WASTE TREATMENT & CLEANUP: SRS finishes first phase of Ash Basin cleanup The Augusta Chronicle November 23, 2016 The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management and contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions are making progress cleaning up coal ash generated over decades at the Savannah River Site.
Workers recently completed the first of two project phases after consolidating 80,000 cubic yards of the ash and dirt into a landfill, according to a news release. The site
is about 17 football fields in length.
SRS launched an innovative technology in 2013 that burns forest debris, agricultural waste and scrap lumber to generate steam and power. It replaces a five-story coal-burning powerhouse that was closed in 2012.
The coal ash basin cleanup and use of biomass to generate steam and power are helping the site make the transition to clean, renewable energy and more sustainable operations. >>Continue reading Hanford contractors to pay $125 million settlement Tri-City Herald November 23, 2016 Bechtel National and AECOM have agreed to pay $125 million to resolve allegations that
they charged the Department of Energy for materials and work that did not meet the exacting standards required for nuclear facilities.
The settlement agreement also resolves allegations that Bechtel illegally used taxpayer dollars to lobby Congress for money for Bechtel’s work at the Hanford nuclear reservation north of Richland.
Bechtel is designing and building the Hanford vitrification plant, and AECOM is its primary subcontractor. >>Continue readingWASTE STORAGE & DISPOSITION: WIPP in home stretch on road toward
reopening The Current-Argus November 18, 2016 CARLSBAD — Carlsbad's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is undergoing a
final operational readiness review before the facility reopens.
Over the next two weeks, the Department of Energy Operational Readiness Review will evaluate the performance of Department of
Energy and operational contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership employees during simulated waste emplacement operations.
"This is an important review and the last hurdle we need to cross before
declaring the facility is ready to resume transuranic waste operations," said Department of Energy Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader in a news release.
Department of Energy spokesman
Tim Runyon said WIPP anticipates receiving the team's findings by the first week of December. After a report on the review is finished, any issues noted by the review team will be corrected.
Runyon said WIPP doesn't foresee having to make any major changes, as the site has already undergone two other review processes on the road to reopening. >>Continue readingCONTRACTING & ACQUISITION: NNSA to Extend Centerra Contract for Security at Nevada
Exchange Monitor November 28, 2016 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) anticipates awarding a contract extension to Centerra Group for security protective force services at the Nevada National Security Site, according to a special notice posted Nov. 23.
The notice said the NNSA expects to award a modification around Dec. 31, 2016, the date that Centerra’s current contract is set to expire. The contract was initially awarded to the company in December 2011 and is valued at $233.9 million. The modification would extend the contract for another six months, the notice
said.
Earlier this month the NNSA said it would soon release a request for proposals for protective force services, for work to be performed at the
1,370-square-mile Nevada site, the Remote Sensing Laboratory at Nellis Air Force Base, and the Las Vegas Complex.
Under the contract, the force
would be responsible for protecting nuclear explosive devices, special nuclear material, national security operations and related equipment, classified information, government facilities, and employees. The Independent Guard Association of Nevada represents the force, and the next contractor will be bound by the union’s current collective bargaining agreement, which remains in effect through 2019. >>Continue
readingNuclear Energy "Critical Positions" For The Next
Administration United States Nuclear Infrastructure
Council November 28, 2016 The U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council has outlined 65 federal government positions over 15 departments, agencies and commissions as "critical positions" for the nuclear energy industry in the Trump Administration.
The list includes the Departments of Energy, Commerce, State and Interior as well as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, National Nuclear Security Administration,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Office of the President. >>See list
here National Historical Park at Hanford tells Manhattan Project
story The
Oregonian November 26,
2016 SPOKANE -- The Manhattan Project National Historical Park at Hanford is a year old and proving to be quite
popular.
About 13,000 people visited the park in its first year, despite its relatively remote location in southeastern Washington, far from the state's major population centers.
"It's a great number," said Kris Kirby, who recently was named superintendent of the historical park.
She's based in Denver and is splitting her time between the park's three sites: the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Washington; Oak Ridge,
Tennessee; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. Each community played a key role in developing the world's first atomic bombs during World War II.
The park was created a year ago, with the signing of an agreement between the U.S. Energy Department, which owns Hanford, and the U.S. Interior Department, which includes the National Park Service. Kirby is the national park's first employee, but officials are in the process of hiring a person to work specifically at the
Hanford site. >>Continue
reading |
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| February 2017 | | 23-24 | ECA Annual Meeting Washington, DC
"Meeting the New Administration: Addressing Energy Priorities and Securing Progress" |
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| March 2017 | | 5-9 | Waste Management Conference
Phoenix, AZ
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| May/June 2017 | | 31-1 | INVITATION ONLY ECA Peer Exchange Richland, WA "Formalizing Host Communities' Role in the Manhattan Project National
Historical Park" |
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Find the most recent ECA Bulletin here |
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