Chaos at Toshiba: $6.3 billion write-down, chairman resigns, bankruptcy
looms The Washington Post February 14, 2017 TOKYO — The chaos at Toshiba, the Japanese corporate giant, deepened Tuesday, with its chairman resigning and the company saying it would book a $6.3 billion loss related to its U.S. nuclear
business.
Analysts are now speculating about the possibility that Toshiba, which employs almost
200,000 people in Japan and has significant investments in the United States, will have to file for bankruptcy.
“This is one
of Japan’s historic corporations and it’s very important to the Japanese economy, so this could be very significant for Japan,” said Tom O’Sullivan, a Tokyo-based energy analyst. “It would even impact Japan’s sovereign credit rating if there’s a knock-on effect.” >>Continue readingWIPP Releases Preliminary Shipping Estimates WIPP Update February 14, 2017 The Department of Energy (DOE) has developed estimates for the resumption of shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) over
the next 12 months. Shipments are expected to be made during that time from Idaho, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, the Savannah River Site, and Waste Control Specialists.
Shipments of TRU waste from generator sites across the U.S. are expected to commence in April. Shipments from a given site can commence once the site has demonstrated its readiness to load and ship TRU containers and has verified that waste destined for WIPP meets the updated Documented Safety Analysis requirements. The exact allocation and sequence for
shipping will be adjusted based on the emplacement rate at WIPP, operational needs at WIPP and generator sites, and logistical issues (such as weather) that affect shipping. >>Continue readingTesting to start next week at Idaho's IWTU The Post
Register February 8, 2017 After a nine-month pause, testing is scheduled to start again next week at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, contractor officials said.
The first 10-day test run will examine the effectiveness of a modified auger grinder — a piece of machinery designed to chew up the solid radioactive waste that comes out of the treatment process. The component
clogged and seized up during previous tests.
Twenty-day and 50-day test runs will follow to study other recent improvements made at the 53,000-square-foot facility, but officials aren’t yet sure when those tests will begin. DOE and contractor officials have stopped offering a timeline when the facility will be operational.
>>Continue readingPiketon asks DOE for comment
extension Portsmouth Daily Times February 12, 2017 Piketon Mayor Billy Spencer says he can’t get a commitment from the Department of Energy that they will completely decontaminate the Piketon site so that the land can be used in the future for reindustrialization, so he is asking for a 60-day extension from DOE on the comment period for the draft environmental
assessment: Conveyance of Real property at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. DOE has invited public comments on the draft environmental assessment (EA) for a 45-day period from Jan. 4 to Feb. 18, 2017. Federal law requires a comment period of 14 to 30 days and local DOE chose to extend the comment
period. DOE has made the EA available in hard copy and online. Comments were also taken during a Site Project Update meeting open to the public Jan. 24 at Piketon High School. >>Continue reading New Savannah River Site MOX violation cited in latest NRC inspection report Aiken Standard February
9, 2017 Federal inspectors have issued a new violation to CB&I AREVA MOX Services in relation to construction of the mixed-oxide fuel fabrication facility under construction at the Savannah River Site south of Aiken.
In the latest report, dated Feb. 2 made public Feb.
8, fasteners for ductwork at the MOX facility were found to be in violation, documents show.
Fasteners for all ductwork "shall be snug and tight," with all bolts supposed to be sufficiently tightened to prevent removal without a wrench, according to the
report. >>Continue readingLANL responds to critical report of safety practices The Los Alamos Monitor February
15, 2017 The Los Alamos National Laboratory responded to an annual report the National Nuclear Security Administration sent to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Feb. 2. The report was critical of the lab’s design and manufacture of nuclear components.
The report measures the lab’s nuclear criticality safety programs and how well LANL is doing in implementing safety measures in the manufacture and design of nuclear components.
The purpose of the report is to prevent accidents that could lead to the discharge of radiation and other toxic materials related to the components and their manufacture into the environment. >>Continue
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| February 2017 | | 21 | Third Way's 2017 Advanced Nuclear Summit and Showcase Washington, DC |
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| February 2017 | | 23 | Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Idaho National
Laboratory Idaho Falls, ID |
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| February 2017 | | 23-24 | ECA Event: The New Administration: Securing Progress Washington, DC |
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| March 2017 | | 1-2 | Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board,
Hanford Richland, WA
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| March 2017 | | 5-9 | Waste Management Conference Phoenix, AZ |
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| March 2017 | | 7 | Environmental Management Business Opportunities Forum Phoenix, AZ |
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| May/June 2017 | | 31-1 | INVITATION
ONLY ECA Peer
Exchange:
Manhattan Project National Historical Park Implementation Richland, WA
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| September 2017 | | 12-14 | 2017 National Cleanup Workshop Alexandria, VA |
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Find the most recent ECA Bulletin here |
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