WIPP’s Long Closure Nears End Los Alamos Daily Post December 18, 2016 Thanks to Internet video streaming, informational meetings in the two-and-a-half year struggle to re-open the Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Southern New Mexico are accessible not only to the people of Carlsbad but for people throughout the state and nation.
“This has been a little bit of a long process to get to where we are,” John Heaton said at Thursday night's Carlsbad Town Hall Meeting. A former state representative and the regular meeting moderator, Heaton added, “We’re very close to the point where we will be open and getting waste down into the mine and out of the biosphere, if you will, and never have to look at it again.”
Since a truck fire and a radiation leak in February 2014, the employees of the Department of Energy and WIPP have been working to get the underground repository cleaned up and procedurally
qualified to resume its task of storing the nation’s mounting backlog of radiological material. On hold during this time have been hundreds of shipments from Hanford, Washington, Idaho National Laboratory, Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, which was the source of an erupting canister that caused WIPP to shut down. >>Continue reading DOE’s Next Test Site for Storing Spent Fuel Promises No Nuclear Waste Morning Consult December 19, 2016 The Department of Energy on Monday announced it has chosen four
companies to develop proposals for test sites to explore storing nuclear waste thousands of feet underground.
The eventual test project will not involve any nuclear waste, but one of the primary purposes is to learn about the possibilities of storing spent fuel three miles underground, according to Andrew Griffith, deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition who spoke with reporters on a conference call Monday. The field test could also provide data about geothermal energy, rock formations, drilling techniques
and underground temperatures.
This is
the department’s second attempt at a field test after it abandoned one in June in South Dakota over local concerns that the site would eventually be used to store nuclear waste. The new contract “specifically prohibits” the storage of nuclear waste and requires the hole dug for the test to be permanently sealed after the field test is finished, Griffith said. >>Continue readingCONTRACTING & ACQUISITION: NNSA Awards Sandia National Laboratories M&O Contract To NTESS Los Alamos Daily Post December 16, 2016 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) announced today it has awarded National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS) with the management and operating
contract for Sandia National Laboratories (SNL).
NTESS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International. Northrup Grumman and Universities Research Association will support NTESS in the performance of this contract. The award is valued at $2.6 billion annually over 10 years, if all options are
exercised.
“Following a full and open competition, NNSA is pleased to announce the selection of NTESS as our M&O partner at Sandia,” said Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz (ret.), Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator. “The Sandia bid generated unprecedented interest from across industry, demonstrating that our improved acquisitions process is
attracting high-quality competition and the best talent to serve NNSA’s mission.” >>Continue readingAECOM, EnergySolutions joint venture wins San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station decommissioning contract Business Wire December 20,
2016 LOS
ANGELES--AECOM, a premier, fully integrated global infrastructure firm, and EnergySolutions, a nuclear waste management and decommissioning services firm, announced today they have been selected as the decommissioning general contractor for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station through their joint venture, SONGS Decommissioning Solutions (SDS), by Southern California Edison
(SCE). The Decommissioning General Contract represents a significant portion of the work required to safely decommission the San Onofre nuclear plant. San Onofre is one of the largest commercial nuclear plant decommissioning projects to date in the United States with an estimated total cost of
$4.4 billion including used fuel management, radiological decommissioning and site restoration costs. The project is expected to create about 600 new jobs over the 10-year dismantlement and decontamination phase. The value of the contract will be included in AECOM’s backlog for the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. >>Continue
reading NNSA Seeking Support for Creation of Nuclear Expert Talent
Pool Exchange
Monitor December 20,
2016 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is looking for U.S.-based entities that can help it attract and maintain
nuclear experts in a talent pool supporting the U.S. nuclear enterprise. A sources sought solicitation released earlier this month is aimed at interested parties for a project that would involve “maintaining a smaller, but still vibrant, community of nuclear experts to support U.S. strategic nuclear capabilities.”
The solicitation comes amid ongoing concerns within the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency over maintaining
scientific expertise throughout the nuclear weapons complex as the older generation’s technical experts approach retirement. >>Continue readingTREATMENT &
TRANSPORTATION: DOE Approves Modified Contract and Baseline for Hanford Waste Treatment
Plant DOE-EM December 16,
2016 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) and Bechtel National Inc. (BNI) have modified the contract and baseline for the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) project to support the Department’s approach to begin treating Hanford’s tank waste as soon as practicable.
The contract modification implements DOE’s Direct Feed Low Activity Waste (DFLAW) approach
for the Hanford tank waste treatment mission. The DFLAW approach involves the WTP Low Activity Waste (LAW) Facility, Analytical Laboratory (LAB) and a set of 23 support facilities, collectively known as Balance of Facilities (BOF). Together, these three areas are commonly referred to as “LBL.” The contract modification aligns both the contractor responsibility and the project risks through the restructuring of incentives in order to deliver the best value for the Federal government and the
taxpayer. >>Continue
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| February 2017 | | 23-24 | ECA Annual Meeting Washington, DC
"Meeting the New Administration: Addressing Community 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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