Former Idaho Gov. Phil Batt (R) died March 4 at age 96. During Batt’s tenure, Idaho inked a 1995 settlement the U.S. Navy and Department of Energy governing cleanup and removal of nuclear spent fuel from the Idaho National Laboratory.
Gov. Brad Little (R) immediately ordered the lowering of Idaho and American flags in Batt’s memory. After public ceremonies on Thursday, Batt’s funeral service was scheduled for Friday, Little said in a press release.
Batt served in the Idaho legislature and as lieutenant governor before being elected governor in 1994, the Idaho Capital Sun newspaper reported. His administration also successfully resisted a legislative effort to repeal the 1995 nuclear deal, according to the newspaper.
The Department of Energy prime for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is looking for contractors interested in performing building demolition.
Bechtel-led Lawrence Livermore National Security, the contractor managing the laboratory for DOE’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) posted a sources-sought notice Thursday March 2 seeking a subcontractor for building and slab demolition as well as soil removal.
Lawrence Livermore National Security said in the notice it seeks an experienced remediation provider that can do site characterization, decontaminate and demolish structures, dig up soil and manage waste transportation and disposal. This allows the lab to determine contractor expertise “as needed,” for future NNSA and DOE Office of Environmental Management demolition, an NNSA spokesperson said by email Wednesday. Interested parties should respond by 5 p.m. Pacific Time on March 24 by sending their qualifications to Livermore contact analyst Aubry Eiras at [email protected].
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through its Charleston, S.C. District, is building a $3.2-million security barricade at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
The project, to replace a 20-year-old temporary barricade, should be finished by the end of the year, the Corps said in a Friday March 3 press release.
The new barricade located at the third-busiest Savannah River entrance, includes revamped driving lanes and traffic controls, inspection canopies and a “ballistic-rated guard house,” according to the release. Design of the new barricade will be finished in coming months followed by tear-down of the temporary barricade and construction of the new one, the Corps said. The Army Corps Charleston District supports SRS, through services such as design and construction under an interagency agreement dating back to 1985.
Government contractor Amentum will move its corporate headquarters to the Virginia side of the Washington, D.C. suburbs from Maryland, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) announced in a press release last week.
Amentum, a major player in Department of Energy contracts, will invest $495,000 to relocate its headquarters about 38 miles from Germantown, Md., to Chantilly, Va. The move brings about 157 new jobs to Virginia, Youngkin said in the press release. Amentum employs about 44,000 employees spread across 85 countries.
In 2022, Amentum bought Virginia-based PAE (formerly known as Pacific Architects and Engineers), another government contractor. Amentum CEO John Heller, a former CEO for PAE, praised the office move in the release. The relocation “grants more convenient access not only for our local employees, customers, and partners, but also for everyone in our extended team who are doing business in the Washington, D.C. area,” he said.
EnergySolutions’ Clive Disposal Facility in Utah has surpassed 7-million hours of safe work over the past 19 years, the company announced Thursday.
The disposal site in the Utah desert opened in 1988 and serves both commercial power and government nuclear facilities, EnergySolutions said in a press release. It is licensed to dispose of Class A low level radioactive waste such as contaminated soils, ion exchange resins and building debris. The company’s website says EnergySolutions has repeatedly achieved a million work hours without a reportable accident. During 2014 there was a fatal accident at an EnergySolutions worksite in Tennessee.
EnergySolutions is one two privately-owned nuclear waste disposal sites used extensively by the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management.
Rick McLeod, who retired in January as executive director of the non-profit Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization, has formed a consulting firm, Atomic Advice.
McLeod led the economic development organization for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina for 15 years. According to the new firm’s website, McLeod has over 30 years of management experience in environmental engineering, business development and non-profit fundraising.
