The Department of Justice and the landlord contractor for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state both anticipate a fraud trial lasting several weeks could be held in federal district court during fall of 2025.
That is one of the key takeaways from a joint filing Thursday by Justice, on behalf of a whistleblower, and Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Services. Justice predicts it could take three weeks to present its case in U.S. District Court in Eastern Washington.
The government alleges the joint venture of Leidos, Centerra and Parsons violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims for hours not actually worked by the contractor’s fire system personnel. The joint venture denies it violated the False Claims Act. The case against the contractor was unsealed in January. In March, Hanford Mission Integration Services asked the federal court to throw out the lawsuit.
Jeff Griffin, a former executive with Canadian National Laboratories as well the Department of Energy’s cleanup branch, has taken a senior vice president post with DOE’s management contractor for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
At Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, Griffin will head plutonium disposition operations, according to the contractor’s website. “I loved my assignment at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories,” Griffin wrote this week on his LinkedIn page. “But, after almost six years off doing other things, it is nice to return home to Aiken and the important missions of the Savannah River Site.”
Griffin was running field operations for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management when he left the agency in early 2020 to accept a vice president post at Canadian National Laboratories. He has over 30 years of nuclear experience, most of it in research and development and is a former associate laboratory director at the Savannah River National Laboratory.
Connie Flohr, a longtime Department of Energy executive who retired from the agency last month after being manager of cleanup at Idaho National Laboratory, has joined contractor Navarro Research & Engineering.
In her role at Oak Ridge, Tenn.,-based Navarro, Flohr will concentrate on partnerships and growing the company’s footprint within DOE, NASA and the Department of Defense, Navarro said in a May 1 press release.
Flohr, spent a quarter-century as a federal official, and DOE announced her departure in January. Flohr’s tenure as Idaho Cleanup Project manager included the April 2023 startup of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit. She also received a DOE service award prior to her retirement.
The Department of Energy and cleanup office at Idaho National Laboratory have added three new electric vehicles and a half-dozen new charging stations as part of ongoing effort to curb tailpipe emissions at DOE installation, the agency announced Tuesday.
Jacobs-led cleanup contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition has also made strides on reducing water and energy consumption since 2022, DOE said in a press release. DOE is investing about $2 million in electric vehicle charging during fiscal 2024, according to budget figures.
John Lucio, once a staff member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, was appointed director of government relations by Lynchburg, Va.-based BWX Technologies, the company said last week.
Most recently Lucio was a senior vice president at Ervin Graves Strategy Group in Washington, D.C., BWXT said in a May 1 press release.
A retired commissioned officer of the U.S. Navy, Lucio has also been director of government affairs for Undersea Warfare with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, BWXT said in the release. At BWXT, Lucio will seek to enhance the company’s relationship with both Congress and the executive branch, BWXT said in the release.
