Weapons Complex Monitor took a break last week for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, but out affiliate publication, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing did not. Here’s a recap of some of the nuclear security enterprise news covered last week.
Work Resumes at WIPP After Rock Fall
Work resumed underground before Thanksgiving at the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., following a recent rock fall.
Work resumed Nov. 16 after a rock fall in Room 6 of Panel 7 on Nov. 14. Donavan Mager, a spokesman for WIPP management contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership, confirmed Monday there were two canisters of remote-handled waste in the room where the collapse occurred.
An earlier news release from NWP about the rock fall had incorrectly stated there was no waste emplaced in the area, Mager said in an email. “The original report was in error mostly because we were thinking only contact handled waste.” Two containers of remote handled waste were emplaced prior to February 2014, when an underground radiation release forced WIPP offline for about three years. The remote handled waste was emplaced in pre-drilled boreholes located in the wall of the room, he added.
Rock falls are not uncommon in the WIPP underground, and Room 6 of Panel 7 has been off-limits to workers for years, according to the contractor.
Meanwhile, the next WIPP Town Hall meeting is scheduled for Dec. 13.
These public briefings, convened quarterly by DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office and site contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership, are held at the Carlsbad City Council chambers and made available via webcast. The meetings typically cover a wide variety of topics concerning the disposal site for defense transuranic waste.
Topics likely to come up during the briefing include the $135 million contract award, announced Nov. 19, for the Critical Applications Alliance joint venture to build a new permanent ventilation system at WIPP; and DOE’s request that the New Mexico Environment Department allow a different approach for counting the volume of waste disposed of underground.
Jacobs Cites Strong Quarter Heading Into 2019
Jacobs Engineering Group on Nov. 20 reported revenue of $4.1 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up significantly from the $2.7 billion reported a year earlier.
Net earnings, however, showed a $23 million loss (-$0.16 per share) in the latest quarter compared to a $94 million or $0.78 per share, in net earnings for quarter ended Sept. 30, 2017. The earnings were affected by tax reform and the costs associated with integration of CH2M Hill, which Dallas-based Jacobs purchased in December 2017.
The quarter marked the end of Jacobs’ fiscal year.
In their earnings call, Jacobs executives noted the company is selling its Energy, Chemical, and Resources (ECR) business to WorleyParsons. The $3.3 billion deal, announced last month, should close during the first half of 2019.
The sale should allow Jacobs to concentrate more on more stable segments such as the Aerospace, Technology, Environmental, and Nuclear (ATEN) unit, which houses the company’s Energy Department, Department of Defense, and NASA businesses, among others. Operating profit for ATEN was $95 million for the quarter, up year over year from net profit of about $56 million.
“This was an exciting year at Jacobs. We accelerated our profitable growth strategy with the acquisition of CH2M and continued to transform the portfolio with the announced sale of our ECR business, all while delivering strong financial results across each segment,” Jacobs President and CEO Steven Demetriou said during the call.
“The teams are now fully integrated,” the CEO added of Jacobs and CH2M.
CH2M leads a team with a $542 million contract extending until March 2020 for cleanup of the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York. In addition, the Energy Department in September awarded a CH2M affiliate a 12-month extension of its Central Plateau Cleanup contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Jacobs has indicated the company will seek to retain the original $5.8 billion Central Plateau contract, which began in 2008.
In Kentucky, Jacobs leads a team with a $1.5 billion contract for deactivation and remediation at the Paducah Site. If all option periods are exercised it could run into mid-2027.
