) posted a request for proposals (RFP) notice Wednesday on the federal procurement website SAM.gov. A pre-proposal […]

In a Federal Register notice Tuesday, the Department of Energy said that glass logs produced from low-level radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state can be treated as low-level waste. DOE published that conclusion after consulting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, tribes and other local stakeholders in the final “Waste Incidental to […]

Effective Jan. 29, longtime federal manager Randy Hendrickson will succeed Jay Mullis as the acting head of regulatory affairs and policy at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. Mullis, who has filled the position for many months, will return to his job as manager of the cleanup field office at the Oak Ridge […]

A Veolia affiliate has started operating its new GeoMelt vitrification facility in Andrews County, Texas that will be used to convert certain low-level radioactive wastes into a solid glass form, according to a Tuesday press release. In June, Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Service formally dedicated the GeoMelt facility at the Waste Control Specialists site in […]

A Veolia affiliate has started operating its new GeoMelt vitrification facility in Andrews County, Texas that will be used to convert certain low-level radioactive wastes into a solid glass form, according to a Tuesday press release. In June, Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Service formally dedicated the GeoMelt facility at the Waste Control Specialists site in […]

Key questions remain about the practicality of either immobilizing waste with grout or building of a second glass-making plant at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, a National Academies of Science panel said Tuesday.  This includes examination of the timeline for building another vitrification plant at Hanford or, if DOE decides to […]

The Government Accountability Office wants congress to clarify regulatory authority over a certain type of commercial low-level nuclear waste from shuttered reactors and old medical and industrial equipment, according to a report released Thursday. The Department of Energy has been studying disposal options of what is known as greater-than Class C (GTCC) waste and GTCC-like […]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is still “considering potential enforcement action” against the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch for failure to move stranded drums of transuranic waste out of Waste Control Specialists’ facility in Andrews County, a commission spokesperson said last week. The DOE Office of Environmental Management wrote the state July 11 […]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is still “considering potential enforcement action” against the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch for failure to move stranded drums of transuranic waste out of Waste Control Specialists’ facility in Andrews County, a commission spokesperson said last week. The DOE Office of Environmental Management wrote the state July 11 […]

While the Department of Energy’s latest environmental review of the problem picked no preferred site for long-term storage of elemental mercury, the feds favor placing the metal in an existing facility that could accept the material quickly. “Because statutory milestone dates have now passed, DOE needs to designate a facility and begin accepting elemental mercury […]

While the Department of Energy’s latest environmental review of the problem picked no preferred site for long-term storage of elemental mercury, the feds favor placing the metal in an existing facility that could accept the material quickly. “Because statutory milestone dates have now passed, DOE needs to designate a facility and begin accepting elemental mercury […]

Congress should enact legislation to clarify the Department of Energy’s authority to sell depleted uranium to private entities, the Government Accountability Office said this week, because such a move could curb the $7.2 billion cost to dispose of the material. As of September 2021, the feds estimate it could cost DOE $7.2 billion to convert […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission asked a federal appeals court this week to let its lawyers file a full response to the state of Texas’s claim that the agency’s decision to license a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the state was nullified by a recent Supreme Court decision, court documents show. If […]

An anti-nuclear group spearheading a legal challenge to a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Texas took a page out of the state attorney general’s playbook this week, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling as evidence that the government cannot license the site. Beyond Nuclear, which is suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission […]

A major underground ventilation project key to the future of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is almost two-thirds of the way finished, a manager for the prime contractor told a virtual “town hall” meeting Thursday. The Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System is 63% percent complete, Nuclear Waste Partnership president […]

Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Services last week dedicated a new low-level radioactive waste vitrification facility at the Waste Control Specialists site in Andrews County, Texas, according to a release on LinkedIn. Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Services (VNS Federal Services), which is a Department of Energy contractor, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony June 15 for its new […]

Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Services last week dedicated a new low-level radioactive waste vitrification facility at the Waste Control Specialists site in Andrews County, Texas, according to a release on LinkedIn. Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Services (VNS Federal Services), which is a Department of Energy contractor, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony June 15 for its new […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The manager of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico last week declined to provide a timeline for moving potentially combustible drums of stranded Los Alamos National Laboratory transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant from a private site in Texas. Reinhard Knerr, who manages the DOE Carlsbad […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The manager of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico last week declined to provide a timeline for moving potentially combustible drums of stranded Los Alamos National Laboratory transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant from a private site in Texas. Reinhard Knerr, who manages the DOE Carlsbad […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says continued storage of potentially-combustible transuranic waste at Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, Texas until Dec, 31, 2024, should not result in a significant environmental impact, but Texas wants to see the drums gone pronto.  In a May 10 letter to Assistant Secretary of Energy David Turk, Texas Commission on […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says continued storage of potentially-combustible transuranic waste at Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, Texas until Dec, 31, 2024, should not result in a significant environmental impact. The Friday finding of no significant impact in the Federal Register clears the way for continued stopgap storage of up to 74 remaining containers […]

Bids for Long-term Management and Storage of elemental mercury are due to the Department of Energy by 4 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday, while questions on the last week’s solicitations for new contracts at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky are due a week later, the agency said. Since DOE’s Office […]

The Department of Energy said in a Tuesday notice it is extending the bid deadline for the Elemental Mercury Long-term Management and Storage contract to June 1, from the prior submission date of May 20. In an amendment to the final request for proposals (RFP), the DOE said proposal packages are now due by 4 […]