Another jumbo-sized saltstone disposal unit (SDU) has been completed at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the feds announced this week.
In a June 9 press release, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said construction is complete on SDU-11, which can hold over 33 million gallons of saltstone — a decontaminated, hardened material that will then be disposed of onsite at Savannah River Site. SDU-10 came online in October 2025.
The environmental contractor Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) manages the construction and operation of ethe SDUs. Subcontractors Quality Plus Services, US FUSION & Specialty Construction, and DN Tanks completed the site preparation, interior and exterior liner systems, and unit construction, DOE said.
Chantilly, Va.-based Amentum said Thursday it has been awarded a contract by Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions to provide design and engineering services for the Tritium Finishing Facility Project at the Savannah River Site.
Amentum’s Thursday press release did not reveal the value of the contract. “As a trusted partner to the National Nuclear Security Administration, Amentum is excited to deliver innovative solutions that support the Tritium Finishing Facility Project,” said Mark Whitney, president of the Energy & Environment Group. “This award highlights our ongoing commitment to advancing nuclear deterrence and the modernization of our national security facilities for our SRNS customer.”
Once completed, the Tritium Finishing Plant “would be used to inspect, store, finish, assemble, and package the gas transfer systems (GTSs), which contain the tritium reservoirs used in a nuclear weapon,” according to an NNSA website.
The Department of Energy’s Idaho Cleanup Project recently completed two shipments of gloveboxes from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to disposal facilities.
According to North Wind Group’s May 27 press release, crews from the Idaho Environment Coalition, led by Amentum and North Wind Portage, dismantled the gloveboxes. A glovebox is a sealed unit designed to protect workers from radiological and chemical hazards when handling radioactive materials. The groups packaged the waste into 100-gallon drums to meet the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s waste acceptance criteria.
“This project showcases the expertise and collaboration that make Idaho a leader in advancing DOE’s cleanup mission,” Idaho Environment Coalition Waste Management Senior Project Director Kelly Wooley said in a DOE press release. Last fall, LANL shipped the glovebox to DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory site, following waste transportation regulations.
John Mathieson of the United Kingdom, a long-time board member and fellow for the Waste Management Symposia, died June 7, at age 74 following a short battle with pancreatic cancer.
His death was announced Thursday by the WM Symposia organization, which sponsors the international nuclear conference in Phoenix. Mathieson had a career spanning more than 50 years in the nuclear industry, originally as a health physicist, and more than 30 years in international relations in the fields of spent nuclear fuel management, radioactive waste management, and decommissioning,” the Symposia said in a statement.
After retiring from the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Mathieson worked as a consultant at the International Atomic Energy Agency with extensive experience on projects across the globe, according to the WM Symposia. A celebration of his life is scheduled for Monday June 15 at All Saints’ Church in Liddington, UK.
Oklo has bought Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based manufacturing and engineering company ARMEC to expand its own internal reactor and fuel manufacturing capabilities, the company said on Monday.
California-based Oklo said in a press release that the acquisition, closed on June 4, highlights the company’s broader strategy of “integrating critical execution capabilities closer to its reactor, fuel fabrication, and recycling programs as it advances from design into deployment.”
Oklo said it expects the transaction to acquire ARMEC to improve the company’s talent, capabilities and strategic relationships. ARMEC, founded in 2002, is a manufacturing and mechanical engineering firm that specializes in nuclear manufacturing and fabrication. With the transaction completed, a team of 40 engineers, fabricators, welders and technical personnel will be added to Oklo’s programs.
The Department of Energy unveiled the finalized version of its Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap on Tuesday.
The Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap serves as a national strategy to expedite the development and commercialization of fusion energy on a fast track. The newest fusion strategy aligns DOE and private industry to bring together fusion energy, infrastructure and commercialization priorities into a national strategy to support fusion pilot plants and commercial fusion power in the mid 2030s.
DOE said this roadmap builds off of similar efforts that were released in October 2025. DOE said in a press release that the roadmap aligns with its Genesis Mission and will be implemented through its recently established Office of Fusion.