ECA Update: October 21, 2016 |
IN THIS UPDATE: Energy Department meets with industry, community members for upcoming contract
DOE completes legacy waste cleanup at 4 sites in LA Canyon
How The U.S. Failed In Excess Weapons Plutonium Disposition ... A Nuclear Sputnik Moment?
NNSA, Pentagon Tracking Nuclear Infrastructure Bills
RCLC
Receives Informative Updates On Consent Order Agreement And Steps To Move Forward With GRT Issue
First new US nuclear reactor in 20 years goes live
Feds to pay Dairyland $73.5 million for nuke storage
Energy Department meets with industry, community members for upcoming contract
Aiken Standard
October 19, 2016 The contract for a major component of the overall Savannah River Site work scope is nearing its end, and the U.S. Department of Energy is ramping up preparations for the impending bid process.
The DOE called the management and organization contract, currently operated by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, a major component of SRS in a recent news release and announced two days of events during the last week of the month. Industry Day and Community Day will be held Oct. 24 and 27, respectively. Meetings will be held at the Doubletree Augusta Hilton
Hotel.
In conjunction with the two days of meetings, DOE published a request for capability statements from interested parties who may file a bid for the contract. Those statements are expected to include strategies and capabilities of potential contractors as they try to meet requirements the Energy
Department has set for SRS operations.
In a press release, the DOE said it is seeking feedback from contractors and other interested parties regarding options for innovative approaches for the performance of the major requirements of the mission on site.
Industry Day will give the prospective contractors a chance to meet face-to-face with Energy Department representatives to talk about the contract and individual company capabilities.
DOE completes legacy waste cleanup at 4 sites in LA CanyonThe Los Alamos Monitor October 19, 2016 Four toxic waste sites located on the south rim of Los Alamos Canyon have been cleaned of toxic waste, according to the Department of Energy and the Environmental
Management Field Office.
The sites, located on the south-facing side of the canyon, contained surface deposits of waste leftover from the Manhattan Project.
“Removing contaminated soil from these four sites represents an important step in our cleanup efforts around the Los Alamos Townsite,” EM-LA Manager Doug Hintze said.
The DOE reported Oct. 6 it had removed about 133 cubic yards of soil from the site, where it was screened and packaged it for transport to a waste disposal site in
Utah.
The waste was located adjacent to DOE property, and was accessed through private land located along the north rim of the canyon.
The cleanup began in June and was carried out by private subcontractor TerranearPMC.
The project was part of the 2016 Compliance Order of Consent that was recently finalized by the DOE, Los Alamos National Laboratory’s management contractor, Los
Alamos National Security LLC, and the New Mexico Environment Department.
The DOE is planning to clean the last sites on the south rim in 2017. The DOE reported the project was done “under budget and ahead of schedule.”
How The U.S. Failed In Excess Weapons Plutonium Disposition ... A Nuclear Sputnik Moment?Los Alamos Daily Post October 17, 2016 Putin’s withdrawal from the U.S./Russia agreement for each nation to destroy 34 tons of excess weapons plutonium, (W-Pu) enough for 17,000 nuclear weapons, is more the consequence of U.S. technical failure than the deterioration of an international relationship. Both nations agreed that the plutonium be either
destroyed by fission or converted to a plutonium isotopic form that was not useful for weapons.
Russia chose to build a fast-spectrum nuclear reactor in hopes of launching a new breeder technology. The U. S. chose to combine the plutonium with uranium for burning in one or more of the 100 U. S. light water reactors. Russia proceeded about as fast as their budgets could allow and finally, after 16 years, their W-Pu burning reactor is up and running through initial tests, although with substitute fuel instead of W-Pu. But no U.S. progress can be
reported.
Before the agreement, the U.S. W-Pu disposition
effort suffered through the “out-of-sight and out-of-mind” urgency of burying W-Pu in Yucca Mountain, thought to be a solution to any and all of our nation’s nuclear waste problems. After controversy over the prospect that W-Pu could by natural means evolve to spontaneous nuclear explosions, that approach was abandoned. Because anything that can be buried can be dug up, this was never a permanent solution anyway.
NNSA, Pentagon Tracking Nuclear Infrastructure Bills
Defense News
WASHINGTON – As the Pentagon seeks to modernize the nuclear enterprise, the majority of the focus has been on the creation of new delivery systems like the B-21 Raider bomber, the replacement for the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, and the next ICBM
design.
But undergirding all that is an aging nuclear infrastructure, one that those in charge of handling America’s nuclear arsenal worry is not getting the attention it deserves.
Over the last few budget cycles, military construction and facility maintenance has suffered in favor of training and modernization of equipment. The nuclear enterprise has not been unique in that
regard.
Talking to reporters in New Mexico on Sept. 27, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, warned that infrastructure needs investment, much the same way that the big nuclear delivery systems need investments.
“I think infrastructure is in the same category, therefore it has to be a part of our investment plan moving forward,” Carter said. “That includes the scientific facilities, it includes all of the support
facilities.”
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-autonomous office of the Department of Energy that has oversight for the US nuclear warhead stockpile, is particularly concerned about spending on infrastructure.
Speaking at September event in DC, NNSA head Frank Klotz estimated that there is roughly $3.7 billion in deferred maintenance to NNSA buildings, and spoke of a situation where part of a ceiling at a facility
crumbled while workers were present.
RCLC Receives Informative Updates On Consent Order Agreement And Steps To Move Forward with GRT Issue Los Alamos Daily
Post October 20,
2016 SANTA FE ― The Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) held its monthly Board meeting Oct. 14, at the Taos Plaza Old County Courthouse in Taos.
From the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), NM Secretary of Environment, Bruce Tongate and Katie Roberts, Director of the Resource Protection
Division reported on the updated Consent Order Agreement. This agreement between the NMED and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) guides and governs the cleanup of legacy waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
Roberts discussed how NMED has incorporated public comments received by 37 stakeholder groups and individuals. Within the new Consent Order, NMED assures that the opportunity for public comment on remedy selection for cleanup sites remains accessible and intact. The
new Consent Order now requires annual public meetings, offering updates on milestones and targets reached, and will necessitate participation from communities impacted by any future modifications to the document.
Regional Coalition Vice-Chair Mayor Gonzales, City of Santa Fe commented that the NMED seems to have “...really listened to the community and the RCLC to allow a process that is balanced and ensures an outcome that achieves community-driven action.” The first annual public
meeting is 5-7 p.m., Nov. 16 at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos with a joint presentation by DOE and NMED.
First new US nuclear reactor in 20 years goes
live
CNN October 21, 2016
The Tennessee Valley Authority is celebrating an event 43 years in the making: the completion of the Watts Bar Nuclear
Plant.
In 1973, the TVA, one of the nation's largest public power providers, began building two reactors that combined promised to generate enough power to light up 1.3 million homes.
The first reactor, delayed by design flaws, eventually went live in 1996. Now, after billions of dollars in budget overruns, the second reactor has finally started sending power to homes and
businesses.
Standing in front of both reactors Wednesday, TVA President Bill Johnson said Watts Bar 2, the first US reactor to enter commercial operation in 20 years, would offer clean, cheap and reliable energy to residents of several southern states for at least another generation.
"If you're in the nuclear business, the sight behind me is a lovely sight," Johnson said. "It's a sight we've been waiting for some years to see,
which is steam coming out of both cooling towers, meaning that both units are running. You can hear that turbine rolling. It's a great day."
Feds to pay Dairyland $73.5 million for nuke
storage La Crosse Tribune October 21, 2016 Dairyland Power Cooperative has won a $73.5 million settlement from the U.S. government, which has failed to take spent fuel from Dairyland’s long-shuttered nuclear power plant in
Genoa.
The La Crosse-based utility had sought $85.2 million in damages for the cost of handling and storing the waste for six years.
It is the second such award Dairyland has received — totaling more than $111 million — for having to store the uranium,
which remains in dry casks at the plant site.
According to a contract with the Department of Energy, the fuel rods were to be sent to the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, which was supposed to begin receiving waste by January 1998 but has yet to open.
Robert Shapiro, Dairyland’s attorney in the case, said while every nuclear utility in the nation has filed similar suits, this
settlement is unusual in that Dairyland will receive payment promptly and was able to negotiate more than $13 million savings on its future liabilities.
The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to questions about how many such cases it has settled or the damages paid, but Shapiro said every nuclear utility has had at least one case. There are 100 operating nuclear power reactors in
the United States and another 17 in the decommissioning process.
|
|
| October 2016 | | 24-26 | DOE-EM Industry Day and One-on-One Sessions for SRS M&O Contract
Procurement in Augusta, GA |
|
| October 2016 | | 26 | DOE-EM Site Specific Advisory Board Meeting in Pojoaque, NM |
|
| October 2016 | | 27 | DOE-EM Community Day for SRS M&O Contract Procurement in Augusta, GA |
|
| October 2016 | | 27 | DOE-EM Site Specific Advisory Board Meeting in Sun Valley, ID |
|
| October 2016 | | 29 | DOE-LM 10th Aniversary of Fernald Cleanup: "Weapons to Wetlands: A Decade of Difference" in Hamilton, OH |
|
| November 2016 | | 9 | DOE-EM Site Specific Advisory Board Meeting in Las Vegas, NV |
|
| November 2016 | | 9 | DOE-EM Site Specific Advisory Board Meeting in Oak Ridge, TN |
|
| November 2016 | | 16-18 | INVITATION ONLY 2016 Intergovernmental Meeting with DOE in New Orleans, LA |
|
Find the most recent ECA Bulletin here |
|
